Trio of catalysts set to boost gold "The recent decline in gold from above $1,000 is prompting gold bears to say that the great gold bull market has reversed itself," says Martin Hutchinson who states, "Let me say right now: They're wrong." In his Money Map Reporter, he explains, "Thanks to three key catalysts, we may well see gold at $1,500 an ounce this year, if not higher." Here's his outlook and a trio of ways to play this trend. "These three catalysts – worldwide monetary policy, global supply-and-demand for gold, and gold's past performance – have already ignited a powerful rally that's virtually certain to carry gold to much higher price points, despite the breather the rally appears to be taking right now.
Food Costs Rising Fastest in 17 Years Steve Tarpin can bake a graham cracker crust in his sleep, but explaining why the price for his Key lime pies went from $20 to $25 required mastering a thornier topic: global economics. He recently wrote a letter to his customers and posted it near the cash register listing the factors -- dairy prices driven higher by conglomerates buying up milk supplies, heat waves in Europe and California, demand from emerging markets and the weak dollar. The owner of Steve's Authentic Key Lime Pies in Brooklyn said he didn't want customers thinking he was "jacking up prices because I have a unique product." "I have to justify it," he said. The U.S. is wrestling with the worst food inflation in 17 years, and analysts expect new data due on Wednesday to show it's getting worse. That's putting the squeeze on poor families and forcing bakeries, bagel shops and delis to explain price increases to their customers.
Oil Rises to Record on Nigeria, Mexico Losses, Chinese Demand Crude oil rose to a record in New York on supply disruptions in Nigeria and Mexico and rising fuel demand in China. Oil climbed to $112.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the highest since futures began trading in 1983. Mexico, the U.S.'s third-largest crude supplier, shut its fourth export terminal yesterday, while Eni SpA halted output in Nigeria. China said today diesel imports surged 49 percent in March. ``The predominant market view is that the emerging economies will overcompensate for any possible demand slump in OECD countries,'' said Eugen Weinberg, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Crude oil for May traded at $112.79 a barrel, up $1.03, at 11:54 a.m. in London. Prices have gained 77 percent in a year. Futures yesterday rose $1.62, or 1.5 percent, to settle at $111.76 a barrel, the highest close.
Wholesale Prices Soar in March Inflation at the wholesale level soared in March at nearly triple the rate that had been expected as the costs of energy and food both climbed rapidly. The Labor Department reported Tuesday that wholesale prices rose by 1.1 percent last month, the largest increase since a 2.6 percent rise last November, which had been the biggest one-month jump in 33 years. Analysts had been expecting a much more moderate 0.4 percent rise in wholesale prices for the month. For the past 12 months, wholesale prices are up by 6.9 percent and core inflation is up by 2.7 percent, the biggest year-over-year increase in nearly two years. The inflation pressures are occurring at a time when the overall economy is slowing and many analysts believe may have toppled into a recession.
Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country. Since last fall, eight mostly midsize chains — as diverse as the furniture store Levitz and the electronics seller Sharper Image — have filed for bankruptcy protection as they staggered under mounting debt and declining sales. But the troubles are quickly spreading to bigger national companies, like Linens ‘n Things, the bedding and furniture retailer with 500 stores in 47 states. It may file for bankruptcy as early as this week, according to people briefed on the matter.
US Foreclosure Filings Jump in March Foreclosure Filings Against US Homeowners Soar 57 Percent in March; Bank Repossessions Surge. The onslaught of homes facing foreclosures has yet to ebb, a research report showed Tuesday, with bank repossessions skyrocketing last month as more troubled homeowners mailed in their keys and walked away. And the worst isn't over: the wave of adjustable-rate loans resetting to higher rates will crest in May and June. And that's expected to push more homeowners into default and foreclosure in the third and fourth quarters of this year, according to RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, Calif. The number of U.S. homes receiving at least one foreclosure filing jumped 57 percent in March to 234,685, compared with 149,150 properties a year earlier. Filings include default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
Wall Street prefers clueless, irrational investors So Congress made April "Investor Literacy Month." What a hoax, a cruel joke, yes, an insult to America's 95 million investors. What's really happening? Here's the short version: In the past five years Wall Street's out-of-control greed (with the backing of Greenspan's cheap-money Fed, an "anything-goes, free-market" White House and a banking industry that loves piling up debt in order to charge excessive fees) created a massive housing-credit bubble to rapidly replace their earlier busted dot-com bubble. Then last summer the new bubble failed, exploding in our faces, nearly destroying the global monetary system. Result? These two bubbles triggered a diversionary, knee-jerk reaction: A wave of so-called "investor education" programs across the U.S. and world.
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