The Tide of History and The Resilience of the Human Spirit
Served by Jesse of Le Café Américain Why do so many people continue to turn their noses up at an investment with returns like those listed below? And not only that, why do the many either not care, and small groups aggressively and almost irrationally attack the very notion that it is genuine, a real trend, a development with appeal across many nations and people, a sustained market trend that is telling us something? Returns, I might add, that are supported by very strong fundamentals of supply and demand. Coming off a twenty year bear market in which supply was diminished, and burdened by ye

Happy Turkey Day (Antidote du Jour)
I must confess my father hunted wild turkeys (if they aren’t too old, they are flavorful but the meat is stringy). I’ve seen them a couple of times live, in Maine, and they are bigger than I expected them to be. They are smart and normally wary of people, but there are always exceptions. From reader John L: Turkey may be the main course on many a Thanksgiving table today, but a flock of wild turkeys living on Onondaga Hill doesn’t seem worried. Stephanie Kochan, owner of Spring Studio Pilates, snapped photos recently of a flock of about a dozen turkeys

Dubai World Restructuring: Sovereign Risk Shock or No Big Deal?
Today, a story about the need to restructure state-owned Dubai World created a bit of a frisson. Dubai is proposing to delay debt payments as it negotiates to extend maturities. According to Bloomberg: Dubai World, with $59 billion of liabilities, is seeking to delay debt payments, sending contracts to protect the emirate against default surging by the most since they began trading in January. The state-controlled company will ask creditors for a “standstill” agreement as it negotiates to extend maturities, including $3.52 billion of Islamic bonds due Dec. 14 from

Guest Post: Gold Is Rallying Because…
Served by Jesse of Le Café Américain Gold is the ultimate currency. It resists the attempts by the monetary authorities to debase it, because except for concerted attempts to suppress its price through non-profitseeking selling at key market points by central banks, and naked short selling by the global commercial banks in the paper markets, gold cannot be created and controlled by financial engineers like Ben Bernanke. It provides a refuge, a store of wealth for private citizens during a period of general currency risk. A simple chart should suffice.

Links 11/25/09
Scientists give grubby children a clean bill of health Guardian 100 Stray Icebergs Approaching New Zealand Clusterstock Alpha males must trade on more than machismo John Coates Financial Times The Ides of March and the Fed exit strategy John Hempton. I don’t agree