Tag: XXVII71

Heavy Meddle As we go to press, gold is in the $1,490 per ounce range, despite the strong dollar.  Historically, the higher the dollar, the lower the price of gold.   Gold is dollar-based.  As the dollar strengthens, other currencies weaken against it.  With gold trading at this current level, despite a strong dollar, it...

As we have long noted, a key indicator to note is the health of the world’s auto industry, which makes up 5.7 percent of global economic output and 8 percent of world trade. In China, the world’s largest auto market, vehicle production and sales declined 6.2 percent and 5.2 respectively in September.  Passenger vehicle sales...

The U.S. spent almost $1 trillion more than it took in during 2019, a deficit not seen in seven years. The Fed will hold a meeting this week to decide if they are injecting enough cheap money into the economy to buttress it up against the sinking economy. Analysts expect another cut in interest rates,...

Oil continues its upward climb for the fourth straight session, despite the drop in U.S. inventory. Crude stocks fell last week by about 1.7 million barrels. As we go to press, Brent crude is at $61.9 per barrel.  It was reported last week that due to a dirty deal by Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton, which...

Not only are forest fires burning up across the globe – in Indonesia, Brazil, Portugal, Alaska, California, to name a few – the streets are on fire, too.    As reported throughout the year in the Trends Journal and Trends in The News video podcasts, it’s “Off With Their Heads 2.0.” Poverty, violence, corruption… living...

In Bolivia, ranked by the World Bank Group as one of South America’s poorest nations, with substantial income inequality despite economic improvements under its current President, Evo Morales, the citizens have joined the growing wave of street protests. The trigger that ignited anger among thousands of Bolivians was alleged vote-rigging in the recent presidential election....

Santiago, Chile and Beirut, Lebanon are almost halfway across the globe from each other, yet the flames of protest, which have lit up streets in both cities, have been ignited by identical issues: government corruption and the excessive gap between rich and poor. In Chile, the spark that ignited the flareup of the people was...

In Lebanon, last week, and still continuing, an estimated million people took to the streets to protest harsh austerity measures, which have deepened financial distress on all but the rich.  Throughout Beirut, anti-government graffiti such as “Down with the rule of the mafia” and protestors chanting “Thieves, thieves”… calling out politicians they say have stolen...

Protests were both peaceful and violent in Hong Kong over the weekend. Angry at aggressive police tactics, groups of protestors blocked roads, vandalized stores, and threw gas bombs. One video shows police backing up into a subway station to escape a group of angry protesters throwing rocks and other objects at them. The increased violence...

Following up on Trends Journal coverage of the ongoing Catalan independence movement, which erupted again following Spain’s Supreme Court sentencing of nine Catalan politicians and activists earlier this month, protests heated up this past weekend with some 850,000 people demonstrating in Barcelona.   Despite the streets being filled with fervent supporters, organizers of the rally...