Authored by MN Gordon via The Economic Prism blog,
The New Year’s nearly here. The slate’s been wiped clean. New hopes, new dreams, and new fantasies, are all within reach. Today’s the day to make a double fisted grab for them.
Without question, 2018 will be the year that everything happens exactly as it should. Some things you’ll be able to control. Other things will be well beyond your control.
Authored by John Hussman via HussmanFunds.com,
Let us not, in the pride of our superior knowledge, turn with contempt from the follies of our predecessors. The study of the errors into which great minds have fallen in the pursuit of truth can never be uninstructive.”
– Charles MackayExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
European stocks are steady in post-Christmas trading if struggling for traction after a mixed session in Asia, amid trading thinned by a holiday-shortened week and ongoing worries about the tech sector; however a strong rally in commodities - including copper and oil - buoyed expectations for a strong 2018 and helped offset concerns over the technology sector triggered by reports of soft iPhone X demand.
While the wholesale disappearance of retail traders from stock markets is hardly a novel observation, it has taken on a whole new meaning in Japan, where the lack of carbon-based investors has prompted Deutsche Bank to ask if "Japan's stocks are still traded at all by humans."
The Fed raised rates another 0.25% the week before last.
This marks the 5th rate hike since the Fed embarked on its policy tightening in December 2015 and the fourth rate hike in the last 12 months. The Fed’s latest statement also indicates it plans on raising rates three more times in 2018.