Authored by Doug Kass via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
* In a paperless and cloudy world, are investors and citizens as safe as the markets assume we are? –Kass Diary
Another provocative missile launched by North Korea and another apparent terrorist attack in London, England, are, once again, overnight and early-morning features of our reality as investors and as citizens.
S&P futures retreated along with European and Asian shares with tech, and Apple supplier shares leading the drop while safe havens such as gold and the yen rose, as the war of words between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un escalated and North Korea threatened to launch a hydrogen bomb, leading to a prompt return of geopolitical concerns. Trade focus now turns to a planned speech by Theresa May on Brexit (full preview here).
Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
When I was growing up my father, probably much like yours, had pearls of wisdom that he would drop along the way. It wasn’t until much later in life that I learned that such knowledge did not come from books, but through experience. One of my favorite pieces of “wisdom” was:
One day after the much anticipated Fed announcement in which Yellen unveiled the "Great Unwinding" of a decade of aggressive stimulus, it has been a mostly quiet session as the Fed's intentions had been widely telegraphed (besides the December rate hike which now appears assured), despite a spate of other central bank announcements, most notably out of Japan and Norway, both of which kept policy unchanged as expected.
What if the Fed surprised today, and instead of only announcing a reduction in its balance sheet, it also sent an uber-hawkish signal by hiking rates 25 bps, something which virtually nobody expected? While stocks would certainly suffer an adverse reaction, as the Fed confirmed that its intention was to burst one or more asset bubbles, it may be just what many in the market desire.