Monthly Archives: September 2010

Rare Earth Day

Posted on September 27, 2010 by macromon

Rare Earth Elements (REE) have shown up on our radar as shares of Molycorp (MCP), one of the largest and only producers outside China,  has doubled in the past month.   REEs have no substitutes and are critical material inputs for … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, China, Commodities, Equities, Geopolitical, Rare Earth Elements | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Soft Landing in the Chinese Property Market

Posted on September 26, 2010 by macromon

Andy Xie, the former Morgan Stanley economist and one smart dude, pens a great piece for Bloomberg on the Chinese property and reverses his previous view of an imminent crash. The fallout from a potential hard landing in China’ s … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Commodities, Gold, Whales | Leave a comment

What is the “correct” price for gold?

Posted on September 25, 2010 by macromon

Because the equilibrium price of gold is an unknown,  the yellow metal keeps running.  There is no real metric to determine its fundamental value — a real rate of interest and price-earnings or price to book ratio, for example.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Gold | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Gold ATMs Arrive in Europe

Posted on September 25, 2010 by macromon

An ATM at the Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid dispenses gold for cash currency.   A similar machine was installed at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi earlier this year.   We’ll  get nervous about our precious metal positions when we … Continue reading →

Posted in Gold | Tagged | Leave a comment

Commodities close at eight-month high

Posted on September 24, 2010 by macromon

The CRB index is now just 3.5 percent below the Jan. ’10 post-bubble high and, this, with crude down over 10 percent.  Crude, heating oil, and natural gas make up about 18 percent of the index.   Look for commodity … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged | Leave a comment

Stephen Colbert Testifies in Congress on Immigration

Posted on September 24, 2010 by macromon

Stephen Colbert testified this morning to the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Immigration .  Checkout the video and note the different reactions from the Members versus their aides seated behind them.  They were not amused. “…this is America! I don’t … Continue reading →

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David Tepper on QE2: “Everything Will Go Up”

Posted on September 24, 2010 by macromon

“This might be one those [moments].” CNBC’s excellent interview with David Tepper, one smart dude (OSD).  Tepper is a great hedge fund manager and made a bundle buying bank shares and preferreds when the you know what was hitting the … Continue reading →

Posted in Whales | Leave a comment

The Squeeze in Global Rubber Supplies

Posted on September 23, 2010 by macromon

Rubber is bouncing…. Goodyear Tire & Rubber and Cooper Tire & Rubber, the two largest U.S. tiremakers, have begun notifying customers they will raise tire prices by as much as 6.5% by early November. Bridgestone, the largest tiremaker by sales, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ding-Dong in Hong Kong! Is that a bell ringing?

Posted on September 23, 2010 by macromon

We don’t really hang with the deflation crowd much, but a hard landing in China is the one scenario that keeps us up at night.  China is the locomotive of the global economy and we monitor events there very closely. … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Uncategorized | 2 Comments

EU to wage war against speculation on commodity markets

Posted on September 22, 2010 by macromon

Reports out of Europe a crackdown on the specs is in the works: Brussels, like Washington, is planning to launch measures to regulate commodity exchanges and curb speculation, as well as step up transparency in food trade after the recent … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities | Leave a comment