Commodities are an ever changing asset group, driven by yhe dynamics of supply and demand. Developments around the world are impacting the attention given to commodities by investors.
Commodities are “real assets” , usually priced in U.S. dollars. Commodities have historically had the benefit of inflation. When the need for goods and services rises, so do the commodities needed for those goods and services. Investment throughout the commodity sspectrum can offer a good diversification.
The elite, as it were, are congregating outside Barcelona, Spain to discuss the Euro. The Bilderberg Club, which is made up of about 200 of the wealthiest people in the world are meeting to look at the Euro’s future. This is off the heals of the Euro being at 4 year lows against the Dollar. What more can be said? Well, apparently plenty, but no one’s talking about what all the talk will be about.
It is all terribly confidential. Meeting agendas are limited to only a few and when they are delivered no one talks about what is to be discussed. The big issue is the Euro and if it will survive. Nationalists feelings may be checked at the door, but we’ll see. The major worry is world recession. That recession could very well be triggered by the Euro going belly-up.
The membership of the Bilderberg Club include Henry Kissinger and David Rockefeller. Does this have an Illuminati association? With various conspiracy theories linking these two names to a New World Order, one world currency, and numerous coups and corporate mergers, the theorists will have a good year. All pondering aside, this club of elites will have plenty to digest from their plates besides the great food. The Euro is in trouble and news from Greece, where the Bilderbergers met last year, isn’t improving. The U.S. stock markets have been on a wild ride that has shook the working families up and wondering if they should keep their money in or not.
Fear not, The Club of Clubs will have all the solutions including how to stop the Gulf oil leak….. right? Did I mention that last year’s meting was in Greece?
Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) are getting more prevalent in warfare injuries. The Pentagon rolled out a new treatment: brain implants. This is likened to replacement parts for gray matter.
Darpa, the military science agency, is behind the project. The implants will contain electrodes or optical fibers and sit on the surface of the brain. The implants would allow the brain to work normally by filling the void created by the damaged parts. Most of the research is done at Stanford University. The key is understanding how the brain reacts to trauma.
The euro continued its slide yesterday mainly due to the European stock slump. The 4 year low is 1.2146. The mood is lower for American stocks as traders wonder if the Eurozone rescue package, valued at a trillion dollars, will work. Measured appraisals are practically gone, giving the markets tests they haven’t seen.
The Asian Indexes were hit by tensions near the Korean peninsula.
On May 8th, Saturday Night Live had Betty White as the host. This was announced about two months ago to much anticipation. The ratings were great, doubling the NBA playoffs that were on earlier in the evening. When I heard this I had to ask, “Why do we like Betty White?”
Well let’s ponder that. She likes animals and has donated her time, talents and money to animal causes. Betty is funny. Betty is smart. She is up-to-date. She is also willing to take risks. The SNL host slot was a risk. She had the possibility of bombing or giving at best a so-so performance. Obviously she didn’t do that, but there was that chance. When she hit the home run we loved it and we knew that Betty was on her game. Another thing… the SNL writers had plenty of material. This means that Betty contributed to the content.
We like Betty White for several reasons. Putting the “Betty White” in the brand means trust, staying power and feeling good.
The release of data that suggests China’s economy expanded 11.5% fueled fears of inflation. The current sentiment for Chin’a economic growth is strong. Lending practices in China are tightening.
The rebounding trend reminds the China watchers of the last inflation making situation. China is considering an interest rate hike. The overall Chinese economic expansion for 2010 is pegged at 9.5%.
China may consider an inflation rate of 3% to allow the yaun to appreciate.
I had someone ask me why I didn’t more? I said I din’t have the time and couldn’t find much to write about. What a stupid thing to have said. But I said it anyway. Here’s the situation…. there’s plenty to write about. I know that because the news stories keep coming in on a variety of topics. There can’t be much down time when it comes to news.
Like never before we seem to know we’re global. I feel I’ve been global for a few years. How about you? Can we become more abundant by being more global? How do we do that? Where do I fit into this gigantic spectrum? Seems the more we contemplate the “globalness” of it all, the more questions we have.
The U.S. economy has both good and bad indicators. Longer range indicators are generally good. Housing starts will most likely be lower, along with industrial production. This week is full as far as economic information releases go. See Market Watch economic calendar.
The Fed policy meeting will have some internal struggles as far as interest rates go. The labor market is still slow, but inflation won’t take off. The economy should grow at 3 % in 2010.
An experiment to learn more about the hippocampus has helped develop a new computer program. The hippocampus enables memories to be indexed. Distinct patterns were found by the computer program after brain scans on volunteers were performed. These patterns were the same in the volunteers. This type of research is progressing with notable speed.
Highlights
•It is possible to decode specific episodic memory traces from fMRI activity
•Individual memories can be decoded from fMRI activity in the human hippocampus (HC)
•The HC contains significantly more episodic information than adjacent brain areas
•Episodic information is localized to bilateral anterior and right posterior HC
U.S. retail sales for February are to be reported on Friday the 12th. The big snow strorms in the northeastern United States are the big factor as many communities were completely shut down for as much as two weeks.
Most economists are not worried about the report as it’s most likely factored into the markets already. When a slow February hits, a good March usually follows. The dollar was lower vs. the euro, but higher against other currencies.
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