ASIA: China’s decision to reopen its economy will increase inflation in Europe as they both compete for more energy, the president of the European Central Bank said Friday. China’s reopening is “something that will be a positive for China mostly, something that will be a positive for the rest of the world, but we will […]

COMMENT: Hi Marty, Great post on oil and gold. I never owned gold until about 20 years ago. I read about the gold bull of the 70’s and tales of gold mining stocks outperforming in the Great Depression decade. But I never bought into the hype until I started listening to these promoters later. It was […]

  The entire theory of the Petrodollar dates back to the collapse of Bretton Woods and the subsequent oil embargo protesting US support for Israel and the price shock of raising prices. Those were the days when everyone was obsessed with gold and the whole idea of a floating currency that was popular to say […]

I would like to Thank Celeste for this portrait she made of Napoleon – my French Bulldog. You are a great Artist. I enjoyed painting in oils. I was never very good at portraits. I tended to focus on seascapes and occasionally some monuments. I always found it relaxing. This is one I did of […]

ASIA:   China kept benchmark lending rates unchanged for a fifth month on Friday, as expected, but analysts say future cuts are possible as the central bank has pledged to support the COVID-ravaged economy. The one-year loan prime rate (LPR) – on which most new and outstanding loans are based – was left at 3.65%. […]

ASIA:   China’s annual consumer inflation rate accelerated in December, driven by rising food prices even as domestic demand wavered amid restrained economic activity. The consumer price index (CPI) in December was 1.8% higher than a year earlier, rising faster than the 1.6% annual gain seen in November, data from the National Bureau of Statistics […]

ASIA:   China’s central bank continued to inject funds into the financial system through open market operations on Wednesday. The People’s Bank of China said on its website that it has conducted 133 billion yuan ($19.67 billion) of seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 2 percent, and 447 billion yuan of 14-day reverse […]

ASIA: Rising home prices and rentals in large Indian cities could pose a new challenge to the country’s central bank in its fight against inflation, even though headline consumer price rises have likely peaked, analysts warn. Housing rentals and ancillary costs have a 10.07% weightage in India’s consumer price inflation basket and are near three-year […]

  Following the crowd of what is popular and supposed to be the cutting edge of investment, Robert Belfer, the oil Barron, lost billions with ENRON and then Bernie Madoff. Then he became a shareholder in FTX. With a track record like that, you certainly would be firing your financial adviser. The inside joke about […]

The NYSE will close on Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Day. Market Talk will resume again on Tuesday, January 16. ASIA: The major Asian stock markets had a mixed day today: NIKKEI 225 decreased 330.30 points or -1.25% to 26,119.52 Shanghai increased 31.85 points or 1.01% to 3,195.31 Hang Seng increased 224.56 points […]