Money and Markets’ newsletter editors sounded off on the most important topics of the week. Below are snippets from the editors and links to their services.
From Charles Goyette’s Wealth and Liberty Alert
“The opening weeks of the New Year have been a bone-rattling affair for stock market investors.
“Many people believe that the Federal Reserve has two mandates: achieving stable prices and maximizing employment. Few know the Fed has a third mandate: Support Wall Street and the stock market.
“Over the long haul the Fed has been a dismal failure in its first two objectives. The Fed has destroyed 97 percent of the dollar’s purchasing power.”
From Mike Larson’s Interest Rate Speculator
” … the U.S. economy created 113,000 jobs last month, compared with 75,000 in December. That’s well below forecasts that were in the 180,000 range, but certainly not as disastrous as some of the worst market fears.
“Behind the headlines, some of the figures actually looked a bit better. … All in all, it’s clear the economy downshifted a bit in the last month or so. … I’m still not seeing any signs of an imminent recession … and even some of the emerging market turmoil that set this whole sell off into motion is calming down.”
From Douglas Davenport’s Inflation Survival Strategy
“Gold is caught in a tug of war between downward pressure from those selling the metal as the Fed begins to scale back the huge sums of liquidity it has been providing the markets and upward pressure from safe haven flows tied to the emerging markets crisis.
“In the former, gold acts more as a commodity; in the latter as a currency. Depending on which input the market is focusing on any given day, the metal moves accordingly.”
Best wishes,
The Money and Markets Team
