The Reinwasser Middle-Class Index (RMCI) was built to more accurately measure the month-to-month improvement or deterioration in the economic health of the middle-class. The RMCI captures data in the Jobs, Housing, Wealth & Spending, Confidence and Inflation categories and compares current data to the average over the previous four months*. If a data point is better than the four-month average it's scored +1, if it's worse it's scored -1. As such, RMCI scores range from +10 to -10. For a ... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, October 18, 2011,
In :
Economy
Eric Sprott wants to start a bank that operates without leverage,without loans and without fear of losing customer deposits. This is exactly how banks operated two centuries ago when gold was money and this model worked just fine (customers simply stored their gold in banks and paid a small fee for the service). During that amazing American century there were no bubbles, no inflation (prices fell 50% from 1820 - 1900), no FDIC insurance, no taxpayer sponsored bailouts and, most importantly,... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, October 17, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If you invested all your money in Venezuelan and Botswana stocks, you're having a good year. Interestingly, the U.S. stock market is the 12th best performer.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, October 11, 2011,
In :
Economy
For the third straight month single-family home prices increased on a month-to-month basis. According to the Zillow Home Value Index, the average U.S. single-family home rose in value to $174,900 in August compared to $174,600 in July. Of course, the big question is has the bottom been put in. I'm starting to think that it has...one or two months of increases can just be noise but three straight months is definitely a trend.
Two states, New Hamphshire and Hawaii, are now showing a yea...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, October 10, 2011,
In :
Politics
This is easily the only most intelligent and articulate explanation for what the Occupy Wall Street protests are all about...and I agree with every word.
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, October 10, 2011,
In :
Politics
How to Explain Greece to a Complete Idiot/Politician by Simon Black
Let's pretend for a moment that Greece is a human being. I'll call him George.
George is a hairdresser and makes $40,000 per year. George has limited assets. He has zero savings, no precious metals, and is way underwater on his mortgage. His credit card debt is over $100,000, and his bare minimum living expenses are $45,000 annually, over 10% more than he makes. George's credit is pitiful, and he cannot obtain any more new loan... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Friday, October 7, 2011,
In :
Stocks
If this is true and I suspect it is, the executives of these banks should go to prison for the rest of their lives and the banks should go bankrupt. Instead, what is much more likely to happen is 1)the executives will be asked to resign and they'll still receive their golden parachutes and keep all their past salaries and bonuses; 2)the banks will receive some type of taxpayer sponsored bailout to offset the lawsuit payments; and 3)no one will go to jail. -------------------------------------... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Tuesday, October 4, 2011,
In :
Gold and Silver
COMEX is the futures and options exchange where the price of many
commodities is set, including silver. Since peaking at 138.5 million
ounces in August 2008, the silver inventory had dropped sharply for
nearly three straight years and bottomed this past June at 98 million
ounces.
The potential for a supply disruption on the COMEX was one of my major
reasons for investing in the silver market. Unfortunately, for the
silver bulls, it appears this isn't going to happen. Silver invent... Continue reading ...
Posted by Randall A Reinwasser on Monday, October 3, 2011,
In :
Permanent Portfolio
The Permanent Portfolio (PP) is an investment strategy invented by Harry Browne in the 1980s. The strategy consists of investing equal parts in stocks, bonds, gold and cash. During times of market turmoil, the PP has consistently outperformed the stock market by a wide margin* and so far in 2011 this expected out-performance has held up.
In Q3 2011, the PP outperformed stocks by an astonishing 16.5%. Using three Vanguard mutual funds as proxies, here are the Q3 results:
