What Do Angry Germans, Unemployed Chinese and Deflation Have in Common?
- Details
- Created on Wednesday, 19 June 2013 00:00
- Written by Justice Litle, Editor, Strategic Wealth Report
- Hits: 27
What do angry Germans, unemployed Chinese and deflation have in common?
The answer is something you might not expect: technology.
Technology can act as a powerful deflationary force. It does this by suppressing or reducing wages, while at the same time creating a cycle of falling prices.
Think of the assembly line robot. As robotic machinery becomes more efficient and less expensive, the need for human labor (especially on the assembly line) is reduced. This in turn reduces labor's share of the total wealth pie.
As the robots take over, assembly line workers are paid less... if they are allowed to keep their jobs at all. The robots, which require neither vacation time nor sick leave nor retirement, take priority.
Read more: What Do Angry Germans, Unemployed Chinese and Deflation Have in Common?
The Best Way to Pick up "Nimble" Dividends
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 18 June 2013 00:00
- Written by Jim Nelson, Editor, Income & Dividend Report
- Hits: 47
In weeks past, I've been writing a lot about defensive, large-cap dividend payers as a way to hedge against increased market volatility. Today, I'm going to switch gears and show you why bigger is not always better.
Large companies, as I've repeated again and again in these pages, are typically less volatile than smaller ones.
Blue chips are also much more inclined to have international operations – reducing their short-term currency risks.
And finally, the larger a company is, the more likely it is to have a No. 1 market share in its business. That helps it defend against competition.
Think Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE:PG)... Its stock doesn't move a whole lot, it does business in 180 countries, and it makes top-tier products like Crest toothpaste, Gillette razors and Pampers diapers.
An Unlikely Patriot
- Details
- Created on Friday, 14 June 2013 00:00
- Written by Aaron Gentzler, Editor, Unconventional Wealth
- Hits: 113
Twenty-nine-year-old Edward Snowden is an American you should admire. He dropped out of school and took high school equivalency classes to achieve his GED. He nurtured an interest in and an aptitude for computers and information technology.
He joined the Army in 2003 because he wanted to do his part as an American to help the Iraqi people. He wanted to make a difference. He proceeded to break both of his legs during a training exercise and never became a Special Forces solider.
After discharge from the Army, Snowden took a job as a security guard at a National Security Agency office in College Park, Maryland. From that job, he worked his way up to IT security for the CIA and eventually landed at Booz Allen Hamilton, a major defense contractor. That job came with top-level security clearance and responsibility.
If the story ended here, CNN and USA Today would write about Snowden, claiming him a success story. He overcame adversity. He showed initiative and motivation, something we're conditioned to believe is missing from the millennial generation.
As of this writing, however, Snowden is in hiding. A few days ago, he was in Hong Kong. That's because he recently released details of the US government's PRISM surveillance program to reporters from The Guardian, including civil liberties writer Glenn Greenwald.
What the Papers Aren't Reporting About the NSA Scandal
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 13 June 2013 00:00
- Written by Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners
- Hits: 121
Behind every great fortune is a great crime, said French novelist Honoré de Balzac. What crime lies behind Booz Allen Hamilton?
Fraud, mostly.
More on that in a moment...
The Dow fell -116 points yesterday. Gold fell $9 an ounce. Still no clarity in the markets. Still no resolution. The unstoppable force of more and more credit is still bearing down on the immoveable object of excess debt.
Ben Bernanke is pushing for higher stock prices... higher consumer prices... and higher bond prices. Mr. Market still hasn't expressed himself clearly.
Read more: What the Papers Aren't Reporting About the NSA Scandal