Forbes: More Bad News For Germany's Economy

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The bad news just keeps on coming for Europe's largest economy, Germany.

Already we know that the German economy contracted in 0.1% in the second quarter. But mounting evidence now suggests that the third quarter will offer a repeat performance of declining output.

If that happens the country would officially be in a recession, which is generally defined as two back-to-back quarters of negative growth. Read more here.

TheStreet: Gold Prices Are Pointing to a Significant Decline in the Bond Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Bond investors should brace themselves for a significant reversal.

While corporate fixed-income has done well these past few months, the gold market suggests that may be coming to an end soon. The problem is that a rallying bond market and surging gold prices would seem to be incompatible, according to new research. Read more here.

Forbes: Investors Flee China As Trade War, Hong Kong Jitters Bite - $65 Billion Leaves in Latest Quarter

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The U.S.-China trade war and the recent violent Hong Kong protests are giving people a case of the jitters.

They've pulled a staggering $64.7 billion out of China in the three months through July, according to new research from the Washingon D.C.-based think tank, The Institute of International Finance. Read more here.

Reinhold Möller, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Forbes: Did Trump Just Act Like Britain's King Just Before The 1776 Revolution?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Last Friday U.S. President Donald Trump ordered American companies to stop doing business in China. The move came as part of Trump's fast-deteriorating trade negotiations with China. Read more here.

Forbes: Hong Kong's Richest Man Makes Multibillion-dollar Bet On Britain

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

The truly rich don't get that way without being well, truly savvy with their money. So when a bona fide billionaire makes a big bet on something it pays to take notice and possibly do something similar. Read more here.

Hot-desking Story Featured in Slate.France

Le «hot desking», un open space de l'enfer

Read more here.

Joe Piscopo Show: Talking Jobs, Economy, Tariffs

TheStreet Video: Why Bitcoin Is Still Nowhere Near Money

By SIMON CONSTABLE

TheStreet: Bitcoin Failed as a Safe-Haven Investment Last Week

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Whatever bitcoin might be, it isn't a substitute for gold bullion. 

Specifically, it fails as a hedge.

"I would call gold more of hedge and bitcoin more of a speculation," says Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at Chicago-based Cresset Capital Management. Read more here.

Featured in MarketWatch Story on FoodStamps

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

"Why would the administration want to take critical food assistance away from children and families who need it? The administration has claimed ineligible people are using the program, perhaps fraudulently. But that’s unlikely.
Looking at figures through 2016, Forbes contributor Simon Constable calculated potentially fraudulent SNAP expenditures at under 1% of the cost of the program — a minuscule amount compared to behemoth agencies like the Pentagon, which can’t even pass an audit, and which nonetheless keeps getting budget increases."

Read the full story here.

U.S. Department of Agriculture

Lance Cheung/Photojournalist/USDA/Lance Cheung,

Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

On "Liquid Lunch" Talking Economics, Brexit, Recession

Featured in The Sun newspaper

The Sun newspaper included comments of Constable on a story about the uprising in Hong Kong.

Commentator and author Simon Constable warns on Forbes: “If protests continue in Hong Kong, and inspire mainlanders to act similarly, then the army will take control of the Hong Kong territory and crush the protesters.
“At that point, you’ll have a Tiananmen Square crackdown take two, only it will be in Hong Kong, not Beijing.”

Read the full story here.

Forbes: Gold To Reach Almost $1,700 Next Year, UBS Says

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold prices could rally more than 10% in the next 18 months, a new report says.

The bullion bounce surge, which has taken off this month, will continue to be propelled by mounting investor worries, according to Swiss bank UBS. Read more here.

TheStreet: Why You Should Buy Pipeline Stock Antero Midstream

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Antero Midstream is a victim of guilt by association, and investors should consider taking advantage.

The stock of the natural-gas-pipeline and energy-storage company is woefully undervalued, offers solid dividends and has growth potential. Read more here.

Joe Piscopo Show: More Trade Wars

Korn Ferry: A Triple Whammy Against Women’s Pensions in the UK

By SIMON CONSTABLE

As corporate issues go, gender pay continues to pick up growing attention and concern. But new data suggests the size of pension gaps may be far greater—and harder to resolve. Read more here.

Barron's: Corn Crop Problems Could Lead to Higher Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The corn crop looks set to go from bad to worse, which should boost prices of the grain.

The combination of a weather-related planting delay, lower-than-forecast crop yields, and the probability of fall frost could conspire to produce double-digit gains in futures prices. Read more here.

Barron's: A Bad Bet on the U.K. Real Estate Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Dumping United Kingdom–based real estate listings service Rightmove might be, well, the right move for investors. Read more here.

TheStreet: Russia Investigates Apple Over Possible Abuse of Dominant Market Position

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Russia is investigating tech giant Apple over allegations the company is abusing its dominant market positions.

Apple is no stranger to strange claims against it coming out of Russia. In 2015, Russia investigated the tech giant over allegations of producing homosexual propaganda. Read more here.

WSJ: Money Rains on a Cloud ETF

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A new exchange-traded fund focused on cloud computing is off to a strong start with an investment strategy that differs from an established rival’s.

Global X Cloud Computing (CLOU) ETF, which launched April 12, has already drawn about $475 million of inbound investment flows. With market gains, the fund now has a shade over half a billion dollars in assets. Read more here.

Photo by Pero Kalimero on Unsplash

WSJ: What Does ‘Premium-Priced Bonds’ Mean?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Investors may increasingly find bond-market strategists referring to “premium-priced bonds.” Individuals would do well to understand the terminology because it may help them make better investments. Read more here.

WSJ: ETFs Don’t Rule Gold, After All, Says One Analysis

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The launch of exchange-traded funds backed by gold bullion changed the way investors could access the precious-metals market.

Nevertheless, professional investors still prefer to buy or sell futures contracts when investing in gold, according to a recent report. Read more here.

Photo by Realterm, 

CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, 

via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: The Iron Ore Boom Looks Like It’s About to Go Bust

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The recent iron-ore boom may be ending. Production of the mineral, which is used to make steel, is rebounding after recent disaster-related interruptions to mining operations. That supply surge, along with slipping demand, should send prices into a tailspin, analysts say. Read more here.

TheStreet: Newell Brands Posts Profit Slump but Beats Wall Street Expectations

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Shares of Newell Brands were rallying in premarket trading Friday despite a massive drop in profit after the consumer-goods conglomerate's second-quarter adjusted earnings beat forecasts. Read more here.

TheStreet: GoPro Misses on Earnings, Gets Boost From Upbeat Outlook

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Shares of beleaguered action-camera company GoPro rose in after-hours Thursday after issuing an upbeat outlook despite missing quarterly earnings estimates. Read more here.

TheStreet: Cloudera Rallies After Activist CarI Icahn Takes 12.6% Stake

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Cloudera was jumping in premarket trading Friday on news that activist investor Carl Icahn had taken a 12.6% stake in the data analytics company.

In regulatory filings, Icahn revealed that along with his associated businesses he had accumulated the position. Icahn is chairman of New York-based conglomerate Icahn Enterprises. The filing also said Icahn might seek seats on Cloudera's board. Read more here.

TheStreet: Yeti Crushes Earnings and Revenue Estimates, Raises Outlook

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Yeti Holdings, the maker of Rambler mugs and coolers, smashed expectations with its second-quarter earnings report and raised its profit outlook for the year.The company earned 33 cents a share after adjustments, far better than the 30 cents that Wall Street expected. Read more here.

TheStreet: Fitbit Skips a Beat, Shares Plunge on Lowered Revenue Outlook

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Fitbit, the maker of wearable fitness trackers, was skipping a lot of beats in premarket trading Thursday after saying revenue for the year would be lower than it previously forecast. Read more here.

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

TheStreet: Beyond Meat Tumbles After Secondary Offering Is Priced at $160/Share

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The sizzle just left shares of plant-based protein producer Beyond Meat. 

The stock was off more than 6% in premarket trading Thursday following the pricing of a secondary offering of shares Wednesday evening. Read more here.