U.S. News: Why U.S. Stocks Will Beat Europe and China in 2018

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Next year looks set to be a good one for U.S. stocks, which are expected to plow far ahead of those in other key regions in the world, analysts say. 

The forecast for the U.S. economy, which is by far the largest in the world, is solid with GDP growth expected to average 2.5 percent over 2018, according to a recent report from Goldman Sachs. If the projection comes true it will be double the 1.2 percent rate reached during 2016's second quarter, according to data from the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Read more here.

John Batchelor Show: Swamp Creatures Outperform The Market

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Photo by Max Harlynking on Unsplash

Barron's: A Cold December Could Heat Up Wheat Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE

A BRUTAL COLD SNAP IN DECEMBER IS LIKELY, ACCORDING TO SOME FORECASTERS, and it could lift winter wheat prices higher than $5 a bushel, up more than a dollar from recent prices. A rally would aid the much-beleaguered farm economy, which has been hurt by steadily falling wheat prices since mid-2012. Read more here.

Photo by rajeev ramdas on Unsplash

P+I: ETFs offer plethora of risk management alternatives

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Some of the biggest exchange-traded funds now have bid-ask spreads lower than the underlying securities they hold.

There are multiple reasons, but a significant part of the answer is that these investment vehicles offer a more favorable investing alternative for the institutions that buy and sell them. Read more here.

Photo by Joshua Mayo on Unsplash

U.S. News: Don't Let Dire Market Forecasts Shake You

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The headlines are frequent and give a scare to investors who take a glass-half-full-view of the stock market.

• "Black Monday Is Coming Again," warns the Daily Express.
• "Investors, This Is Your Last Warning About the U.S. Stock Market," cautions MarketWatch.
• "Crash Fears Escalate As Markets Hit Highs Not Seen Since Black Tuesday and Dot-Com Disaster," moans the Daily Telegraph.

Should you sell your stocks when the pundits say a crash is looming? Read more here.

At Work At the Middle East Monitor Conference

By SIMON CONSTABLE

If you are interested in a copy of the presentation please send a note via the contact form. 

Forbes: Templar History Shows Leaders High On Power Get Toppled

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Business chiefs listen up, especially in the world of big tech where egos are becoming rather inflated.

There's a vital message for those who get too powerful tucked into a new book: One day you'll draw the ire of someone more powerful, and they will attempt to destroy you.

The caution, although not explicit, comes in the epic story of the warrior monks known as the Knights Templar whose activities have given rise to much speculation and theories, some reasonable and some absurd.

Expert history writer Dan Jones digs deep for the facts and chronicles their history in his recently published book The Templars: The Rise and Fall of God's Holy Warriors. It is published by Viking in the U.S., and by Head of Zeus in the U.K. Read more here.