John Batchelor Show: Aramco IPO fail, Venezuela's petro fail, Turkey lira fail, Brexit unknown

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Forbes: Central Banks On Gold Buying Spree Over Dollar Worries

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The world's central banks are on a gold buying spree that has lasted more than a decade. That's the longest period of consistent gold acquisition by the so-called official sector in more than half a century.

But this time the motivations of the buyers are different than they were back in the 1950s, and they are worrying. That's why investors should take note, including anyone who owns the SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) exchange-traded fund, which holds bars of solid bullion.

In the distant past, central banks had to buy gold because of its vital role in the global financial system. Now they are choosing to do so because they are worried about the dollar. In other words, they've been scared into this bullion buying binge. Read more here.

Gold Bars

Photo by Roger Attington on Unsplash

WSJ: What Is Market Breadth?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Some stock-market strategists are increasingly concerned about something called “market breadth,” or rather the current lack of it. But what does it mean, and why should you care?

Market breadth is a measure of how many stocks are moving the major indexes. It can serve as one indicator of how much staying power a rally is likely to have. Read more here.

Photo by Mark Finn on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: Coke’s New Caffeine Lift

Almost from its creation over a century ago, Coca-Cola has been synonymous around the world with fizzy, caffeinated soft drinks. But now the company’s leaders want to the company to branch out into a considerably different type of caffeine charge. Read more here.

Briefings: Lessons on Borrowing...$200 million at a Time

By SIMON CONSTABLE

There I was, saying it in all seriousness: “Hey, fella! Can you spare $200 million?” The reply was nonchalant: “Let’s see what we get.” A few hours later, back came $220 million in the electronic equivalent of cold hard cash. The next day, a similar discourse. “How about another $200 million?” “We’ll find out soon enough,” was the response. The result: $195 million to add to the $220 million. Read more here.

BBC TV: No, Globalization Isn't Over

Forbes: Venezuela's Latest Lurch Into Insanity

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Venezuela just lurched from the absurd into the insane.

While the country suffers the brutal effects of hyperinflation, its socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, just mandated that the country's banks now must accept a certain type of cryptocurrency.

It's hard to know how that will help ease its economic crisis. Read more here.

Middle East Eye: Uncertainty around Aramco IPO shows Saudi dysfunction

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The apparent delay in the sale of Saudi Arabia's mammoth-sized oil firm Aramco is a symptom of dysfunctional government, analysts say. 

It is just one example of bizarreness emanating from the kingdom, which says it wants to unhook its economy from oil dependence.

Earlier this month, a slew of conflicting reports broke claiming that the initial public offering (IPO) of the state-owned oil company was either off or delayed. Read more here.

Forbes: Turkey To Face Brutal Credit Crunch

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Not only is Turkey suffering a currency crisis it is now headed for a brutal credit crunch, according to new research. Read more here.

Korn Ferry: Greece-- One Down, Still Many More to Go

Things haven’t been great for Greece. Its people have been subject to crushing cutbacks in civil services and a troubled economy for nearly a decade. And while this week brought good news—the country successfully completed an emergency bailout loan program—leaders there face the daunting task of reinvigorating the nation’s people and economy. “You have to win hearts and minds,” says Kirsta Anderson, the London-based global solutions leader for Korn Ferry’s Culture Transformation practice. Read more here.

BBC World News: Is Globalization Over?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

BBC interview with David Lubin (Citigroup) and me a few days ago preceded by a report from the U.S. Interview starts around 2.49 minutes into the video.

Forbes: 9 Things You Need To Know About Turkey

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Turkey is in a mess.

Its currency is in a tailspin and inflation is out of control.

There really is a lot going on so here are some important things to know.

Forbes: How Trumponomics Torpedoed Gold Prices

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Gold's not been having a good year, and you can lay the blame at the door of Trumponomics. Read more here.

Forbes: Recession Signals From The Bond Market, A Phantom Menace

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Some economists have caught a case of recession jitters all because of what is happening to the so-called yield curve.

But the case for an economic slowdown based on interest rates is flawed, new research shows. That's in part because the Federal Reserve is largely responsible for changes in the yield curve and at the same time, the Fed no longer has the power to shock the markets with its actions. Read more here.

Barron's: Wheat Will Rise On Bad Weather

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Extreme weather is expected over the next 12 months and is likely to push up wheat prices to levels not seen since 2012. Read more here.

Photo by rajeev ramdas on Unsplash

Korn Ferry: UAE’s Prime Minister to Bosses ==> Make Your Employees Happier

By SIMON CONSTABLE

It doesn’t sound like something that would attract the attention of a country’s leader, at least not in countries where grumbling employees may be the norm. But when Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, recently heard that only 60% of employees in five government departments were satisfied with their jobs, he gave the managers of the departments new orders: Fix the problem in six months. Read more here.

United Arab Emirates

Photo by Christoph Schulz on Unsplash

Forbes: Another Worry For Investors In Turkey -- A NATO Split

By SIMON CONSTABLE

As if a currency crisis alone wasn't enough, now investors in Turkey could have another thing to worry over.

The country could split from NATO as soon as the end of the year, according to a recent report. Read more here.

Forbes: Don't Blame Trump for Turkey's Woes

By SIMON CONSTABLE

These past two days it would have been easy to get the impression that U.S. President Donald Trump is responsible for the currency crisis in Turkey.

Unfortunately, for Turkey, Trump is not the source of all their economic woes.

Overwhelmingly, the real problems are insane economic policies implemented under the rule of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. Read more here.

Barron's: Time to Buy the British Pound?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Paranoia over Brexit, the future of the British economy without Europe, has pummeled the British pound lately, taking it to levels not seen since last year.

However, the currency situation may not reflect the real strength in the British economy nor the historically uncanny ability of the European Union to reach eleventh-hour deals, and hat means there may be profits to be had for investors. Read more here.

MonkeyStolen234, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Barron's: Gasoline Prices Expected to Level Off This Fall

By SIMON CONSTABLE

The end of the U.S.’s summer driving season will remove some of the upward pressure on gas prices, though they won’t stray too far from recent levels through the fall. Read more here.

Photo by Marek Studzinski on Unsplash