Why Portugal May Be the Next Greece
The worst is over for the euro zone, the experts say. But Greece isn’t really fixed and Portugal could become a second big problem before year-end
The worst is over for the euro zone, the experts say. But Greece isn’t really fixed and Portugal could become a second big problem before year-end
Stimulus policies such as Quantitative Easing have had the side effect of boosting the Fed’s net income, but they have also created a couple of big risks.
Institutions such as Goldman Sachs have many advantages over individual investors, but sometimes the little guy has the edge.
Sterilized bond buying could help lower interest rates and boost the economy a bit without adding to inflation, but don’t expect a major impact.
To know what’s really happening to your own standard of living, don’t pay attention to government’s statistics – just go to the grocery store or a department store and look around you.
Despite all the problems facing the global economy, the average U.S. stock has doubled from its 2009 lows. So this seems like the time to ask whether share prices have run up too far, too fast.
The greatest threat to any long-term investor is inflation. It not only erodes the value of stocks and bonds, but also depresses economic growth and misleads policymakers.
Central banks are trying to revive weak economies by injecting large amounts of money. That policy helps in the short run, but easy money can also create the conditions for future booms and busts.
Thursday’s deal is supposed to allow Greece to avoid default and prevent the Eurozone from breaking up – but the deal isn’t final, it can’t work, and the real problems lie elsewhere.
The economy, the stock market and even the November elections will largely be determined by a group of people who are almost invisible to forecasters.
Cheap loans being offered by the European Central Bank to help reflate the Eurozone are encouraging some banks to boost their profits by loading up on risky bonds.
There’s a growing optimism that the common European currency can be saved, but the numbers argue that this is unrealistic.