European Central Bank Raises Interest Rates

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 7, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Europe’s Central Bank – the equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve – announced that it was raising interest rates from 1.0% to 1.25%.  This is the first rise in interest rates by the ECB since July 2008.   Analysis: For me, this is a very clear indication that, at the worldwide political level, the Great Recession is over.  That worldwide gross domestic product (GDP) is on...
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Apple’s Monopolistic Behavior

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 7, 2011 in Blog | 2 comments I just bought a brand new iPod Classic 160GB because I had completely filled up my old 80GB one with music.  I am a big fan of the iPod because I am a big fan of having my immodest music collection with me wherever I may be.   So I plugged my new iPod into my computer to register the product to activate my warranty coverage.  So imagine my horror when, instead of being taken to a product...
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What About Gold Right NOW?

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 6, 2011 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 2 comments Loyal blog reader, Clint, asked a question yesterday about my 2011 Prediction for gold prices that I feel needs to be brought into the larger forum of the blog itself.  Here is what Clint asked:   “Hello Jason I have a question about your gold prediction. With the fed printing money faster than I can say “the fed is printing money”, rising turmoil in the middle east (although not...
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Statistics Are Not the Truth, Just a Mathematical Method

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 5, 2011 in Best of the Blog, Blog | 0 comments One of my continual beefs with our Western World and my criticisms of capitalism is our overemphasis on numerical and statistical methods in analysis.  In fact, these two forms of analysis are so dominate that the word analysis has become a synonym for numerical and statistical methods. In conducting analysis as an investor for almost twenty years I can tell you that analysis requires equal...
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4 April 2011: Barron’s Reviews The Intuitive Investor!

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 4, 2011 in News & Events | 0 comments This morning I received news that Barron’s, that scion of the investment world, has reviewed The Intuitive Investor: A Radical Guide for Manifesting Wealth.  While I consider the review to be only slightly positive, I am grateful to Gene Epstein and Michael Santoli of Barron’s for selecting my book for review.  Purportedly they receive up to 3,000 submissions per year, and to be...
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Jobs Created, Unemployment Rate Down

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 1, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Department of Labor data for March shows that the U.S. economy created 216,000 jobs and that the unemployment rate fell to 8.8%.  This compares to expectations by economists of 195,000 jobs created and no change in the 8.9% unemployment rate.   Analysis: The theme on the blog this week has been the various economic data that are beginning to create an image of a recovered economy.  From the...
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Unemployment Claims Down Slightly

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Mar 31, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Department of Labor data show that weekly jobless claims fell by 6,000 last week to a level of 388,000.  These data are notoriously volatile so the four-week moving average is a more reliable number and was up 3,250 to 394,250.   Analysis: Both of the above figures are well within the realm of a statistical error and future revisions to the data may swing 180 degrees from these results. ...
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