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Holiday Shopping

Generally I have refrained from posting anything related to personal finances, but I do feel that with the amount of time that I spend learning how to optimize my own personal finances, it is probably worth sharing.

Generally you can go to your different credit cards’ websites and earn points by clicking on links to online merchants directly from the credit cards’ shopping website. The big names in this space are Chase Ultimate Rewards, ShopDiscover, and Citi ThankYouRewards.

To be honest, it is kind of a pain to log in and click through the links on the credit card websites.

The alternative is simple: Ebates.com

Click on the link from ebates, use whatever card you want and then receive a check in the mail. The reward levels below are definitely financially helpful for your Christmas shopping:

Ebates

Posted in Personal Finance.

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By SurlyTrader – December 4, 2013

Secular Stagnation?

When does Krugman get angry?  When someone believes that a cyclical economic downturn cannot be offset completely by central banking actions.  Unfortunately for Krugman, Mr. Larry Summers actually congratulates the Federal Reserve for not letting the economic fallout to mimic the catastrophe of the Great Depression.

The actuality is that Summers merely believes that the United States is following the Japanese path.  Maybe that is why he will not become the heir behind Ben Bernanke – because he is too much of a realist.  It would not be the first time I saw someone lose a job because he/she did not blow enough smoke.

Well worth it to watch his speech:

 

 

Posted in Economics, Markets, Politics.

Tagged with , , , .

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By SurlyTrader – December 3, 2013

Noteworthy News – December 2, 2013

Economy:

A Keynes for all seasons – Economist

Colleges are teaching economics backwards – Washington Post

Forget the PS4. Here’s what’s really saving the Japanese economy – Washington Post

Eurozone youth unemployment reaches record high of 24.4% – Guardian

Markets:

Bull Market Shows No Sign of Death With Yellen Support – Bloomberg

Waiting for bitcoin to get boring – Reuters

Bitcoin under pressure – Reuters

How Wall Street Has Turned Housing Into a Dangerous Get-Rich-Quick Scheme—Again – MotherJones

Why Stocks Are Undoubtedly Experiencing A Massive Bubble – Forbes

Politics:

A Town Near Seattle Just Voted To Pass A $15 Minimum Wage — The Highest In The Country – Business Insider

Banks:

Wall Street doesn’t earn its keep – Salon

TOON_GaryVarvel_QuietDinner

 

Posted in Economics, Markets, Media, Politics.

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By SurlyTrader – December 1, 2013

Noteworthy News – November 25, 2013

Economy:

Why are we so obsessed with ‘hard work’? – New economics

Caught in a Revolving Door of Unemployment – New York Times

Never Saw It Coming: Why the Financial Crisis Took Economists By Surprise – Foreign Affairs

An Optimistic View of the United States – New York Times

Three reasons the U.S. labor force keeps shrinking – Washington Post

A universal income is not such a silly idea – Financial Times

Markets:

Demand, price for B.C. bud dropping in wake of U.S. legalization – The Globe and Mail

ECB considers negative deposit rate – Bloomberg

Politics:

What’s The Best Way To Tax Marijuana? It Depends On What You Want – NPR

 

Banks:

How can banking still be a source of scandal so long after the crash? – Guardian

US banks warn Fed interest cut could force them to charge depositors – Financial Times

double-sided-economy

Posted in Economics, Markets, Media, Politics.

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By SurlyTrader – November 24, 2013

Bitcoin Mania Part II

There are three factual statements to be made about Bitcoin:

  1. It has created Millionaires
  2. It has captured the minds of millions who would like to become millionaires
  3. It will bust again

The last fact is that it is incredibly entertaining to watch.  It is a sideshow that represents market psychology in a small test tube.  The largest daily volume was about $67M which is a microscopic market in the investment world.

bitcoin mania part ii

Hyperbolic trajectory, but relatively small volume

There is another market (and many others in history) that showed a similar trajectory with an ugly aftermath.  The most significant representation is gold in the late 70’s through the mid 80’s:

76-85 gold bust

Gold Price 1976 – 1985

The more recent representation was silver and its quick march to $50:

silver 08-13

Silver Price 2008-2013

My guess is that the size of the bitcoin market has allowed it to skyrocket at a faster pace, but it probably implies that it can go even further than the last Booms and Busts.

Start watching it like the followers at reddit.  They find the experience similar to the following:

A9hq2x5

Posted in Markets.

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1 comment

By SurlyTrader – November 19, 2013

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