5.31.2016

Welcome back from your Holiday weekend folks. I trust it was a good one for you all.  Down here in "Sunny Florida" our weekend was actually pretty routine. We did our usual "house stuff" on Saturday, and then Sunday we did our bike and beach routine. But there was a bit of a twist.  In all the years I've lived down here, and the literally hundreds of times I've been to the beach, I have never seen the water as clear as it was Sunday. It reminded me of Aruba or St.Kitts. I was standing in water up to my chin and yet I could see individual grains of sand on the bottom. It was gin clear.   I can only guess that a body of deep gulf water broke off of its normal current pattern and piled up on the shore, as it was several degrees cooler than the water was last week. 

The Memorial Day edition of the Financial Intelligence Report is now posted at investyourself.com. In it I quote some of Smedley Butler's book "War is a Racket". Butler was the most decorated Marine in US history and does a fine job of taking the war mongers to task. It is certainly worth a read.

This Memorial Day, if you want a very interesting look at where the Star Spangled Banner came from and what the words mean, check out this 13 minute video. I warn you however you might not be able to keep the tears out of your eyes!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaxGNQE5ZLA

Memorial Day


noun
a day on which those who died in active military service are remembered, traditionally observed on May 30 but now officially observed on the last Monday in May.

Simple right? There it is in black and white. A day to remember those that have died in active Military service. Yet a day that is not that simple to dismiss. A day that often divides me emotionally. 

5.27.2016


Good morning all, we've made it to Friday and a special one at that!

It's been a wild week for sure, and it is going to end on a good note as we go into the Memorial day Holiday, and of course the market is closed on Monday. 

5.26.2016

Mornin all....

We've had two big up days in a row and this morning the futures are once again green. Granted they're not up triple digits, but green is green. We have the DOW up 3, the S&P up about 3.

This has been a powerful move, despite the fact that volume has been punk.

Today's FIR is posted and in this one I toss out an opinion that is going to sound conspiratorial, outrageous and probably nuts. But if you really think about it, it makes a ton of sense. So, I invite you all to stop by investyourself.com and give it a read. You might come away thinking I've lost it, but then...you might just think it actually does make a lot of sense. It's a different way of looking at Trump and Hillary, and what the puppet masters might have in mind.

Got Popcorn?

There’s some things wherein I’m just as mainstream as it gets. I love nothing more than popping up a big old bowl of organic medium white popcorn, and settling down in my recliner for a good movie.  (Sidenote>> the whirly pop popcorn maker is my go to favorite way to make the stuff. )  Well, if you like drama, suspense and a really thick plot line, this upcoming election season should be a blockbuster.

Think about the incredible amount of things that have converged on us for 2016.  First of course is the Trump/Hillary situation which we’ll get to in a bit. But besides that carnival we have a plethora of incredible things going on globally.  First let’s talk about Venezuela. The US news outlets don’t do a very good job of showing the abject horror of what’s happening down there, because frankly they adore the Socialist doctrine and don’t want to show US millennial’s that “hey, this is the outcome of a socialist society”

5.25.2016

Good morning folks, welcome to Wednesday....

Who knows.  Many people have asked me why yesterday the market decided to soar for 200+ points.  I simply reply that the market didn't do anything of the sort. The PEOPLE behind the market however....they wanted it up. So the question becomes...why? 

5.24.2016

Hello everyone....

Yesterday was a real snoozer.  Volume was abysmal, very similar to a holiday session. 

Overnight the dollar rose, which pulled oil down a bit. But it isn't bothering anyone as it did rebound and the futures this morning are up quite smartly

5.23.2016


As is always the case I like to welcome you back from your weekend by asking you all if it was a pleasant one for you. Down here in sunny Florida the heat has shown up right on schedule. Yes we're in that rut now where it will be 90+ every day, with humidity hovering around 80%. As you can imagine, it doesn't take much to break a sweat now, as something as mundane as watering your plants will indeed get you dripping. People ask me "Bob, I hear the heat and humidity in south Florida during summer is pretty brutal, is it really that bad?"  The reply... Yep.  It sure is.  I'm not about to kid anyone, it does get brutal. But it's all part of the deal, so we deal with it. On the flip side, the gulf is already 82 degrees, and floating around in the surf on a lazy Sunday afternoon is hard to beat.