UK Banks: Back on Solid Ground?
Our chart of the FTSE 350 Banks Index is only the beginning of the discussion

By Nico Isaac
6/7/2013 3:15:00 PM

In May 2013, Britain's top five banks announced that they will meet capital levels required by the Bank of England without having to sell shares. "This is confirmation that the capital debate is over," began one news source. "The funding problem in the UK is over." So, are they right?

Filed Under: Bank of England, banks, Elliott wave, europe, financial forecast, FTSE

Category: European Markets

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Australia's Banking Boom: Knock on Wood
How Elliott wave analysis -- not luck -- propelled the ASX 200's rally to five-year highs

By Nico Isaac
5/6/2013 6:00:00 PM

In April 2013, use of the 'b' word -- as in "bubble" showed up in a surprising region of the world: the Australian banking sector. Turns out that major Aussie lenders have enjoyed a powerful upswing since the start of the year. As a recent Wall Street Journal article wrote: "It's astonishing given the size of Australia, its population, economy and banking system, relative to other countries like the US, China, Japan and the UK."

Filed Under: Asian-Pacific Short Term Update, ASX All Ordinaries, banks, credit crisis, Elliott wave, financial forecast

Category: Asian Markets

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Cyprus Banking Bailout: Costs Rise, Heads Roll
The officials and experts who didn't see the crisis coming were supposed to prevent it in the first place.

By Nico Isaac
4/16/2013 5:00:00 PM

The cost of the Cyprus bailout seems to get bigger every week. It has gone from 10€ to 17€ and now to 23€ billion euros. What's more, recent reports say the island nation will need a bigger bake sale to raise the necessary funds to foot the growing bill. On April 12, rumors swirled that the European Central Bank will force Cyprus to liquidate half-a-billion dollars of its gold reserves.

Filed Under: bailouts, banks, central banks, europe, european central bank, European debt crisis, eurozone, financial forecast

Category: European Markets

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Did a Divided Fed Cause Gold's Decline?
The answer is in central bank charts of gold prices and stimulus initiatives since September 2011.

By Nico Isaac
4/10/2013 7:00:00 PM

Ask a mainstream economist about the relationship between central bank monetary policy and precious metals, and you'll probably hear something like: Stimulus is to gold prices what doping is to Lance Armstrong's cycling speed. Stop the money printing and low interest rates, and you slow down gold's gains.

Filed Under: banks, central banks, Elliott wave, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Gold, inflation, precious metals, quantitative easing, Traders, U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed)

Category: Gold and Silver

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Every Big Economic Collapse Has a First Domino
When will the dominoes begin to tumble, or has it already begun?

By Bob Stokes
3/26/2013 4:45:00 PM

Financial history shows that every major credit boom is followed by a credit bust. The latest round of financial headlines remind us that unsustainable debt is crippling Europe. In the U.S., heavy debt burdens have put local and state governments in deep financial trouble. Federal debt rapidly approaches $17 trillion. What will be the first financial domino to fall?

Filed Under: 1929 Stock Market Crash, banks, Ben Bernanke, bloomberg, central banks, debt, economic indicators, Elliott wave, European debt crisis, gross domestic product (GDP), Interest Rates, monetary policy, quantitative easing, Robert Prechter, soverign debt crisis, U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed)

Category: U.S. Economy

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Why Even Federally Insured Bank Deposits Are At Risk
See the newly updated list of the safest U.S. banks

By Bob Stokes
3/19/2013 4:45:00 PM

Cyprus lawmakers voted against the European Union's proposed levy on personal bank accounts in Cyprus. Even so, bank runs in Cyprus may be unavoidable. Depositors in the U.S. can't help but wonder whether bank runs could happen here. It's true that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation guarantees U.S. bank accounts up to $250,000. Yet, during a time of severe bank stress, the FDIC's guarantee could actually make a bank crisis even worse. Learn why. Plus, find out how you can access a list of America's safest banks.

Filed Under: banks, Club EWI, conquer the crash, debt crisis, deflation, economic indicators, European debt crisis, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), media, personal finance, risk management, Robert Prechter, safe banks, safe haven

Category: U.S. Economy

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Does More Monetary Stimulus Mean Higher Gold Prices? (Update)
Central bank charts of gold prices & stimulus initiatives since Sept. 2011 set the record straight

By Nico Isaac
2/7/2013 12:15:00 PM

I recently discussed the widespread belief that monetary stimulus from global central banks is to gold prices what doping is to Lance Armstrong's cycling speed. Stop the money printing and low interest rates, and you significantly slow down gold's gains. The mainstream notion was again alive and well on Feb. 7, the day of the European Central Banks' latest policy meeting. In the hours leading up to the event, the rumor meter tipped in favor of further vigilance and "opened the door to another rate cut." 

Filed Under: Bank of England, banks, central banks, european central bank, Gold, monetary policy, quantitative easing, stimulus package, Traders, Treasury bonds, U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed)

Category: Gold and Silver

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Is It Really Time to Buy Europe?
Before you sit down at Europe's born-again-bulls table, make sure your analysis has all of its objective legs intact

By Nico Isaac
2/6/2013 12:30:00 PM

Filed Under: banks, Elliott wave, euro, euro stoxx 50, europe, european central bank, european markets, eurozone, sentiment

Category: European Markets

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Why "Predicting the Present" Is Not a Forecast
Stock market trend changes are almost always unexpected.

By Bob Stokes
1/7/2013 7:00:00 PM

Most mainstream market forecasts boil down to trend extrapolation. By definition, a forecast describes the future. But all too often, people who try to describe the future do little more than "predict the present." Recent bullish 2013 forecasts from Wall Street may have been voiced on the verge of a major trend change.

Filed Under: 1929 Stock Market Crash, banks, Bob Prechter, Citigroup, Elliott Wave Theorist, financial forecast, Goldman Sachs, herding, history, investor psychology, long-term trend, market crash, market forecasts, sentiment, stock indexes, Wall Street

Category: Stocks

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Wall Street Is Tied to the Whipping Post, And the Lashing Has Only Begun
Public hostility toward the financial sector will likely grow

By Bob Stokes
10/3/2012 5:15:00 PM

Wall Street is being punched, probed and pink-slipped: Nearly four years into the economic "recovery," tens of thousands of people employed in the financial sector are still being shown the door.

Filed Under: banks, economic indicators, Elliott wave, unemployment, Wall Street

Category: U.S. Economy

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Libor Scandal: The World's "Worst Kept Secret"
Five years after the media caught wind of it, why is the Libor scandal such a big deal now?

By Nathaniel Williams
8/15/2012 1:45:00 PM

Filed Under: banks, european markets, European Union (EU), eurozone, LIBOR

Category: European Markets

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The Federal Reserve Has No Cure for What Ails the Economy
Learn why the credit crisis will inevitably conclude in a deflationary depression

By Bob Stokes
7/18/2012 3:30:00 PM

The Federal Reserve will not be able to prevent a global credit collapse. EWI's Financial Forecast Service offers ideas on how to position yourself. These are ideas you can put to work right away. The unprecedented build-up of credit in the past 80 years means the economic collapse could be swift. It's best to prepare now...

Filed Under: banks, Ben Bernanke, central banks, credit crisis, credit rating, debt, deficit, deflation, economic depression, economic indicators, Elliott wave, european central bank, European debt crisis, Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), Greenspan, liquidity, M3 money supply, monetary policy, monetization, QE2, quantitative easing, Sovereign Debt, Treasury bonds, U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed), unemployment

Category: U.S. Economy

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Q&A: EWI's Take on Europe's Debt Crisis, Part II
Will the symptoms of Europe's debt crisis continue to spread?

By Nathaniel Williams
7/12/2012 1:30:00 PM

At the end of the interview, the German financial blogger asks what kind of asset classes should investors hold should the world slide into a full-blown economic depression? 

Filed Under: banks, brian whitmer, euro, europe, European debt crisis, european markets, European Union (EU), eurozone

Category: Global Markets

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The Most Advertised Financial Avalanche of All Time, Yet So Many are Whistling Past the Graveyard
America's banks and the soon to be administered test from across the Atlantic

By Bob Stokes
6/25/2012 5:00:00 PM

Previous summits have not stopped the sovereign debt crisis from escalating, and EWI doesn't see any reason why the next one will either. Meanwhile, demand deposits have been declining at...

Filed Under: banks, Club EWI, deflation, European debt crisis, European Union (EU), eurozone, International Monetary Fund (IMF), safe haven, soverign debt crisis

Category: U.S. Economy

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"Eerie Echo" of Pre-Lehman: Is Contagion from Europe Coming to the U.S.?
If Greece exits the eurozone the fallout could be "Lehman on steroids."

By Bob Stokes
6/12/2012 4:45:00 PM

As credit risk increases in Europe, the outcome may dwarf the Lehman shock wave. How can you protect your portfolio in a downward spiral of deflation? Every investor needs to know the answer to this question...

Filed Under: banks, conquer the crash, credit default swaps, debt crisis, deflation, economic depression, economic indicators, Elliott wave, European debt crisis, eurozone, Lehman Brothers, soverign debt crisis, subprime lending, world central banks

Category: U.S. Economy

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Europe's "Flight to Safety" Now Boarding: Fasten Your Seatbelts!
We've got Europe covered with a brand-new European Financial Forecast AND exclusive June 11 webinar

By Nico Isaac
6/4/2012 6:00:00 PM

Filed Under: banks, brian whitmer, CAC40, central banks, DAX, debt, debt crisis, Elliott wave, euro, euro stoxx 50, europe, european central bank, European debt crisis, european markets, European Union (EU), eurozone, Greek debt, socionomics

Category: European Markets

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Position Yourself for the Rest of "Conquer the Crash"
The earlier you prepare, the better

By Bob Stokes
5/17/2012 5:30:00 PM

To this day, I wonder why Robert Prechter's book Conquer the Crash has not been more widely recognized. It described in advance much of what happened in the 2008 financial crisis. Learn what Prechter is saying now...

Filed Under: banks, Bob Prechter, conquer the crash, debt crisis, debt downgrade, deflation, economic depression, Elliott Wave Theorist, Greek debt, market crash, market forecasts

Category: U.S. Economy

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Europe's Financial Flameout: Too Late to Extinguish?
How many European banks will go up in smoke?

By Bob Stokes
5/16/2012 5:30:00 PM

Almost all bank buildings look solid on the outside. But, of course, the goings-on inside are what count. Greece is again in the spotlight, yet we know the financial health of other European banks is the bigger question...

Filed Under: banks, Elliott wave, euro stoxx 50, europe, european central bank, European debt crisis, eurozone, Goldman Sachs, soverign debt crisis

Category: European Markets

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Good-bye Stock Trades: Look Who's Had Enough
Since 2008, stock trading has continued to fall. What do we see ahead?

By Bob Stokes
5/14/2012 5:30:00 PM

During Q1 of 2012, trading on the New York Stock Exchange was down 23 percent vs. last year. But if many individual investors have stayed out of the market, how has the S&P 500 more than doubled? Moreover, what do we see ahead?...

Filed Under: banks, credit default swaps, Elliott wave, financial forecast, investment decisions, investor psychology, liquidity, risk appetite, Robert Prechter, stock indexes

Category: Stocks

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Bank Capital Rules: A Reminder of 2008
"In 2008 there was a credit crisis. The next five years will bring on the credit crisis."

By Bob Stokes
5/10/2012 5:00:00 PM

Is our financial system stronger today than it was four years ago? Most people might think so; mainstream news analysis rarely suggests otherwise. But here's what the public remains mostly in the dark about...

Filed Under: banks, central banks, conquer the crash, credit rating, debt crisis, debt downgrade, deflation, economic depression, Elliott wave, european central bank, European debt crisis, hedge funds, U.S. Federal Reserve (the Fed)

Category: U.S. Economy

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