A common mistake in real and financial markets is a mix-up of means and ends. A showcase cropped up during the financial crisis of 2008 and its aftershock including the debt crisis in Southern Europe. In response to the fiasco, policymakers round the world wasted trillions of dollars worth of public funds on makeshift schemes that ended up hobbling the financial forum and the real economy. Upon closer inspection, however, the epic blowup was a consequence of excessive meddling in the markets rather than the outgrowth of a laisser-faire policy as was widely assumed in the public sector as well as the private segment. To make things worse, a confusion of the objectives and methods led to feckless and even wrackful moves in response to the financial flap along with the Great Recession and their aftermath. From a larger stance, a solid grasp of means and ends is the first step toward designing a cogent agenda in any domain....

In any field of human enterprise, a solid grasp of means and ends is the first step toward fixing up a worthwhile scheme while cutting down waste and beefing up productivity. The next step is to thrash out a trenchant plan that exploits the opportunities and avoids the pitfalls in the landscape. The third task is to put the resulting plan into action with gumption and dispatch. In the case of the debt crisis, the proper course would require a cogent agenda to ensure a speedy recovery of the financial forum and the real economy. On the downside, the damage done to date by the banksters and politicos is far too massive to allow for a quick or painless recourse. On the upside, though, the lack of a pat answer does not mean that there are no useful cures, or that the problems should be left to fester on their own. For there are baneful schemes as well as healthful ways to deal with the ailments. To this end, it’s high time to consider the big picture and take the high ground. As things stand, the politicians will not on their own initiative take up the gauntlet and tackle the problems in a serious way. In that case, the voting p...

Summary Private Gain and Public Mulct The Currency is Not the Debt The Currency is Not the Economy Muddle of Economic and Financial Factors Boons of Currency Union Contagion of Debt Political Factors Inflation as a Cure for Political Bungling Private Windfall and Public Largesse Noxious Impact of Misguided Schemes German Resolution to a Greek Tragedy Hale Approach to the Banking Industry Right and Wrong Ways to Boost the Economy Forward Gaze References ...

The ebook begins with a survey of the main drivers behind the stock market. The financial forum responds to a slew of factors ranging from the pep of the economy to the mood of the investors. In that case, an orderly approach to prediction has to integrate a heap of forces in the tangible economy as well as the financial forum. The second item on the agenda is a brief review of the history and nature of the leading benchmarks of the bourse. A couple of yardsticks have established themselves as household names while other metrics are less familiar to the general public. A third task involves a backward look at our near-term forecasts from 2017. A number of predictions turned out pretty much as envisioned, while some others were off the mark. The fourth item on the menu is the outlook for the real economy during the late 2010s and afterward. The realm of tangible goods and services provides the background against which the vehicles in the financial sphere play out their respective roles. The fifth topic concerns the role of the central bank in shoring up the real economy and pumping up the stock market. The spew of money c...

The outlook for the next few decades is pallid at best for the real and financial markets of Europe due to the litany of self-inflicted wounds and counterproductive schemes dished out by the political class. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy will continue to chug along despite the plethora of insults and injuries served up by the policymakers. An example in this vein is the crippling of the markets by way of contrived schemes to prop up the housing sector; a direct byproduct is to congeal the distortions in the chains of production and distribution that arose in the throes of the housing bubble. On the bright side, the vanguards of the business world garner a swelling share of their profits from foreign markets. In this way the dynamos partake of the growth of the global economy, the bulk of which springs from the emerging regions. The upshot is a bonanza for the U.S. bourse despite the inevitable splutter of sideswipes and upsets to pop up from time to time. From a different angle, the long wave of the commodity cycle embarked on its latest tour upon the blowup of the stock market in 2000. This type of mega circuit lasts 34 years o...

Short Summary, 5 Extended Summary, 5 Introduction, 9 Upward and Downward Modes of Forecasting, 12 Milestones by the Numbers, 17 Showcase for Prediction, 21 Top Exchange Traded Funds for the Stock Market, 23 Sway of Market Benchmarks and Index Funds, 30 Some Hits and Misses in the Short Run, 32 Pivot on Earnings, 36 Advantage of the Diamonds, 38 Relative Motion of Index Funds, 40 Turnout of Sprouting Markets, 41 Mature Markets Outside North America, 44 Tidal Wave of Fraud, 50 Grind-down of the Economy, 52 Big Picture of Real and Financial Markets, 54 Chokes on the Economy, 57 Impact of Money Printing, 58 Slowdown of Money Creation, 61 Cuffs on Madcap Spending, 65 Outlook Based on Price and Earnings, 67 Forecast based on Profit Trends, 69 Trusty and Tricky Aspects of the Cue, 71 Forecast for DIA, 74 Impact of the Election Cycle, 77 Boost from Tax Reform, 79 Mashup of Internal and External Factors, 81 Equivalence of Price and Time, 82 Quick Calls for SPY and QQQ via Scale Factors, 85 Beta for Short-term Movements, 86 Historic Milestones for Qubes and Spyders, 89 Comparison of Beta versus Gearing, 91 Bro...