Warren Buffett Says He's Been Buying More American Express or Wells Fargo -- GuruFocus.com

According to a recent CNBC interview, WEB has been adding stakes to AXP or WFC.

Warren Buffett Says He's Been Buying More American Express or Wells Fargo -- GuruFocus.com

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InvestorMind

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The Wealth Strategies Group

7 Signs of Change 1. The Personal Consumption Expenditure drops for three consecutive months. www.bea.gov/newsreleases/national/pi/pinewsrelease.htm 2. Institutional “Money Flow”: which way is the wind blowing and how hard: www.wordenbrothers.com, Barrons – Commitment of Trades posts hedging data. 3. Leading Economic Indicators (LEI) trending down for three to four months. www.businesscycle.com 4. Employment rate: * Non-farm employment begins to decrease www.bls.gov * After tax personal income flattens or falls www.treasury.gov/economic-plan/ * Total Federal Tax receipts decrease www.ustreas.gov/ 5. Durable goods spending flattens and/or decreases for four to five months out of six www.census.gov/indicator/www/m3 6. S&P 500 EPS growth drops for two or more quarters www.standardandpoors.com 7. Inflation/Deflation * Producer Price Index (PPI) www.bls.gov/ppi * Consumer Price Index (CPI) www.bls.gov/cpi

The Wealth Strategies Group

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The Impact of Negative Real Interest Rates

In short, we think that real short-term rates will remain in negative territory for some time to come, and that monetary policy will continue to look more like it did in the inflationary 1970s than it did in the disinflationary 1980s and 1990s.All other things being equal, negative real interest rates tend to exert the following effects: * They discourage saving. People with cash in the bank are getting a rate of return that is too low to compensate them for purchasing power loss -- and it's even worse considering that savers have to pay tax on the interest income. * They encourage borrowing for the same reasons that they discourage saving. * They lead to increased speculation as investors seek higher returns to offset purchasing power loss. * They lead to reduced confidence in the dollar as a store of value. * They weaken the dollar against other currencies. * They put upward pressure* on the prices of commodities and precious metals as people seek out alternate stores of value, among other reasons**.

Safe Haven | The Impact of Negative Real Interest Rates

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The Dollar: Short-Term Rebalancing Of Expectations, Long Term Risk

Read past Market Outlooks Recent price action in the foreign exchange market in our estimation is a function of a short-term rebalancing in expectations of global growth and demand for commodities. When combined with the pause in the rate hike campaign at the European Central Bank and growing uncertainty regarding the prospects for economic growth in the United States dollar bulls that have been lurking in the shadows for the past several years have re-emerged with gusto over the past two weeks. Although, the late summer rally in the dollar that has seen its value increase roughly 8% against the Euro, the case for a sustainable reversal in the fortunes of the greenback is neither persuasive nor compelling.The trend in the value of the dollar since mid summer of 2002 has been downward. The accommodative monetary policy at the Fed and benign neglect of the greenback of the Bush administration has been the primary culprits behind the debasing of the dollar. Yet, the rapid decline in the value of the US currency over the past year has been driven just as equally due to lingering problems in the financial system and what at best can be described as a sluggish economy.

Safe Haven | The Dollar: Short-Term Rebalancing Of Expectations, Long Term Risk

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Gold Support

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S&P 10 Years Forward Real Returns

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Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 11-August 15 2008)

Merk Economic Calendar: Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 11-August 15 2008)by Joseph Brusuelas Financial Markets Summary For The Week of August 11-15The publication of the advance retail sales report for the month of July on Wednesday and the consumer price index for the same month the following day should be the primary market moving macro events of the week. Outside of the US macro data, corporate earnings reports on Thursday for Wal-Mart, Nordstrom's and Berkshire-Hathaway all will be closely observed by the market. For the week earnings at Flour on Monday, Indy-Mac on Tuesday and Macy's on Wednesday will also impact the week in trading. The week will kick off with the release of the June trade balance and US budget statement for July on Tuesday. Wednesday will see the July import price report and June business inventories statement. Thursday will see the release of the weekly jobless claims data and the week will conclude the publication of the industrial production/ capacity utilization report for July, the TICS data for June and the preliminary estimate of consumer confidence by the University of Michigan for August

Safe Haven | Merk Economic Calendar: Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 11-August 15 2008)

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Reversion, 10 years Trailing P/Es

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Economic Calendar: Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 4-August 8 2008)

Merk Economic Calendar: Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 4-August 8 2008)by Joseph Brusuelas Financial Markets Summary For The Week of August 4-8The FOMC meeting on Wednesday and the personal income/spending report on Monday will shape the upcoming week in US financial markets. Other first tier data to be published during the upcoming week will be the ISM non-manufacturing reports on Tuesday, jobless claims on Thursday and non-farm productivity/unit labor cost report on Friday. The week will see another five days of plentiful earnings reports. Of the large number of firms reporting the releases by AMBAC, MBIA, Freddie Mac and Proctor and Gamble all retain the capacity to move the markets. Due to the FOMC meeting, there will be no Fed speak on during the week of August 4-8

Safe Haven | Merk Economic Calendar: Week Ahead In US Financial Markets (August 4-August 8 2008)

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