Can We Make Sound Financial Decisions Anymore?

Harry S. Dent, MBA Dent Research

Hate.

Central.

Banks.

Loathe them.

They’ve hijacked our economy and the markets and taken away all our power to make sound financial, investment, and business decisions.

Sure, you’ve got to hand it to them: they pulled us away from a depression, thanks to their trillions in stimulus. I mean, QE has had a huge impact on the economy. Two percent growth isn’t great, but it’s a hell of a lot better than a depression.

But in the process, they’ve separated the economy and markets from any fundamentals.

There’s no rhyme or reason why the markets should be as high as they are, yet we are, Dow breaking 26,000…

Demographically, the economy should be slowing down – with the exception of the blip in births that recently hit on a 46-year lag, yet here we are…

Companies aren’t making productive investments in their businesses. Rather, they’re buying back shares, and so prices go up…

Worst of all, there’s no precedent here. There’s nothing to look back on and say, “well this is what happened before, so here’s what we can expect!”

Essentially, there’s no way to make sound financial, investment, or business decisions anymore because the tools we could once use are now useless.

Author

Harry S. Dent, MBA

Dent Research

Harry S. Dent Jr. studied economics in college in the ’70s, but found it vague and inconclusive. He became so disillusioned by the state of his chosen profession that he turned his back on it.

EUR/USD trims gains, hovers around 1.1900 post-US data

EUR/USD trades slightly on the back foot around the 1.1900 region in a context dominated by the resurgence of some buying interest around the US Dollar on turnaround Tuesday. Looking at the US docket, Retail Sales disappointed expectations in December, while the ADP 4-Week Average came in at 6.5K.

GBP/USD comes under pressure near 1.3680

The better tone in the Greenback hurts the risk-linked complex on Tuesday, prompting GBP/USD to set aside two consecutive days of gains and trade slightly on the defensive below the 1.3700 mark. Investors, in the meantime, keep their attention on key UK data due later in the week.

Gold loses some traction, still above $5,000

Gold faces some selling pressure on Tuesday, surrendering part of its recent two-day advance although managing to keep the trade above the $5,000 mark per troy ounce. The daily pullback in the precious metal comes in response to the modest rebound in the US Dollar, while declining US Treasury yields across the curve seem to limit the downside.

XRP holds $1.40 amid ETF inflows and stable derivatives market

Ripple trades under pressure, with immediate support at $1.40 holding at the time of writing on Tuesday. A recovery attempt from last week’s sell-off to $1.12 stalled at $1.54 on Friday, leading to limited price action between the current support and the resistance.

Dollar drops and stocks rally: The week of reckoning for US economic data

Following a sizeable move lower in US technology Stocks last week, we have witnessed a meaningful recovery unfold. The USD Index is in a concerning position; the monthly price continues to hold the south channel support.