The primary difference between mutual funds and ETFs (exchange-traded funds) is that while an open-end mutual fund is priced once based upon the market closing, ETFs, as well as closed-end mutual funds trade all day. This actually goes back to the Panic of 1966 when mutual funds were open-ended but traded on the exchange and […]
All those investigating cycles within the economy made a simple mistake. Kondratieff followed agriculture/commodity prices when agriculture accounted for 70% of the GDP pre-19th century. That only began to decline from 1850 forward, dropping to 40% by 1900 as the Industrial Revolution emerged with the invention of the steam engine. Moreover, aside from climate impacting […]
All commodities, including gold, trade substantially differently than stocks or real estate. Pictured here is wheat back to 1200. Note that you see what appears to be a brain wave. Commodities trade differently because they are subject to nature. Manufactured items can be produced on a more regular basis. However, commodities are subject to weather, […]
The old idea that inflation is created by an increase in money supply has distorted the minds of many people. Inflation is caused by numerous factors for it is not a one-dimensional aspect. For example, say a bird flu has rendered half of the egg production to be worthless, which would send egg prices soaring. […]
The most fundamental truth about trading is that your opponent is YOURSELF. The majority must be wrong because they are the fuel that propels the market. The market enters a flash-type crash when the vast majority is LONG, and they try to sell, but there is no bid. Far too many people demonize trading such […]
Economics is well known for rather unrealistic theories based upon fundamentally unsound principles, such as the assumption that all things remain equal. Reality parts with academics whenever such assumptions are drawn to a foregone conclusion. However, greater false assumptions, which go unnoticed, lie at the foundation of so many theories in economics – primarily the […]
Japan has recently condemned US neocons for speaking favorably of nuclear war. The United States was the first nation to use an atomic bomb during a war, hitting the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. Nearly a quarter of a million people were instantly killed, while countless others suffered […]
We at Armstrong Economics honor the men and women who bravely served in the armed forces. We thank you for your service, upholding American freedoms, and sacrificing everything to provide everyone, even the ungrateful, with an opportunity to live in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave. My father was with the […]
Click here to read my latest interview with Piero Messina for SouthFront. Preview: “I named my computer model after Socrates because the oracle of Delphi had said that he was the smartest man in Greece. He tried to prove the oracle wrong and the process proved it to be correct. He was put on trial […]
