The News / Hottest

With a guest vacancy today, Merlin takes the time to answer many listener questions with topics ranging from the new Alibaba IPO to How to eliminate gap risks in stocks, Diversification to modification of trading platforms and price charts.



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Core consumer prices in Japan were up 3.1 percent on year in August, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on Friday.

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John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld are Joined by Dr. Richard Ebeling who takes a look at the current economic situation and its bubble like appearance. The trio take a look at several factors contributing to the problem, as well as several solutions.




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Chairman of Sprott US holdings joins John O’Donnell and Merlin Rothfeld for a look at the booming natural resources market here in the US, and how it plays into the global events. Mr. Rule lays out may factors which support continuation of strength here in the states, not only for oil, but natural gas as well. Then focus turns to Gold and its current fall from grace!



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The European Central Bank on Thursday left its key interest rates unchanged at a record low, in line with economists' expectations, after reducing them in a surprise move last month.

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With employment increasing by far more than anticipated, the Labor Department released a report on Friday showing that the U.S. unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in over six years in the month of September.

The report said non-farm payroll employment jumped by 248,000 jobs in September following an upwardly revised increase of 180,000 jobs in August.

Economists had expected employment to increase by about 215,000 jobs compared to the addition of 142,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.

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Today’s listeners were treated to a great show with Tillie Allison and also received a copy of her DVD: “How To Retire With More Money Than You Need” , just for calling in. Tillie talks about how investors should be looking at the current market selloff, and what it means to the long term picture. Merlin and Tillie also talk about increasing rates of return, which is a key topic in Tillie’s DVD.


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The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday slashed the growth projections for the world economy and said the recovery remains weak and uneven amid rising financial and geopolitical risks.

In its latest World Economic Outlook, the Washington-based lender cut the global growth projection for this year to 3.3 percent from 3.4 percent predicted in July. The forecast for 2015 was slashed to 3.8 percent from 4 percent.

The downgrade reflects setbacks to economic activity in the advanced economies during the first half of 2014, and a less optimistic outlook for several emerging market economies, the report said.

"These worse prospects are in turn affecting confidence, demand, and growth today," Olivier Blanchard, Economic Counsellor and head of the IMF's Research Department, said.

"In advanced economies, the legacies of the pre-crisis boom and the subsequent recession, notably high debt burdens and unemployment, still cast a shadow on the recovery, and low potential growth ahead is a concern."

Global growth remains "mediocre" as investment has been weaker than expected for sometime and the economic evolution is becoming more differentiated with the pace of recovery turning more country-specific, he noted.

Advanced economies as a whole was forecast to expand 1.8 percent this year, unchanged from the July projection. Next year, the group is expected to grow 2.3 percent, which is slightly slower than the 2.4 percent seen earlier.

The 2014 growth forecast for the U.S. economy was reduced to 2.2 percent from 2.7 percent. The outlook for 2015 was maintained at 3.1 percent.

Eurozone's 2014 growth projection was lowered to 0.8 percent from 1.1 percent. The 18-nation economy is forecast to expand 1.3 percent next year, which is less than the July prediction of 1.5 percent growth.

Germany's growth forecast for this year was cut to 1.4 percent from 1.9 percent and the outlook for next year was slashed to 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent.

Projections for France and Italy were downgraded, while Spain received an upgrade. France was expected to grow 0.4 percent this year and 1 percent next year. The Italian economy was forecast to contract 0.2 percent, but expand 0.8 percent next year.

Spain's 2014 growth forecast was raised to 1.3 percent from 1.2 percent and the projection for 2015 was lifted to 1.7 percent from 1.6 percent.

Outside the euro area, Japan's growth forecast for this year was severely cut to 0.9 percent from 1.6 percent and the projection for next year was lowered to 0.8 percent from 1 percent.

Growth projections for the U.K. were left unchanged at 3.2 percent for this year and 2.7 percent for 2015. Canada saw its forecasts boosted by 0.1 basis point each to 2.3 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

Among emerging markets, China's forecasts were maintained at 7.4 percent for this year and 7.1 percent for 2015. India's growth forecast for 2014 was raised to 5.6 percent from 5.4 percent and the outlook for next year was held at 6.4 percent.

Russia's growth forecast for 2014 was kept at 0.2 percent, while the projection for 2015 was cut to 0.5 percent from 1 percent.

The Brazilian economy was projected to grow 0.3 percent this year and 1.4 percent next year. Both figures were revised down.

Mexico's growth forecast for this year was kept at 2.4 percent and the forecast for 2015 raised to 3.5 percent from 3.4 percent.

The report noted that heightened geopolitical risks could prove more persistent, and could also worsen. That may lead to sharply higher fuel prices, trade disruptions, and further economic distress, the IMF warned.

The lender also cautioned that loose financial conditions and consequent yield-hunting could fuel financial excess. "A larger-than-expected increase in U.S. long-term interest rates, geopolitical events, or major growth disappointments could trigger widespread disruption," the report said.

The IMF urged policymakers in advanced economies to avoid prematurely normalizing monetary policy, but to embrace more fiscal adjustment to support the recovery on a long-term basis.

Emerging markets will need to deal with monetary policy normalization in the U.S. and possible shifts in financial market sentiment, the IMF said.

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Just to think - Global Incident Map: Global Incident Map Displaying Outbreaks Of All Varieties Of Diseases

China's services sector continued to expand in September, albeit at a slower pace, the latest survey from HSBC Bank revealed on Wednesday with a PMI score of 53.5.

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