by MrBill » Fri 27 Jul 2007, 05:44:04
mkwin wrote:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')he problem with increasing the money supply is it causes inflation but as I previously said demand destruction will be causing deflation so there could be some kind of balance.
That is the definition of stagflation.
First of all higher prices from increased demand for commodities, energy and base metals from an expanding global economy is not inflationary. They are a one time shift higher in price, which shuld be offset from demand destruction somewhere else in the economy.
Higher prices reflect scarcity and ratcheting up costs in sourcing these basic resources.
What is inflationary is to increase money supply to accomodate those price increases.
This is what the world's central banks are doing at the moment when they sterlize export receipts from oil producers and Asian exporters. They take US dollars (or euros) out of circulation in their local economies, by printing more local currency instead, and then re-invest those excess foreign exchange reserves offshore, which is back in the USA (or Europe in the case of euros).
Every current account deficit equals someone else's current account surplus no matter what. It is an iron clad rule. The same for trade surpluses and deficits. You cannot have one without the other.
At the present stagflation is a perfectly logical outcome to events in the wider world.
One, you have demand from Chindia and the rest of the world for commodities, energy and base metals that are pushing up their prices.
Secondly, you have rapid money supply growth to accomodate those higher prices as well as central bank sterilization that prevents local currencies from appreciating to correct the trade imbalances.
And thirdly, you have falling housing prices and worsening credit conditions in the USA that are slowing the domestic economy.
Slower domestic growth combined by higher real inflation rates in the rest of the world are exactly how I would define stagflation in the USA.
I am inclined to follow mmasters advice as to where to park my savings. One third euro as a US dollar hedge (I have two-thirds of my assets outside the USD). One third oil & gas co. shares, especially the smaller oil service cos. that can work with NOCs. And one third in safe-haven investments that protect you against rising inflation. He likes gold & silver. I prefer rental properties. But to each their own based on their own assessment of what the future will look like?
I think we will fall to $60-65 yet this year in the crude. But the ETF is benefiting at the moment from a market that has gone from contango into backwardation. That means the long-only ETF is earning the roll each month as opposed to paying it away like was the case last year.
I cannot give you investment advice, but I usually sell half my position when the market gets over-bought, and then buy that position back when the market gets over-sold. It is still a long bias, so you can lose money if the market keeps going down. It is also not fool proof if you sell out half your long and the market keeps rallying. But it has worked for me quite well.
Also, as I have said before, I prefer oil company shares to flat price crude exposure because I think even at $60 a barrel oil companies can make money and afford to pay dividends. But if you are long crude at $75 today, you can only make money if it goes higher. It may, but it may not.
I buy the argument that P/E ratios can go from 10 to 25 based on investor sentiment, but oil companies, unlike Apple or other manufacturers, cannot simply expand their market share without exploring for and finding more oil to add to their reserves. I think one should keep that in mind when using P/E ratios as justification for owning a stock. Different market segments, different ratios.
All caveats and disclosers apply. Thanks. Good luck.
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