Overall, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 56.07 points, or 0.59%, at 9497.34, marking a gain for the third straight session. The Dow is up 45% from its 2009 low on March 9.
Helping push the index higher was another round of buying in several types of commodities including gold, silver and oil. From an economic standpoint, investors touted an expectation of growth globally that will, in turn, drive demand for each of these products into the end of the year.
You know all those electric cars and "clean energy" sources we'll be riding in and using to wean ourselves off fossil fuels? They won't be worth bupkis without rare earth metals — neodymium, dysprosium, terbium and other elements essential to green energy technologies like wind turbines and the power system of the Toyota Prius.
Now for the bad news: Worldwide demand for rare earths — 15 different elements — is expected to exceed supply by some 40,000 metric tonnes per year in about three to five years. (more)
Speaking with Marketwatch’s Rex Nutting, I learned yet another incredible datapoint: Over the past decade, the U.S. private-sector has lost 203,000 jobs. That’s right: Zero job growth for 10 years.
In the 1940s, we created 10 million jobs. In the 1990s, we added 19 million new jobs. Even during the much-maligned 1970s, we added almost 16 million jobs.
The 2000s might be zero. Some economy, huh?
The government has created 2.1 million jobs over that period — primarily teachers. And, that’s the weakest government job growth in nearly two decades.
We've had a very nice move up in the stock market.
More than just nice — one of the best moves ever.
We went up over 3,000 points in 6 months.
You've watched in disbelief as our resilient markets climbed higher month after month as you continued to wonder — how long can this last?
There are some strong signs indicating that this ride may be reversing directions.
Here are five warning signs that the rally could be over: (more)
In its annual report, the U.N. trade and development agency UNCTAD also urged the creation of a new world reserve system using several currencies rather than just the U.S. dollar, and called for tough controls on cross-border financial flows.
"The likelihood of a recovery in the major developed countries that would be strong enough to bring the world economy back to its pre-crisis growth path in the coming years is quite low," the report said. (more)
UN countries should agree on the creation of a global reserve bank to issue the currency and to monitor the national exchange rates of its members, the Geneva-based UN Conference on Trade and Development said today in a report.
China, India, Brazil and Russia this year called for a replacement to the dollar as the main reserve currency after the financial crisis sparked by the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market led to the worst global recession since World War II. China, the world’s largest holder of dollar reserves, said a supranational currency such as the International Monetary Fund’s special drawing rights, or SDRs, may add stability. (more)
