We live in the Age Of Information, which is great if you like being informed. As with everything in the universe, though, whatever positive comes with that, a negative exists to balance it. One negative aspect to the preponderance of information is that if old information it is not updated or corrected, the old information remains the truth, and that truth might not accurately reflect reality. My quite bright friend (my column earlier this week) and I have discussed the following “truth,” on several occasions, as have many others in the media and in political circles – American manufacturing is moribund.
The truth is that manufacturing information is incorrect, according to an article in Forbes (Heavy Metal Is Back: The Best Cities For Manufacturing).
For a generation American manufacturing has been widely seen as a “declining sport.” Yet its demise has been largely overplayed. Despite the many jobs this sector has lost in the past generation, manufacturing remains remarkably resilient, with a global market share similar to that of the 1970s. More recently, the U.S. industrial base has been on a powerful upswing, with employment climbing steadily since 2009. U.S. manufacturing exports have grown at their fastest rate since the late 1980s. In 2011, American manufacturing continued to expand, while Germany, Japan, and Brazil all weakened in this vital sector.
I find this new information both enlightening and uplifting. I will leave the details of why this is happening for your reading, but suffice it to say, as I have been saying for some time now, that 1) the U.S. is in its fourth great historical transformation period and 2) as China rises economically, the days of it providing cheap manufacturing will disappear, and so they are. Always the optimist, I see this resurgence in manufacturing as one more link in a positive, long-term chain of events that will bring the U.S. economy back to health and prosperity. Now, onto a question from a reader.
I am a Forex Day Trader. I would like to know how do you trade the direction of the day and trade within the daily trend?
I don’t trade forex, but I do trade, and I’d imagine the parameters for trading trend and direction in forex are the same as in other trading – Understand your market, track the data, analyze the data, develop a strategy, execute according to your strategy when you perceive the entry point as optimal. When the trend or the direction changes, exit when you perceive the exit as optimal, or when your strategy dictates your exit. The thing about forex is the moves are usually not big, so trading the smaller incremental changes requires sharper skills, or so I think. I could be wrong about that, but of one thing I am certain – until you know the answer to your own question, trade lightly or not at all.
There’s more good news out there, but this one will do for today. (Pssst … no mention of Europe today. Shhh …)
Consumer prices were flat in November as Americans paid less for cars and gasoline, a further sign of a cool down in inflation that could give the Federal Reserve more room to help a still-weak economy.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
