Gold / Silver Prices and market information:
Kitco
The Bullion Desk
Base metal prices and market information
Metal Prices
London Metals Exchange
Metal Bulletin
NYMEX.com
Uranium price and market information:
Nuclear Industry (mining, reactor, conversion, enrichment)
Uranium Price
General commentary and news on the mining sector:
Mine site
Mining News
Northern Miner
On be continued….
The activities of central banks form a vital role in the global economic system in that they determine the supply and price of money. Each central bank has exclusive rights on the supply of money in its currency, and (typically) acts as the lender of last resort in order to ensure the robustness of the local banking system. Central banks also serve a number of other roles in accordance with the objectives set down in there mandate, these may include: monetary policy (setting short term interest rates), foreign exchange intervention, holds and manages the foreign reserves, overviews payment and settlement systems.
Most Important Central Banks for GBP Based Investors
The following links provide a wealth of information concerning the nature, workings and decisions of the respective central bank:
Bank of England of the United Kingdom
Central Bank of the UK (Bank of England) Homepage - Aims to achieve monetary and financial stability. Since its founding more than 300 years ago it has always has to exclusive right to issue Pounds Sterling, however only since 1997 has it been able to independently set interest rates in accordance with an inflation target.
Minutes of Bank Committees, including the Monetary Policy Committee meetings which sets interest rates.
Remark: If you get the chance then I recommend visiting the Bank of England Museum which you will find in Threadneedle Street in the City of London and is open during office hours.
The Federal Reserve of the United States of America
The Federal Reserve Boards Homepage - Has a duel mandate to promoting growth and control inflation, however the Fed does not have an explicit inflation target. US Federal Reserve is the sole institution in the world which sets interest rates for US Dollars and controls of the supply of US Dollars.
Minutes and statements of the US Federal Reserve open market committee
The European Central Bank of the European Union
European Central Bank Homepage - The primary objective of the ECB is to maintain price stability in Euros which it has exclusive right to supply. The ECB where price stability is not effected “shall support the general economic policies” (Treaty article 105.1) which are high level of employment and sustainable and non-inflationary growth.
Monthly Bulletin of the ECBs Governing Council - explains monetary policy decisions and provides analysis of the prevailing economic situation.
Note: The ECB is the only central bank listed which uses details concerning the money supply within its modeling of future inflation expectations. The explicit link between inflation and money supply means that the ECB is in a strong position when defending its own objectives against political interference (namely the over-supply to money to fund government programs).
The Bank of Japan the central bank of Japan
Bank of Japan Homepage - A juridical person established under Law sets the Bank’s objectives “to issue banknotes and to carry out currency and monetary control” and “to ensure smooth settlement of funds among banks and other financial institutions, thereby contributing to the maintenance of an orderly financial system”. Where, “currency and monetary control shall be aimed at, through the pursuit of price stability, contributing to the sound development of the national economy.”
Speeches, Annual Review and Quarterly Bulletin of the Bank of Japan
Other Central Banks
Sometimes it is best to take a step back and invest some time in developing a deeper understanding of finance, investing, economics, and associated areas such as mathematics and software. Since a young age I have always been interested in these topics and since 1996 I have been an active investor. However, I am still very much on the learning curve and I really see no end in my personal training program.
Below I point out some useful educational resources:
Investing
The Apprentice Investor - “In this special series of articles from RealMoney contributor and market strategist Barry Ritholtz, learn about becoming a better investor — not just a better stock picker”.
Investopedia - Huge resource which is useful for just about any investor. The site also contains (cost effective) guides which can be purchased for those working towards formal professional qualifications (NASD Series, CFA, CFP).
Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway letters to shareholders (1977-present) - Warren Buffet is not only an exceptional investor but also a very good communicator of investment ideas. His letters to shareholders offer numerous valuable lessons for us all.
Economics
Wikepedia - Homepage on Economics at Wikepedia
Economics Network - Online Texts and Notes list at Economics Network a UK base resource of learning and teaching economics.
Internet Resources for Economists - Good selection of links to blogs, books, journals and more.
Mathematics & Software
FreeTechBooks.com - Online computer science and engineering books (+ lecture notes).
MIT’s OpenCourseWare - MIT’s is a world class university which values the teaching process. Now much of there teaching materials have been made available over the web to self-learners. When I visited MIT in 1998, I discovered that because the education system in the US is basically a product which is sold to fee paying parents the quality of the education is very high.
Paris Tech - Similar idea to the MIT’s OCW but the resources here are provided by the collection of world class universities in Paris, France known as the Grandes Ecoles. Like MIT I also had the good fortune to visit a number of these institutions when I was in academia.
Textbooks in Mathematics links by Alex Stef - An updated collection of links to math’s texts kindly provided by Alex Stef.
To be continued…..
Though a certain amount of care should be taken when reading information and discussing ideas on forums they can form a useful source of information and/or an arena to test/exchange/find ideas. Please note I use the term information (rather than tips) and I use the term care because forums are used to propergate “ramping”, “pump & dump” scams, so please take care!
General Investment Forums
Motley Fool - Just about the oldest investment and personal finance forum in the UK which cover a wide range of topics for a wide range of users.
iii Community - User moderated finance forum in which mainly individual stocks are discussed.
Elite Trader - Mainly US focused traders (rather than UK investors) but still very useful to know about.
ADVFN Forum - Forum for LSE focused investors and traders.
Raging Bull - Mainly US focused investors where I recall having a number of detailed discussions on IT hardware.
Quantitative Finance Forums
Wilmott.com - The large and active Quant forum which has many informed and helpful users. Though I am not as active on this forum as I once was you may see me post from time-to-time as DrBen.
Nuclear Phynance - Quantitative finance forum with an orientation towards trading rather than analysis. I post on this forum as MrBen.
CQF.info - Forum and Resource on Maths, Finance & LaTeX; which has a rather academic atmosphere.
Global Derivatives - In there words, “a site aimed at promoting the education and expansion of all things related to financial engineering, derivatives and quantitative finance”.
Directories
Money Science - As the name suggest this site offers links, articles and a forum, seemingly on all topics associated with the application of the scientific method to the domain of finance.
On this page I have collected together a number of links to useful investment blogs which I have come across:
Closed-end Funds - http://closed-endfunds.blogspot.com/
News and news of mainly US listed closed-end funds.
Quant Investor - http://quantinvestor.blogspot.com/
A Quant developers investment activity and views (incl. closed-end fund activity).
Random Roger’s Big Picture - http://randomroger.blogspot.com/
US Portfolio Managers view on portfolio management, foreign stocks (ie non-US), exchange traded funds, options.
The Big Picture - http://bigpicture.typepad.com/
A marco prospective of the investment envoiroment.
ThinkBlog - http://www.thinkequity.com/blog/
NYC equity research teams blog focused on growth opportunities.
Quantitative Trading - http://epchan.blogspot.com/
Quantitative investment and trading ideas, research, and analysis.
Contrary Investor - http://www.contraryinvestor.com/index.html
Monthly research, commentary and perspectives on the financial markets.
The Oil Drum - http://www.theoildrum.com/ Detailing development within the Energy sector.
John Kay (FT Columnist) - http://johnkay.com/ Articles on microeconomics.
To be continued…..
Inflation on the United States of America in US Dollars
Calculator of U.S. Retail Price Inflation (1666-present), Wage Inflation (1914-present), Medical Cost Inflation 1936-present) using Tom’s Inflation Calculator
Links to Inflation Rates in other nation states
UK Inflation in pounds sterling
Japanese Inflation in yen
Euro-zone Inflation in euros
MEASURINGWORTH.COM
To be continued…