By MoneyMorning.com.au

The most disruptive technological force on the planet is happening quietly and relatively unseen by most of us.

When you plug your cellphone charger into a wall socket, you are probably connecting to one of about 500 coal-fired power plants in the United States.

What if all of them were shut down by 2050?

What if instead of getting your power from a centralised source, you got it from a small generating plant on top of your house or business or car?

What if everywhere you went, no matter when you needed electricity, it came from a small local source, instead of a giant power plant?

That is exactly what is starting to happen in the U.S., China and other nations around the world, including oil-rich Arab countries in the Middle East.

And it is a tremendous opportunity to invest.

The reasons behind this radical and disruptive change are many, but they all focus on changing the way we get power.

The World Future Energy Summit

Two months ago, at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, you could feel the tension surrounding the oil companies. I overheard conversation after conversation about when the hammer was going to fall.

Everyone stands as Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, enters the World Future Energy Summit on January 20.
Click to enlarge

At one point in the conference, Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, was interviewed on stage and asked how much longer we could continue to make energy the way we do now.

He pointed out that a stable Earth atmosphere can consume a large amount of carbon dioxide, but that there’s a limit, and we far exceed it now:

‘We’re emitting about 35 billion tons of CO2 this year. By 2050, in a much larger world economy, we have to be emitting less than 15 billion tons. So the world economy is going to grow by three times, but we have to cut back by more than half our carbon emissions.

‘What does that mean?

‘It means keeping the coal under the ground.

‘It means changing to electric vehicles.

‘It means radically different building codes.

‘It means facing the fact that our energy, when we produce power, has to be emitting about 100 grams of CO2, rather than 700 grams per kilowatt hour [of electricity generated] that is now emitted when we produce electricity.

‘In a way, this is straightforward arithmetic. But our political systems do not want to face straightforward arithmetic because it means making choices.

‘It means telling the coal industry that unless you have carbon capture and sequestration, the coal must stay under the ground.

‘It means saying to the oil industry that by 2030, our vehicle fleets must be electric powered; they cannot be internal combustion engine if we’re serious about this problem.

‘So far, we’re not serious about the problem. I pity our children, and I’m scared for them because we’re not facing the honest carbon budgets of the planet.‘

The moderator, BBC anchor Nima Abu-Wardeh, challenged any oil company representative in the audience to address how the world could reduce carbon emissions by more than two-thirds by 2050. Although dozens of representatives were present, not a single person stood up to answer.

Sheiks at the conference whose entire countries are dependent on selling oil are investing in renewable, nonpolluting, sustainable sources of energy.

Here we were in the United Arab Emirates, a country that is pretty much floating on a sea of oil, and hundreds of sheiks were avidly taking in a world summit devoted to not burning oil and coal and even gas.

They have built an entire modern country in only 50 years, a country that had no paved roads in the 1960s and supported its population with date palm plantations in desert oases and by diving for oyster pearls in the Persian Gulf. If they acknowledge that global warming is real and they are worried about the consequences, everyone else soon will be too.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai, two extraordinary United Arab Emirates futuristic cities with a combined population of nearly 3 million, are dominated by lofty cranes building new skyscraper after new skyscraper.

At 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai is the tallest building in the world and almost 1,000 feet higher than One World Trade Center in New York.
Click to enlarge

Fortune magazine has declared Abu Dhabi the richest city in the world. Yet both cities could be underwater by the end of the century if global warming increases at present rates.

Abu Dhabi’s leader, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is so concerned about global warming that he has backed his son’s initiative to build the world’s first carbon-neutral, nonautomobile city, called Masdar.

The first stage of Masdar focuses on the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a university of nearly 500 graduate students that is advised by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Apartment buildings in the city are powered by solar cells and cooled by wind towers that suck air from 50-foot heights to ground level, lowering temperatures the same way nomadic Bedouin tribes cooled their tents in the desert for centuries.

Energy’s new growth markets

We need a lot more power a lot sooner than many people could guess.

Africa is entering an industrial revolution and is starved for power. Brazil and many nations in Latin America are projecting huge demand increases for power. China’s amazing growth is actually retarded by an inability to build power plants fast enough. Rachel Kyte, vice president of sustainable development at the World Bank, said:

‘The idea that people have a right to energy is growing. Less than one-third of Africans have access to energy. You can’t get growth when businesses can’t get access to energy.‘

Sub-Saharan Africa has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies. Senegal, for example, grew at a rate of 45% in 2013 and is expected to continue that rate or better through 2018.

In fact, the focus of growth in the next decade is likely to shift from Asia to Africa. Here is what an Exxon Mobil display at the World Future Energy Summit declared about the near future just three decades away:

• There will be 2 billion more people on the planet.
• The global economy will be more than double its present size – 130% larger.
• We will need at least 34% more energy than we produce now, a figure that assumes extraordinary growth in efficiencies or it would be more than double that amount.
• The growth in demand for electricity will nearly double.

Jim Cramer, the host of Mad Money and co-founder of TheStreet.com, likes to say every so often that there are two things the world is going to need in the near future that he can bet on: energy and food. Except he often doesn’t say ‘energy’; he says ‘oil’. And therein lies a faulty perception – equating energy with oil.

Simple economics will rule. Even though the real costs of energy are not equalized, with coal, oil and gas burned without being charged for the harm they do to the environment and people’s health, sustainable sources of energy are rapidly achieving what is called ‘grid parity’.

That means solar and wind sources of energy are actually about to cross the threshold of being cheaper than anything else.

Solar panels electrify a residence in Silicon Valley, where power generated from sunlight is thought to be hip and cool.
Click to enlarge

We are cashing in on change itself, change that will come faster than the internet came upon us and faster than cellphones snagged us.

It is difficult to overstate how dramatic the change will be for every person’s lifestyle. Whether a sheep herder in Uzbekistan or a soccer mom in Pasadena, this is going to make your life different.

Stephen Petranek,
Contributing Editor, Money Morning

Ed note: The above article was originally published in The Daily Reckoning US.

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By MoneyMorning.com.au

Guest Post By Dennis Miller

As working folks get closer to hanging up their spurs, it is easy to become overwhelmed. When should you take Social Security? What type of insurance do you need? Should you buy an annuity? Do you need nursing home insurance? Should you roll over your 401(k) into an IRA? The list goes on and on.

Retirement planning requires many irreversible decisions. We each need to get it right; however, what is right for us is not always right for someone else. And, in addition to basic number-crunching, we each make assumptions about life and politics—sometimes without even realizing it.

One of my most significant personal decisions pertained to a Roth IRA. Managing your traditional or Roth IRA is an ongoing process, no matter how near or far you are from retirement. And the options are worth investigating regardless of the size of your portfolio. Making sure your money lasts requires much more than picking the right stocks. Owning those stocks—or whatever else you invest in—inside the right type of account can grow your portfolio faster and save you thousands of dollars in taxes, if not more.

I’m not shy about seeking out experts in different investment niches. In this spirit, I reached out to Terry Coxon, a senior economist and editor at Casey Research and principal in Passport IRA.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I want to add that Terry has taken the time to mentor me on occasion, and he’s encouraged me to bring some of my vast life experience to our readers. As Terry has reminded me from time to time, math is only part of the retirement puzzle—the uncertainties inherent to politics and the law are also integral pieces.

Terry travels the world, and I was lucky to catch him upon his return from a recent trip to the Cook Islands.

Dennis Miller: Terry, welcome. Many investors use a traditional IRA or retired with a lump sum from their 401(k). Can you tell us how a Roth IRA differs from those plans?

Terry Coxon: With a traditional IRA, if your income isn’t too high, you get a tax deduction for your annual contribution. But later, the money you withdraw is taxable as ordinary income, except to the extent of any non-deductible contributions you made. In the meantime, earnings accumulate without current tax, which helps the money grow much faster.

A Roth IRA is different. With a Roth IRA, you don’t get a tax deduction for your contributions; but all the withdrawals you later make can be tax free. The only requirements for keeping withdrawals 100% tax free are: (a) the Roth IRA must be in at least its fifth calendar year of existence; and (b) you must have reached the calendar year in which you will be at least 59 1/2 years old. As with a traditional IRA, earnings accumulate and compound free of current tax – which is the special power source of any retirement plan.

Most 401(k) accounts are similar to a traditional IRA in that contributions are deductible; withdrawals are taxable; and while they stay inside the account, earnings go untaxed. However, there is a variant called a Roth 401(k) that is available to sole proprietors and to participants in employer plans whose rules provide for Roths. With a Roth 401(k), there is no deduction for money that goes in; the money is invested free of current tax; and everything can be tax-free when it comes out.

Fleeing the High Tax Zone

Dennis: When I retired, I had a 401(k), and then rolled it over to a traditional IRA. As I began to understand the Roth IRA, I realized there were real benefits to putting my nest egg in a Roth. I had a CPA tell me not to do it, and he ran the numbers to show me why.

In April 2012, you published an article, Doing the Roth Arithmetic, which painted a much different picture. Can you explain all the factors and why they are so important?

Terry: Staying with a traditional plan or going to a Roth is a big decision, and it’s not always an easy or simple one. The decision needs to be based on the individual’s current circumstances, which are a matter of fact, and also on his hard-to-know future circumstances. Make the right decision, and you can come out way ahead. Let’s look at two extreme situations—which is helpful because extreme situations point to clear answers.

Situation #1 is the individual who has all of his investments in an IRA or other retirement plan, who is not in the top tax bracket, who expects that his tax rate is more likely to decline than to rise, and who expects to consume all of his assets in his own lifetime. That individual has nothing to gain by going the Roth route and might be walking into a higher tax bill if he takes it. If that description fits you, sit tight with your traditional IRA or 401(k).

Situation #2 is the individual with substantial investments outside of retirement plans, who is in or near the top tax bracket and expects to stay there, and who has more than he needs to live on for the rest of his life. That individual should definitely convert to a Roth. He’ll have to pay a big tax bill now rather than later, but he’ll get the better of the bargain. He will be buying out his minority partner—the government—that in any case will, sooner or later, collect 40% or so of his traditional IRA in taxes.

The money for the tax bill can and should come out of the individual’s non-IRA assets—which live in a high tax zone. That way, the net effect of converting to a Roth is to move capital from the high-tax zone (direct personal ownership) to the no-tax zone (the Roth).

You can get an added bonus by converting to a Roth IRA, and it’s a lot more valuable than a second ShamWow. A Roth IRA is not subject to the minimum withdrawal requirements that kick in at age 70 1/2 for someone with a traditional IRA. Escaping the minimum withdrawal requirements lets money stay in the no-tax zone longer, especially if you won’t need to spend it all in your own lifetime.

Don’t ask why, but unlike a Roth IRA, a Roth 401(k) is subject to minimum withdrawal requirements. However, you can convert a Roth 401(k) to a Roth IRA without tax cost.

Dennis: I have a friend who has a traditional IRA and is of the age where he has to take a required minimum distribution and pay taxes on the income. He is quite a bit older than his wife and would prefer to leave the money in the sheltered account. With a Roth IRA, are there any required withdrawal times or amounts?

Terry: Your friend is a good candidate for a Roth conversion. If he converts, he can stop making the withdrawals he doesn’t want to make. And once the Roth reaches its fifth calendar year, withdrawals he or his wife take will be tax-free. And if his wife doesn’t use it up, the Roth will be available for tax-free withdrawals by their children or other heirs.

Self-Directed and Open Opportunity IRAs

Dennis: A lot of folks think you have to have an IRA with a bank or brokerage company. Can you explain the concept behind self-directed Roth IRAs?

Terry: Quite a few people will be knocked over by the news, but the rules written by Congress allow an IRA to invest in almost anything (there are only a few, easy-to-live-with limitations). But when you go to a bank, broker, mutual fund family, or insurance company, you find that you can only invest in… their stuff. So go elsewhere.

“Self-directed” IRAs are available with a number of IRA custodians that specialize in opening doors to the full world of investment possibilities for IRA participants. They don’t promote any particular investments or investment products. Instead, they earn fees by doing the paperwork for pulling whatever investments you want under the umbrella of your IRA. It could be an apartment house or a farm or gold coins or private loans or tax liens or almost anything else. Rather than buying CDs from a bank, your IRA can be the bank.

It can be even better. A few custodians administer a special type of self-directed IRA called an “Open Opportunity” IRA. The idea is as powerful as it is simple. The IRA owns just one thing—a limited liability company that you manage. Since you are the manager, you have hands-on control, and you are free to buy almost any investment you think is right. You don’t need to wait for anyone’s permission or stamp of approval. The hands on the steering wheel are yours.

Dennis: What tips do you have for folks who want to roll their 401(k) over to a Roth? When should they start? Should they pay the taxes from the proceeds or other funds?

Terry: As I said earlier, the decision to convert isn’t simple. The best single indication that it is the right move is that you are able to pay the tax out of non-retirement-plan assets.

Dennis: I recently wrote an article about encore careers. If a retiree decides on a second career, can he start making contributions to his Roth?

Terry: Yes, no, and yes.

The first yes is: you are as eligible to contribute from your earnings from your encore career as you were during your earlier careers.

The no is: if your income is too high, you are not eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA.

The second yes is: Anyone can convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. There are no income limitations. So you can always get to a Roth by contributing to a traditional IRA and then converting. The required waiting period is less than 15 nanoseconds.

Internationalizing Your IRA

Dennis: I’ve recently spoken with Nick Giambruno, senior editor of International Man, about international diversification. Can you help us understand our international options if we have money in a Roth?

Terry: This is one more wonderful thing about the Open Opportunity IRA structure. The LLC that lives inside the IRA can invest anywhere in the world. Want a brokerage account in Singapore? The IRA’s LLC can be the account holder. Want a farm? The LLC can buy it in New Zealand. Want gold? The LLC can keep it in a safe deposit box in Austria. Want your IRA to go into the ski rental business? The IRA’s LLC can open a shop in Chile. And the IRA’s LLC can own—or be—a foreign LLC.

Dennis: I have a good portion of my Roth offshore, but it is not inside an LLC. It is invested in traditional investments—stocks, bonds, etc., except on a worldwide basis and in a variety of foreign currencies. Are there times when an LLC might not be necessary?

Terry: Whatever you want your IRA to buy and wherever you want the investments to reside, doing everything through your IRA’s wholly owned LLC is quicker, easier, and cheaper. With the LLC in place, you don’t need to keeping going back to the IRA custodian for every transaction. You avoid fees and you avoid delays. You are in the driver’s seat.

Using a foreign LLC to hold foreign investments may give you two additional advantages. First, some foreign institutions are more willing to deal with a non-US LLC owned by a US person than they are to deal directly with a US person. Second, if the US government ever imposes currency controls or capital controls or undertakes a program of forced gold sales, an IRA’s foreign LLC—depending on the specifics of the new rules—might go untouched.

Dennis: Terry, I want to thank you on behalf of our readers. You have opened up avenues for real tax savings and additional safety.

Terry: People work hard, and it is tough for some to save money. Understanding their Roth IRA options is a good way for people to keep it and make it last. Enjoyed it, Dennis—glad I could help.

Final Thoughts from Dennis

With a traditional IRA, you get a tax deduction when you make your contribution, and that money grows tax-free. When you take it back out, it is subject to taxation.

A Roth works in the opposite manner. There is no tax deduction when you make the contribution, but it also grows tax-free. The difference is that when you take it out, there is no tax as long as you follow a few basic rules, which Terry discussed.

I am a strong advocate of maximizing your 401(k), particularly if your employer matches all or part of your contributions. Save as much money as you possibly can during your working career. At the same time, there are many reasons why, as Terry suggested, you might want buy out your business partner (the government) so you can grow your nest egg tax-free and make tax-free withdrawals as you see fit.

As you’ve just read, as the editor of Miller’s Money Forever, I often have the pleasure of interviewing my colleagues on a variety of topics to give our subscribers even greater exposure to different investing sectors. Recent interviews include:

• Energy Profits with Marin Katusa, senior economist and editor at Casey Research;
• The Ultimate Layer of Financial Protection with Nick Giambruno, editor of International Man;
• Juniors for Seniors with Louis James, globe-trotting senior editor of Casey Research’s metals and mining publications; and
• Other esteemed colleagues.

Gain access to everything our portfolio has to offer, as well as access to these top minds through occasional interviews and input, with your risk-free 90-day trial subscription to Miller’s Money Forever.

Japanese coincident and leading indices set for release on Friday, March 7. The figures are forecast at 114.6 and 112.4 respectively. A worse than expected release could break the USD/JPY through resistance at the top of a February 2014 triangle. A better than expected release could reinforce resistance and break the pair to the downside, towards Monday lows around 101.26. the coincident index and leading index will be released Friday. If both come out bullish, then be ready for USD/JPY to break to the downside. The target would be 102 and then support at 101.75 an 101.26.

Written by Daniel Elo, Analys for www.EconomicCalendar.com

By CentralBankNews.info
    The European Central Bank (ECB), which earlier today held its policy rates steady, repeated its guidance that rates are expected to “remain at present or lower levels for an extended period of time” as it trimmed its inflation forecast and raised its growth forecasts for the coming years.
    Mario Draghi, ECB president, told a press conference the moderate economic recovery was proceeding in line with expectations of “a prolonged period of low inflation, to be followed by a gradual upward movement in HICP inflation rates toward levels close to 2 percent.”
    The ECB, which cut it benchmark refinancing rate by 50 basis points in 2013 to a record low of 0.25 percent, trimmed its forecast for inflation to 1.0 percent in 2014, down from its previous forecast of 1.1 percent, but maintained the 2015 forecast at 1.3 percent.
    For 2016 the ECB expects average inflation of 1.5 percent, rising to 1.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016, still below the ECB’s target of inflation below but close to 2.0 percent. Draghi stressed that  projections three year in advance were based on several assumptions, including unchanged exchange rates and lower oil prices.
    In February, inflation in the 18-nation euro area was unchanged from January and December at 0.8 percent, and Draghi expects inflation to remain at current levels in coming months
    The euro area’s economy is slowly improving and Draghi said confidence indicators up to February show continued “moderate growth in the first quarter of 2014” as domestic demand is expected to improve while exports benefit from global demand.
    However, unemployment remains high – the January unemployment rate was steady at 12 percent – and continued paydown of debt by the public and private sector will continue to weigh on the pace of economic recovery.
    “The risks surrounding the economic outlook for the euro area continue to be on the downside,” Draghi said, adding developments in global financial markets and emerging market economies, along with geopolitical risks, have the potential to negatively affect the economy.
     Gross Domestic Product in the euro area expanded by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013, the third consecutive quarter of growth after six quarters of contraction, for annual growth of 0.5 percent, the first quarter in eight quarters with a positive annual growth rate.
    The ECB staff revised upwards its forecast for 2014 GDP growth to 1.2 percent, up from 1.1 percent previously forecast, and 1.5 percent growth in 2015, up from 1.3 percent. For 2016 the ECB forecast growth of 1.8 percent.
     “The information and analysis now available fully confirm out decision to maintain an accommodative monetary policy stance for as long as necessary,” Draghi said, adding the ECB governing council was “firmly” reiterating its forward guidance based on the subdued outlook for inflation given the broad-based weakness of the economy, a high degree of underutilized capacity and subdued money and credit creation.
    Draghi also repeated the last month’s statement that the ECB was closely monitoring the money markets and ready to consider all instruments to maintain the “high degree of monetary accommodation and to take further decisive action if required.”

    http://ift.tt/1iP0FNb

By Alex Daley, Chief Technology Investment Strategist

It’s hardly a state secret that we Americans are getting old. Both in raw numbers and as a percentage of the overall population, the 65+ cohort is growing rapidly as the baby boomers slide into retirement.

On the plus side, these data confirm that more Americans are living to a ripe old age than ever before—many of them in good health well into their seventies and eighties.

But all too often, with age comes susceptibility to ever more serious ailments and a diminishing quality of life—especially if you contract a disease that obliterates your innate sense of self and destroys everything that makes life worth living.

That’s what Alzheimer’s disease does. This most common type of dementia was first described by the German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer more than a century ago… but to this day science isn’t sure what exactly it is and what causes it.

It is also increasing in incidence, as would be expected with an aging population:

(Source: Alzheimer’s Association, 2012 Alzheimer’s Disease Facts and Figures, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Volume 8, Issue 2.)

Right now, about 5.2 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s—already a large number—but in just 26 years that number will have more than doubled, to 11 million.

Here’s just a glimpse at the monstrous healthcare costs we’re facing:

• In 2013, the direct costs of caring for those with Alzheimer’s to American society totaled an estimated $203 billion, of which $142 billion came from taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid.

• Total payments for health care, long-term care, and hospice for people with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia are projected to increase from $203 billion in 2013 to $1.2 trillion in 2050.

• This dramatic rise includes a 500% increase in combined Medicare and Medicaid spending.

It’s a serious healthcare crisis in the making—significant today, and on its way to astronomical levels in short order—putting an ever greater amount of stress on a medical establishment that is already coming apart at the seams.

What About a Cure?

As I’ve mentioned before, despite decades of research, until recently scientists knew precious little about the specifics and causes of Alzheimer’s. Their best guess was that it involved a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors. But there was no reliable biomarker that would help indicate who would be affected, let alone a sure pathway to a treatment.

The best the pharmaceutical industry managed to come up with were treatments that slowed down, rather than stopped, the progression of the disease—and even then only for a short period of time. In fact, to this day there are just five FDA-approved drugs to treat Alzheimer’s at all, and none is particularly effective.

According to a stark appraisal from Consumer Reports Health, “When compared to a placebo, most people who take one will not experience a meaningful benefit.”

The Alzheimer’s Association reports that on average, the five approved AD drugs show some efficacy for only about six to twelve months, but only in approximately half of the individuals who take them.

Nevertheless, despite their lack of efficacy, these drugs posted some impressive sales figures before cheaper generics became available. A real breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s, the scientific world agrees, would be a game-changer for modern medicine.

And that breakthrough may just be on the way. Right now, there’s a small company that looks like it may beat its competitors to the finish line.

Metallic Catalysts

Alzheimer’s disease diminishes the ability of neurons in the brain to communicate with one another. That ultimately leads to neuronal death and, over time, destroys memory and thinking skills.

Although scientists have yet to pinpoint a single cause for the disease, they’re getting far closer to understanding the disease than ever before.

Beta-amyloid plaques, for example—the infamous “plaques” that form in the brain as part of the disease’s development—show links with chronic and persistent infections, such as gingivitis. Also, the interaction of these amyloid plaques and biological metals (zinc, iron, copper, etc.) seems to result in deterioration of brain cells.

It was once thought that beta-amyloid plaques were the primary cause of the damage to neurons seen in AD, because they’re the most visible when the brain of a deceased AD patient is dissected. But now a growing number of researchers believe that the small, still-soluble beta-amyloid oligomers may be the main culprits because they’re often found in the spaces between neurons (synapses), where they are believed to disrupt communication by interacting with the metals and creating a short circuit. With nothing firing across the synapses, information is no longer transmitted from one neuron to another, and the cells start to die off from lack of use.

One small biotech startup has been moving forward with the development of compounds to render these biological metals inactive, preventing this short circuit and allowing the brain to resume normal function or even heal.

Today, that company sits on the cusp of what may prove to be the single most important data readout on the subject since its inception—a trial that should prove whether this technique shows as much efficacy in a large group of human patients as it has shown in animal testing and in anecdotal evidence from early human trials.

In the months since we started following this small company, many investors have caught on to its potential. Once a tiny company with a $30 million market cap, news of its successes, including positive readouts from a study of the much smaller but related Huntington’s disease, have driven the stock up nearly 400% in the last year.

While that might sound like much of the good news has been priced in, we beg to differ. Global investment firm Deutsche Bank, for instance, recently pegged the global Alzheimer’s drug market at $20 billion per year. With no real competition in the market, the company could easily capture 20% of that market—or about $4 billion annually.

Even if this small company can only realize a quarter of that revenue after working through big pharmaceutical partners to manufacture and distribute the treatment, it could see $1 billion in annual revenues.

If we compare this company to other companies with similar revenues in the same industry, it means that in the long run, its shares could be worth 10x what they trade at today, even after the recent run-up—and that’s with many very conservative assumptions along the way. A real breakthrough treatment could make these numbers seem ridiculously small.

But investors won’t have to wait that long to make money. Positive trial results, which are due in March, could easily double the share price as the company moves steadily closer to market. Of course, there aren’t any guarantees, but the company doesn’t even have to provide groundbreaking news at this point. If early trial results can simply be repeated, the potential is enormous.

Click here to learn more about this amazing Alzheimer’s breakthrough and the potential windfall that could happen just weeks from now.

By CentralBankNews.info
    Serbia’s central bank maintained its policy rate at 9.5 percent, noting that inflation had now returned to the bank’s target range in January but adding that caution was warranted in monetary policy due to “heightened volatility in international financial markets” that is dampening investor sentiment and may negatively influence capital flows.
    The Bank of Serbia (NBS), which intervened on foreign exchange markets on Monday after repeated interventions last month to support the dinar currency, also stressed the need for caution last month, saying the country was still in need for external financing despite rising exports.
    “By keeping the key policy rate on hold, the NBS aims to support price and financial stability in the medium term,” the central bank said, adding that consistent implementation of fiscal consolidation measures should diminish the country’s exposure to external risks and strained liquidity in global financial markets in connection with reduced asset purchases by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
     Further steps in reducing the country’s foreign exposure and maintain economic stability and growth would come from the expected conclusion of an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, the central bank said.
    Talks between the IMF and Serbia’s government started last month on a new agreement but the government needs to narrow its deficit further and save some 400 million euros.

    Serbia’s inflation rate rose to 3.1 percent in January from 2.2 percent in December, returning to the central bank’s target range of 2.5 percent to 5.5 percent, around a 4.0 percent midpoint.
   The central bank cut its rate by a net 175 basis points in 2013 as inflation slowed to a low of 1.6 percent in November. The bank expects inflation to rise in coming months due to higher administered prices and the one-off impact of higher value-added-tax on some goods in January.
    Serbia’s economy pulled out of recession in 2011 and 2012, with Gross Domestic Product expanding by an annual rate of 2.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013.
    The bank, which has forecast growth of 1.5 percent in 2014, said manufacturing was growing in the beginning of this year, laying the foundation for growth this year that will be helped by a recovery of the euro area and the start of negotiations on accession to the European Union (EU).

    http://ift.tt/1iP0FNb

AUDUSD: A fourth day of upside gain is now underway as AUDUSD looks to retake the 0.9080/5 levels. This if seen will pave the way for a push higher towards the 0.9150 level where a break will set the stage for a run at the 0.9200 level and subsequently the 0.9250 level. Its daily RSI is bullish and pointing higher suggesting further strength. On the downside, support lies at the 0.8972 level, its Mar 06 2014 low where a break will aim at the 0.8900 level. Below here will aim at the 0.8890 level where a violation will aim at the 0.8850 level. A turn below here will set up the pair for move further lower for towards the 0.8800 level. All in all, the pair continues to face further upside risks.

Article by www.fxtechstrategy.com

By CentralBankNews.info
    The European Central Bank (ECB) maintained its benchmark refinancing rate at a record low of 0.25 percent, as expected by most economists, along with its other main rates, including the marginal lending facility rate at 0.75 percent and the deposit rate at 0.0 percent.
    In a brief statement following a meeting of the ECB’s governing council, the bank said Mario Draghi, ECB president, would comment on the reason for the decision at a press conference.
   At the press conference, Draghi will present the ECB’s latest economic forecasts, including its projection for 2016.
    Despite the recent improvement in the euro area’s economy, Draghi has said in recent months that inflation will remain low for “a prolonged period” and provided the guidance that rates will be kept “at present of lower levels for an extended period of time.”
    Last month, Draghi also said the ECB was ready to consider all available instruments and “to take further decisive action if required” to ensure that higher money market rates don’t raise the cost of financing for businesses and thus prevent a faster economic recovery.
    Inflation in the 18-nation euro zone was steady at 0.8 percent in February, the same as in January and December, and well below the ECB’s target of inflation that is below, but close to 2 percent.

    In its current forecast, which will be updated later today, the ECB forecasts average inflation of 1.1 percent in 2014 and 1.3 percent in 2015.
    The Gross Domestic Product of the euro area expanded by 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 from the third quarter for annual growth of 0.5 percent, the first quarter in eight quarters that the growth rate has been positive.
    The ECB currently forecasts economic growth of 1.1 percent in 2014 and 1.5 percent in 2015.

    http://ift.tt/1iP0FNb

By CentralBankNews.info
    The Bank of England (BOE) maintained its Bank Rate at 0.5 percent, as widely expected, along with its current stock of assets at 375 billion pounds as reinvests 8.1 billion of cash it received from the redemption of one of its bonds.
    The BOE has held its Bank Rate at the current level for five years since March 2009 and is expected to maintain it for about another year before raising it to control inflation from the growing economy.
    In addition to cutting its rate in March 2009, the BOE also embarked on so-called quantitative easing by purchasing assets to hold down long-term interest rates.
    One of these bonds issued by the UK Treasury, known as gilts, matured this month and the BOE will maintain the size of its asset purchases by reinvesting the proceeds in other bonds, a move that was flagged by the BOE as part its forward guidance to financial markets about its future policy stance.
    In August the BOE said it would not raise interest rates until the unemployment rate fell to 7.0 percent but strong growth and a swift decline in the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent in the three months to December forced the U.K. central bank to revise its guidance in February.
    Instead of linking any changes in its monetary policy stance to a single economic indicator, the BOE said it would only raise rates when there was less economic slack in the economy.
    Policymakers have repeatedly stressed that there are in no rush to raise rates and the first rate increase is first likely in the spring of 2015.
    The U.K.’s Gross Domestic Product expanded by 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013 for annual growth of 2.7 percent, up from 1.9 percent in third quarter.
    A further easing in inflation to 1.9 percent in January, the first time since November 2009 that inflation was below the BOE’s 2.0 percent target, has helped ease some of the pressure on the BOE to use higher interest rates to push down inflation.

    http://ift.tt/1iP0FNb

By HY Markets Forex Blog

Prices for the North American West Texas Intermediate (WTI) extended losses for a third day in a row as US government data revealed distillate and crude stockpiles climbed, while the tension in the Ukraine eased.

Crude prices were dragged to its lowest level in two weeks, clearing previous gains seen on Monday as Russian troops came into Crimea over the weekend.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery dropped 0.39% to $101.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Thursday, while the Brent crude for April settlements added 20 cents at $107.96 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The European benchmark was at a premium of $6.84 to WTI.

WTI – US Crude Stockpiles

According to reports from the EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm, distillate stockpiles added 1.41 million barrels in the week ending Feb 28. Analysts forecasted to see a drop by 1 million barrels.

Meanwhile, stockpiles in Cushing, the delivery point for New York-traded contracts, dropped by 2.66 million barrels to 32.1 million, according to the EIA.

“The drop in the price has been magnified amid growing U.S. inventories and decreasing geopolitical risks,” said Hong Sung Ki, a commodities analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul.

While in France, the International Energy Agency said its monitoring the oil and gas market constantly as the tension in Ukraine eases. The European Union will be gathering for an emergency meeting later in the day to discuss consequences for Russia after the country’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov refused the US efforts to ease tensions in the Crimean peninsula.

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