Everyone and their uncle is predicting good times for the U.S. — from the Economist<\/strong> <\/a>to the New York Times<\/strong><\/a>. Maybe even some recovery in Europe. Commodities (oil, iron ore, copper, etc.) now way down are a great boost to the U.S. and Europe. But I’m not catching falling knives — like oil or European stocks. I can’t predict when the turnaround will happen. And there are far too Gotchas.<\/p>\n I think 2015 will see similar small gains in the indices. Volatility will stay with us. Marvel at 2014’s volatility.<\/p>\n Oil’s historical price.<\/strong><\/span> Its dropped recently but It’s been lower. Oil’s drop is devastating many economies, from Russia to Venezuela, whose economy is in recession and inflation reached 63.6 percent in November. Gross domestic product contracted 4.8 percent, 4.9 percent, and 2.3 percent in the last three quarters, the Central Bank said.<\/p>\n Try predicting oil: This morning we hear Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has been hospitalized.\u00a0 in the capital Riyadh where he is undergoing medical tests. Saudi is the world’s last remaining real monarchy — where the King wields ALL<\/strong>\u00a0 the power and makes ALL<\/strong> the decisions. He’s 91. He hasn’t cut back on production. But his successor?<\/p>\n Play around with these charts. Move your cursor around for different time frames:![\"spxFor2014\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/spxFor2014.jpg\")
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\n![\"Macrotrends.org_Crude_Oil_Price_History_Chart\"](\"https:\/\/www.technologyinvestor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/Macrotrends.org_Crude_Oil_Price_History_Chart.png\")
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