Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
The lies that bind…
News Flash:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Consumer spending rose in March by the largest amount in five months but the gains were financed out of savings, which fell to the lowest level in 18 months. A slight rise in incomes added to concerns that the recovery could weaken unless income growth increases more rapidly.
[Read more...]Along with the unemployment rate, we’ve been watching house prices closely. They just eked positive for the first time since December 2006, this morning’s Case-Shiller index indicates:
Not much action in the markets yesterday. The Dow lost 5. Gold gained 4.
So far the markets have not seemed to notice, but there are not one…but two bulls in this china shop.
First, the US government is going broke.
Second, we’re at the beginning of a Great Correction.
[Read more...]For weeks, the question has lingered: Now that the Fed is following through on its promise to stop buying up shaky mortgage-backed securities, what will the powers that be do to prop up the housing market next?
This morning, we have our answer, direct from the White House. And rest assured, you’re on the hook for some of it. The details in a moment… First, let’s step back and take stock of the government’s efforts to date.
[Read more...]US stocks bounced a little yesterday, despite the news that home sales tumbled a lot. Sales of existing US homes plunged 17% in December, the biggest decline since record-keeping began in 1968. This disheartening news item shocked economic forecasters, but hardly anyone else.
Most of us non-experts understand that folks without incomes or credit buy very few houses. But for some reason, the experts shun this intuitive logic. Instead, they study their econometric models, tweak their spreadsheets and go public with forecasts that would embarrass a tealeaf.
[Read more...]It’s hard to picture 2.8 million homes. That’s about how many detached homes are in all of Pennsylvania or Illinois. It’s also how many homes were lost to foreclosure in 2009.
There were 3.9 million foreclosure filings last year, RealtyTrac reports today, 2.8 million of which resulted in foreclosure. That’s a record dating back to at least 2005 — when RealtyTrac started keeping track. We say it’s safe to call this one another “worst since the Great Depression” statistic.
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Economic Recovery Awaits the Housing Market Correction
What happened to the recovery? This report from AP:
WASHINGTON (AP) – Sales of previously occupied homes dipped 2.2 percent in May, signaling that a boost from home-buying tax credits is fading sooner than expected.
Last month's sales fell from the previous month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.66 million, the National Association of Realtors said Tuesday. Analysts who had expected sales to rise expressed concern that the real estate market could tumble once the benefit of the federal incentives is gone entirely, starting next month.
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