Let’s face it, governments always try to ‘kick the can down the road’. Rather than deal with economic issues in the here and now, they prefer to postpone the pain. Unfortunately, in their attempt to avoid painful economic recessions, the policymakers sacrifice the purchasing power of their currencies and they end up creating even bigger troubles for the future.
[Read more...]Fannie, Freddie and the Never-Ending Homing Crisis
October 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
A zombie alert. Bloomberg has the report:
Chris Whalen is famous lately for predicting a return of the subprime crisis in 2011. His thoughts on the greater mortgage system are also interesting, as discussed in an interview with King World News.
[Read more...]Brazilian Real Estate is a Buy
October 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Someone once said that if LA threw up on New York, it would resemble São Paulo. That’s an imaginative way to describe the sprawling Brazilian metropolis. São Paulo is a bustling, congested city of 11 million people, with another 9 million in the suburbs. Greater São Paulo ranks as the third largest urban area in the world, according to the United Nations, after only Tokyo and Mexico City.
[Read more...]Recession Officially Over… Someone Tell the Unemployed
September 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Yesterday, the Fed’s FOMC group announced that it was standing pat. Yes, it might have to do something in the future. But for now, it is neither exiting its stimulus monetary position…nor is it adding to it.
The stock market didn’t know whether that was good or bad…so it didn’t do much of anything. The Dow went down 24 points. But gold soared to a new record – up $17.
[Read more...]How the Housing Recovery Affects Household Wealth Recovery
September 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Last Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average tacked on 13 points, boosting its gains for the week to 145 points…and its gains for the last three weeks to more than 600 points.
This modest rebound is a welcome relief, but we Americans are going to need a lot more weeks like these – a LOT more – if we are to recover the trillions of dollars we lost during the crisis of 2008-9.
[Read more...]Extending the Housing Bust Predictions
September 16, 2010 by Leave a Comment
It says something about the growing irrelevance of print media that this cover of Time magazine, sitting on newsstands in late August, came to our attention only this week…
We can imagine the thought crossing the minds of at least a few readers: “Wow, maybe we really have hit bottom in housing.â€� You know, magazine covers as contrarian indicators – including the all-time classic…
[Read more...]Are New Home Prices Rising? Nope, That’s Just Inflation.
September 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
I keep seeing things, scary things, terrifying things characterized as “for the first time ever,� like Tyler Durden of zerohedge.com writing that “As per the August 31 DTS statement, the US ended the month with a new all-time record of $13.45 trillion in debt, an increase of $210 billion from the beginning of the month (or $225 billion in public debt, net of intragovernmental holdings). With just 30 days left in fiscal year 2010, the US has added $1.54 trillion in the eleven months ended August 31, a monthly average increase of $140 billion. As a point of reference, the US has received $1.53 trillion in withheld income tax over the same period, confirming that the US continues to issue more than one dollar in debt for every dollar it receives via income tax revenue,� all of which are new records of one kind or another! Gaaaah! I am screaming in outrage and fear!
[Read more...]US Real Estate Market Sits in the Waiting Room
September 9, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Dead guys walking…
An article at the Zero Hedge website says Paul Krugman is either “an imbecile or a fraud.�
We wouldn’t go that far. He might be only mildly retarded…or the victim of higher education. He has learned so much about modern economic theory that there is no room left in his brain case for good, old common sense.
[Read more...]New Home Sales Plunge!
August 26, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Well… The chill in the air isn’t confined to the cold front that moved through the Midwest this week… The cold front’s chilly air has moved over the economic data here in the US and to a lesser extent, the dollar.
The dollar is weaker this morning versus the usual suspects, led by the euro (EUR), which has climbed and clawed its way back to above 1.27; and the commodity currencies look a bit healthier this morning, too. It’s all about the awful housing data that had printed two consecutive days this week. I’ll get to that in a minute, but first some observations from the Chuck flight deck…
[Read more...]
In Gold, Not Cyprus, We Trust
Global investors had to muster the courage to keep calm as news of Cyprus’ proposed partial theft of all bank deposits took Wall Street by surprise, closed the country’s banks and drove the price of gold higher.
The thoughtless idea was intended to capture a portion of the $31 billion in bank assets held by Russians. According to The Financial Times, Cyprus has developed a “well-earned reputation for being a haven for dirty money from Russia.”
[Read more...]Click for detailed story