Front and center this morning, Australia printed a moon-shot second quarter GDP report, that has the risk aversion campers running for cover this morning. All currencies, except the risk aversion currencies of dollar, yen (JPY) and francs (CHF), are getting sold, and the Aussie dollar (AUD) has gained 1 1/2-cents!
[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...]Existing Home Sales Plunge!
August 25, 2010 By Leave a Comment
An awful Existing Home Sales report yesterday is causing more people to jump on my bandwagon… You know, the one about the double dip recession, which will be fueled by another housing slump… Of course I call it a double dip, but in reality, I truly believe it to be a “single scoop,â€� for I don’t believe like our government officials, and Fed Heads that we “came out of the recession.â€�… But that’s just me, thinking logically, as always!
[Read more...]Still Propping Fannie and Freddie
August 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The White House is currently looking at how to inch its way out of backing mortgages… this time by tacking fees onto lender activities, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Despite the call for new charges the government guarantees — and resulting moral hazard — remain, and the latest strategy twist isn’t likely to change much.
[Read more...]Recovery? How About “Relapse�?
August 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Three weeks later [after early June 2010] the celebrated property rebound, along with the stock market, ran out of bounce. After the hefty government tax credits that had propped up sales expired in April, May purchases of new homes fell 33 percent to a record low, the fewest sales since 1963. Note that the US population stood at 190 million in 1963, compared to 310 million in 2010 … a 60 percent increase.
[Read more...]Recovery? How About “Relapse�?
August 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Three weeks later [after early June 2010] the celebrated property rebound, along with the stock market, ran out of bounce. After the hefty government tax credits that had propped up sales expired in April, May purchases of new homes fell 33 percent to a record low, the fewest sales since 1963. Note that the US population stood at 190 million in 1963, compared to 310 million in 2010 … a 60 percent increase.
[Read more...]How Nicaragua is Benefiting from the Economic Crisis
August 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The US stock market did a whole lot of nothing again last week…or worse than nothing. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slumped nearly 400 points to 10,303 – plunging the Blue Chip average back into the red for the year. The Dow is also in the red for the last five years…and the last ten years.
[Read more...]Signs of the Times
August 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
We came to see the real America. This week, we had a good look around.
Fellow Reckoners will recall that we are on a vagabond’s odyssey, traversing the Great Empire in search of a Greater Correction. We began our tour in California, the real estate bubble of the west. It will conclude, if all goes to our back-of-the-envelope plan, in Florida, the real estate bubble of the east. In between – Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas… We keep our ear to the ground, listening for aftershocks.
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Fed Vows to Maintain Public Financial Health
Extend and pretend…
That’s the government’s way of handling the crisis. Extend credit and cash to those who don’t deserve it. Then, pretend that everything is okay…
But the problems don’t go away. They just get stretched into the future…
[Read more...]