This morning, the currencies look pretty much like they did yesterday when I left the office… There’s still the Sword of Damocles hanging over the euro (EUR), in the form of Greek negotiations to obtain help from private lenders. This has dragged on now for over two weeks, and I’ve given up on it happening… You only have to disappoint me twice before I get the message!
[Read more...]By the Numbers: A Closer Look at the Real Wealth of US Households
December 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Americans are poorer than they think…
Dow up again yesterday. Gold still bouncing around…
The press is still focused on Europe. A “deal over eurozone fiscal rules,” was announced earlier in the week. Every day brings more speculation about what form the final deal will take…and whether the European Central Bank will lend a hand.
[Read more...]Falling Unemployment: Blind Optimism in the “Poor” Economy
April 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Let’s see…what’s new?
Bloomberg reported last week that thanks to the mining boom, uneducated Aussie crackers earned more than Ben Bernanke.
“Travis Marks, a 24-year-old with no college degree, is hitting pay dirt as Australia’s mining bonanza fuels demand for workers,” says Bloomberg. “Already making triple the nation’s average salary, he expects to get even richer…
[Read more...]Want to Create Jobs? Cut Government Spending
March 28, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Sometimes, the methods to produce results are counter-intuitive. For example, skillful pruning of grape vines is essential to the production of vineyards, and cutting back a rose bush promotes its growth. Based on experience, we can learn where cutting can lead to growth.
The following statement is at first just as counter-intuitive: A reduction in government spending will not slow job growth. In fact, the experience of the last two years provides compelling evidence that a reduction in government spending will lead to increased employment and output in the US economy.
[Read more...]Commodity Currencies Punch a Hole in Risk Aversion Fog
September 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Well… I love it when a plan comes together! I told you months ago, that the markets had given up on a rate hike from the Bank of Canada (BOC) at their 9/8 meeting… I took a different road, and said they would still hike rates… I was alone on this one folks, but… Guess what? The BOC hiked rates 25 BPS (1/4%) yesterday! I had thought they BOC would hike rates but attempt to water the hike down with dovish tones… Here's the BOC statement, you decide if they sound dovish or not…
[Read more...]How Will Census Workers Affect the Jobs Report?
September 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
It was a ping-pong day for the currencies, back and forth over the net… The net being the “level of the day?… For instance, the Aussie dollar (AUD) played over the 91-cent net all day, and the euro played over the 1.2820 level all day.
[Read more...]Did the US Have Negative Real Job Creation?
June 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Well… On Friday, when I was signing off, I said that suddenly the currencies were getting sold… At that time, it looked as if it might be short-lived… But NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! This was an all-out assault on risk, folks… At when the dust settled in the early afternoon, the euro (EUR) had fallen below 1.20, for the first time since 2005, and every other currency was getting whacked, too. For the first time all week, though, gold rallied…
[Read more...]Deceptively Low December Retail Sales
January 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today, were chock-full-o-stuff to look for, starting with a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting. And throughout the morning, here in the US, therell be even more stuff to look for, like retail sales. And since its a Thursday, the Weekly Initial Jobless Claims will also print. The Feds Beige Book printed yesterday afternoon, and weve got that to discuss this morning, too… So, lets get this Tub Thumpin Thursday going, eh?
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The Great Comeback No One Will Believe
Something surprising stirs in the US economy. Something no mainstream pundit would’ve dared predict. Something most people probably won’t believe.
US manufacturing is staging a comeback.
Caterpillar, the world’s largest maker of earth-moving equipment, gave us some tangible confirmation in the latest earnings roundup. Based on the business it sees, Cat expects US construction spending will increase in 2012 for the first time since 2004. And Eaton, another large industrial, followed that up by saying it expects its markets to grow faster in the US in 2012 than anywhere else. If it plays out that way, it would be the first time since the mid-2000s that the US led the way.
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