RBA Sounds Upbeat About Global Economic Growth

Good day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well… Yesterday, I realized that I couldn’t eat all day on Sunday, and expect to want to eat on Monday! But I’m ready to do so today! HA! I also realized yesterday just what a Donnie Downer I’ve been lately, with my insistence that there’s something going on to pull the wool over our eyes… That may be, but I’ve got to be more upbeat, eh?

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Confusing Gradual Bankruptcy with Economic Recovery

We have a wintry landscape here in Baltimore…or what is left of one. But forget the weather, happy days are here again.

At least, that is what you might think from reading the newspapers. Unemployment is going down. Consumer debt is going up. Even the housing market is showing signs of improvement.

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Euro Reverses Slide in Short Squeeze

The Jobs Jamboree on Friday proved to be a real boost for the economy and the dollar, which rallied on a “strong jobs number” for the first time in a month of Sundays. I highlight “strong jobs number” because, this is what this has come to… 200,000 jobs were created, so says the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in December, which is the strongest number of jobs created in another month of Sundays… The jobs reports have been so weak for so long now, that the media, and markets are all lathered up and calling this a “strong jobs number”… It’s stronger than previous ones, yes…

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Eurozone Data Continues to Print Weak

There’s a lot to get to this morning… but front and center is the Jobs Jamboree Friday… The first one of 2012, although it is December’s job creation report. The ADP jobs report yesterday, which was supposed to be the “indicator” for the Jobs Jamboree, but never really materialized as such, reported that 325,000 jobs were created in December… Now, that would be something to crow about… It will be interesting to see what the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) comes up with… As I told you earlier this week, this is also the month were the “adjustments” to previous BLS reports are made… However, those won’t get a spotlight, and mass media coverage… They are done under the dark of night, sort of like the bill that was signed on New Year’s Eve by the President… If you’re not aware of that one, you should be… Your personal freedoms could very well hang in the balance…

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By the Numbers: A Closer Look at the Real Wealth of US Households

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.

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Did the Jobless Rate Really Fall?

I’ll probably be all alone when I make this statement, but, then I don’t follow the trumpeter anyway… What a crock the Jobs report was last week! When will the major media figure this all out? Probably never, because they don’t have real investigative reporters any longer… But here’s what I’m talking about, folks… The Jobs Jamboree reported that 120,000 jobs were created in November… (The previous month was revised upward from 80,000 to 100,000) So… On the outside, things looked OK… But remember, it takes far more than 120,000 jobs each month to support a strong economy.

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The Weakest Link: Terrifying Economic Conditions in the US and Europe

US economic conditions are “terrifying,” Mohamed El-Erian said yesterday. El-Erian, as you may know, is Bill Gross’ right-hand man at Pimco, the world’s largest bond fund. He gives the US a 50/50 chance at a renewed recession.

“What’s most terrifying?” El-Erian asked rhetorically in a Bloomberg TV interview. “We are having this discussion about the risk of recession at a time when unemployment is already too high, at a time when a quarter of homeowners are underwater on their mortgages, at a time then the fiscal deficit is at 9% and at a time when interest rates are at zero.

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Evidence of a Downtrend in the US Stock Market

What happened on Friday? A “moment of truth” arrived for Europe. But what is the truth? We’ll have to wait to find out.

The Dow rose 259 points. Gold was up $28.

But who cares? Up, down…up, down… Every day brings more ‘truth.’ But what we want is a truth with legs. We’re not day traders. Not week traders. Not even year traders. We want a long, sure…mega trend. We want the Dow at 900 in 1983. Or gold at 260 in 1998.

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Papandreou Calls Off Referendum!

The Eurozone leaders have a long way to go before they get past this debt crisis… And along the way there will be some potholes big enough to swallow a Mac-Truck. But knowing what I know about the resiliency of the region, they will pull themselves out of the pothole, and attempt to move further along the way toward solving the crisis.

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