Image via Wikipedia Everyone is looking for a plan. The market is looking for any sort of clarity. Obama looks like he is throwing test messages (shit) against the people (the wall) to see what sticks. Don't get me wrong--this is a hard problem and a tough job to steer out of this mess. But, between Dodd, Giethner, and Bernanke there are too many confusing messages that everyone assumes are coming from the White House (or at least endorsed positions). I suspect tonight's address to a joint session … [Read more...]
Morning Worldwide Central Bank Rate Cuts Trump News
October 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The rush of morning economic news is all about the extraordinary, coordinated rate cut by most of the world central banks. This coordinated 0.5 percent rate cut is a growing indication of a global economy that is comprised of increasingly coupled independent national economies. The world markets over the last several days have been an eerie forecasting tool for each new market opening. Here is some of the initial coverage as markets seem to react positively: Federal Reserve explains in statement … [Read more...]
Good Quick Analysis on UK Bank Bailout
October 8, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis does a quick, down and dirty analysis of the UK banking bailout. Bailout plan sends European indices and US futures into a predictable downward trend. Mish predicts coordinated US Fed, Bank of England, European Central Bank rate action. … [Read more...]
Investors Short Banks, Fed Stuck in Neutral, Mortgage Rates Crimp Home Buyers, Banks Tighten Credit
August 12, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Bloomberg: Michael Price, shorts Citigroup and Wachovia Price, 57, is selling short both stocks even after Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, tumbled 33 percent this year and Wachovia, the fourth-largest, lost 52 percent. In a short sale, investors borrow shares and sell them on the expectation they can be purchased at a lower price before paying back the loan. Citigroup has reported $55.1 billion in writedowns and credit losses tied to the collapse of U.S. credit markets, while Wachovia … [Read more...]
August 4, 2008
August 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment
The effects of a steadily weakening economy is now pulling prime, or good credit, mortgages into a potential second wave of home mortgage defaults. The combination of slower than expected economic growth, continued drops in home prices, growing unemployment rate that lifted to a four year high in July. NY Times-Housing Lenders Fear Bigger Wave of Loan Defaults The first wave of Americans to default on their home mortgages appears to be cresting, but a second, far larger one is quickly building. Homeowners … [Read more...]
August 1, 2008
August 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Wall Street Journal-Ahead of the Tape Economists expect to see the jobless rate tick higher to 5.6% and payrolls shrink by 65,000 jobs, the seventh consecutive month of losses. What isn't so clear is how much pain will reach beyond the sectors most brutalized during this downturn: manufacturing, construction and retail. That threesome has shed 658,200 jobs so far this year. All other private sectors combined have added 94,200 jobs. It is an echo of the bifurcation in corporate profits, where sectors … [Read more...]