Housing Crisis Likely to Wipe Out Two Decades of Family-Earned Wealth
August 3, 2008
REIT Wrecks submits:
The collapse of the housing bubble is likely to eliminate most, if not all, of the gains that families had made in accumulating wealth over the last two decades, according to a new study from the Center for Economic Policy & Research in Washington, DC.
In the report, entitled The Impact of the Housing Crash on Family Wealth [pdf file], the authors project that the sharpest falloffs are projected to occur for the youngest families.
Housing Crisis Likely to Wipe Out Two Decades of Family-Earned Wealth
C Adams (CLNE, rated BUY)
August 3, 2008
You see alot of T Boone Pickens these days and his get off of foreign oil speech and use natural gas for fleets. Well he is a controllling shareholder and also a co founder i believe and I have seen alot of fleets switching to natural gas… Lookin in the longterm I see great strength in this company…..
Investment Strategies in These Times of Transition
August 3, 2008
John M. Mason submits:
In my July 29 post, “Understanding the Economy,” I discussed two possible interpretations of the current economic situation. One interpretation concentrated upon demand side changes in the economy whereas the other interpretation concentrated upon supply side changes. I argued that it was important to get the correct interpretation because the policy prescriptions would be different in each case and would produce substantially different results.
I gave two reasons for focusing upon the latter explanation as the cause of the business cycle and stated that it was important to create policies that provided supply side stimulus rather than policies that just attempted to stimulate demand. If the United States focuses on demand side stimulation, the argument is that this will just exacerbate inflationary pressures with little or no response in terms of increased output. Any governmental efforts need to be aimed at stimulating supply so that output can increase without undue pressure on prices.
Investment Strategies in These Times of Transition
As Financials Go, So Go Stock Markets
August 3, 2008
Prieur du Plessis submits:
As oil prices seesawed through the past week, fresh uncertainty about the outlook for the beleaguered financial sector triggered another wave of volatility in financial markets.
With the exception of Friday, crude prices closed each day with a gain or loss of more than 1%, with US stocks doing likewise as sentiment waxed and waned on the back of a barrage of economic and corporate earnings reports. Economic data were mixed, whereas earnings were mostly better than feared. After all the action, the S&P 500 Index closed the week virtually unchanged, posting a small gain of 0.2%.
As Financials Go, So Go Stock Markets
Slack Labor Market in Pictures
August 3, 2008
The headlines will go to the rising unemployment, but there’s other interesting labor market news.
Not a surprise, but the number of workers voluntarily quitting is down. Folks are sticking with the devil they know (or at least the boss they know).
The slack labor market is reflected in modest wage gains:
Business Planning Implications: If you need talent, this is a good time to pick it up. Don’t dawdle. Labor markets will tighten up next year.
Don’t forget that we’ll soon be entering the era of very slow gains in the labor force. The current slackness should not lead to poor employee retention behavior.
Slack Labor Market in Pictures
Retirements on Hold
August 3, 2008
Andy Sutton submits:
Everyone knows the story of the little boy who found that he was able to get into the cookie jar while Mom and Dad were busy doing chores around the house. First he took one cookie and rearranged the remaining morsels around so nobody would notice. Soon enough, however, he had to have another and repeated the process. We all know how this story ends. Eventually, the little guy had eaten so many of the cookies that it is no longer possible to hide the fact that there were but a few left. No amount of shuffling or jumbling could hide it any longer. Sadly, this is rather analogous to the state of retirement savings for many Americans today.
Let’s take a step back for just a bit and think about the last 9 months or so. Back in October 2007, the headlines screamed of new record highs in the DOW and S&P and forecasters were saying that 2008 would be the year the NASDAQ would start the ascent back to its pre-2000 prominence. Ironically, we were already 2 months past the mainstream acceptance of the credit crisis, and while that should have taken precedence, it did not as Wall Street and the media preferred to focus on the soothing tonic of Fed rate cuts.
Use the Dollar Rally as a Shorting Opportunity
August 3, 2008
Mike Stathis submits:
Anyone who understands the real reasons why the dollar has been getting killed over the past few years should also understand why any rally represents another chance to short it. It’s called a bear trap – you know – similar to what we have seen in the US stock market. The fact is the dollar will not only remain weak for some time to come, but there is also SIGNIFICANT downside from here in my opinion.
Main Reasons the Dollar is Weak:
Use the Dollar Rally as a Shorting Opportunity
The US Dollar Elevator is Going Up!
August 3, 2008
Jack Miller submits:
Since 1995, the "US Dollar Elevator" has been from the ground floor to the top floor and all the way back to the sub-basement. In March of 1995, the US Dollar Index hit and extreme low of 81.69. In January of 2002, the US Dollar index hit 120.24.
On April 22, 2008, the US Dollar Index hit an all time low of 71.32, a 41% decrease from the prior peak.
Since April of 2008, the US Dollar Index has been working its way through a bottoming process. The Index is around 73.3 today.
The US Dollar Elevator is Going Up!
Economic Report Summary: Job Losses Increase, 4Q 2007 GDP Revised Downward
August 3, 2008
Mounting job losses and revisions showing negative real economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2007 highlighted the week’s economic reports. Stocks and bonds ended with the S&P 500 Index up 0.2 percent to 1260 (for a year-to-date total return of –13.3 percent) and the yield of the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell 16 basis points to 3.97 percent. Economic Report Summary: Job Losses Increase, 4Q 2007 GDP Revised Downward
Tim Iacono submits:
Consumer Confidence: After last week’s surprising rebound in the Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey, it was a bit of a disappointment when the Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey showed little improvement from June to July. Rising from an upwardly revised 51.0 in June to 51.9 in July, this index remains at historically low levels and clearly indicates that consumers remain pressured by the many recent economic ills - falling home prices, rising energy prices, a falling stock market, and a weakening labor market.
More of the Same Numbers for Employment
August 3, 2008
The Labor Department reported the nation’s unemployment rate reached a four-year high of 5.7 percent in July and employers slashed payrolls by another 51,000. The unemployment rate has risen by almost a full percentage point since the 4.8 percent reading in February, the steepest climb over a five month period since 2001.Tim Iacono submits:
The rise in the unemployment rate from 5.5 percent in June to 5.7 percent was due in large part to a surge in unemployment among younger workers. Over the last three months, the unemployment rate for 16 to 19-year olds averaged 19.0 percent and the jobless rate for 20 to 24-year olds was 10.2 percent. 
-
Recent Posts
- Renewed Infrastructure Growth in Environmentalists’ Best Interest
- Geithner, Summers Represent Change at Treasury
- Existing Home Sales Clunk Along Bottom
- Shelf Filings Are Increasing, But Don’t Get Excited
- More on Hindsight Bias
- Obama’s Real Economic Team
- Forex Interplay: Euro vs. Dollar As Risk Appetite Returns
- U.S. Public Pension Plans Able to Recover from Market Slump
- Profiting From Risk Aversion
- Wall Street Journal: Homebuilders Want $250 Billion Stimulus
-
Latest S.E.C. Filings- 6-K - JA Solar Holdings Co., Ltd. (0001385598) (Filer)
- 6-K - NOVO NORDISK A S (0000353278) (Filer)
- 8-K - USA TECHNOLOGIES INC (0000896429) (Filer)
- 8-K - DIONEX CORP /DE (0000708850) (Filer)
- 8-K - THEATER XTREME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP, INC (0001089775) (Filer)
- 8-K - GMAC LLC (0000040729) (Filer)
- 8-K - DTE ENERGY CO (0000936340) (Filer)
- 8-K - DETROIT EDISON CO (0000028385) (Filer)
- 10-Q/A - CHINA SECURITY & SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY, INC. (0001260625) (Filer)
- 10-Q/A - CHINA SECURITY & SURVEILLANCE TECHNOLOGY, INC. (0001260625) (Filer)