MarketWatch – 4 reasons you can’t trust earnings numbers Earning season is here. Are you still optimistic about 2013? In the fifth year of an aging bull? With Fed QE stalling? Cheap-money near ending? GDP falling to 2%? Commodities dropping? Political gridlock till 2016? No-new-taxes GOP? Tea Party’s demanding austerity? As unemployment rises? Euro zone… Continue reading Earnings
Spiegel Online – Harvard Economist: ‘The Crisis Isn’t Over in the US or Europe’ In a SPIEGEL interview, Harvard economist Carmen Reinhart argues governments are incapable of reducing their debts and that central banks are now stepping up to resolve the crisis themselves. In the end, she argues, everyday savers will pay the price. SPIEGEL:… Continue reading Carmen Reinhart Sees Trouble Ahead
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Goldman Sachs Turns Bearish on Gold Another longtime gold bull is turning tail. Investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said Wednesday that gold’s prospects for the year have eroded, recommending investors close out long positions and initiate bearish bets, or shorts. The shift in… Continue reading Gold
Forbes – With New Anti-Bubble Rules, Housing Sales Collapse 70% In Beijing The Chinese government is doing what it can to continually poke holes in the country’s housing bubble. It appears they have been successful this time around in Beijing. When it comes to existing housing sales in the city, the market has been put… Continue reading How To Pop A Bubble
Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Japan Easy Money In Pictures Central Bank Balance Sheets Employment In Pictures Employment In Pictures Mutual Fund Flows An Updated Look At ETF Holdings Investor Intelligence An Updated Look At Credit Spreads Junk Bonds New Low Yield Spain’s Public Pension Funds – All In Sovereigns House… Continue reading Charts of the Week
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch.com – In search of the ‘Great Rotation’ Stock-market bulls are kidding themselves if they think the strong first quarter was caused by the so-called Great Rotation. That’s the catch phrase that the bulls concocted earlier this year to refer to what they thought would happen as interest rates… Continue reading The Non-Existent Great Rotation
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Junk bonds benefit from lack of options A dearth of attractive investment options has pushed global investors back into the US junk market, sending yields lower and enabling borrowers with weak credit histories to raise funds at the lowest rates on record. The latest push… Continue reading Junk Bonds
The Wall Street Journal – Pimco’s Gross Turns Positive on 10-Year Treasurys Bond market heavyweight Bill Gross has again warmed up to longer-dated Treasury bonds after snubbing the securities for months, the latest sign of how the Bank of Japan’s bold monetary stimulus is causing global investors to change course. Mr. Gross, manager of the… Continue reading Bill Gross Turns Positive On Bonds
Bloomberg.com – Bass Says Japan Bondholders’ Reaction to Stimulus Telling Kyle Bass, whose Dallas-based hedge- fund firm Hayman Advisors LP made $500 million in 2007 betting against U.S. subprime mortgages, said Japanese government bondholders’ reaction to the central bank’s unprecedented stimulus may foreshadow a broader selloff. Japan’s 10-year yields touched a record low of 0.315… Continue reading More On Japan
Bloomberg.com – Obama Proposes $3.77 Trillion Budget to Revive Debt Talks President Barack Obama sends a $3.77 trillion spending plan to Congress today that calls for reductions in Social Security and Medicare in a political gamble intended to revive deficit-reduction talks. Obama’s budget for fiscal 2014 proposes $50 billion for roads, bridges and other public… Continue reading Obama’s Budget Proposal
Barron’s – CGM Focus Manager Heebner: Banks Gain From Europe’s Woes; U.S. To Face Housing …. Shortage? Ken Heebner’s CGM Focus fund (CGMFX) is ahead by an annualized 12% over the last 15 years — pretty remarkable in light of a negative 9.1% figure for the last five. Last in the news for a big,… Continue reading A New Housing Bubble?