Comment The stories below gush about the surge in new home sales. And while it is correct to say they are at their highest level since 2006, the long-term perspective shown in the chart below leaves a different impression. The current level of 437,000 new one-family houses sold (annualized rate) used to be associated with… Continue reading New Home Sales vs Starts
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Home Prices Log Best Gain Since 2006: Case-Shiller U.S. single-family home prices picked up in December, closing out 2012 with the biggest yearly gain in more than six years as the housing market got back on its feet, a closely watched… Continue reading Home Prices Rise
The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: Bernanke Affirms Bond Buying Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke came down firmly in favor of continuing the central bank’s bond-buying programs, even as he acknowledged concerns that the efforts might encourage risk-taking that could someday destabilize markets or the economy. In his semiannual report to Congress Tuesday, Mr.… Continue reading Bernanke: Federal Reserve Policy Is Working
The Wall Street Journal – Wal-Mart’s Sales Problem—And America’s The Super Bowl was played on Feb. 3, with the Baltimore Ravens coming out on top. The loser claimed, with some justification, that the officials stole the game. The loser I refer to is Wal-Mart, WMT +0.94% not the unlucky San Francisco 49ers. February was a… Continue reading More On Walmart’s Sales
The Wall Street Journal – Regulators Hope for Libor Pacts In a statement Tuesday, Rabobank said a settlement is likely but the timing and details are unknown. Bloomberg News on Tuesday reported Rabobank’s expected deal with regulators. Barclays agreed last summer to pay about $450 million to settle allegations that it tried to rig the… Continue reading LIBOR
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Says U.S. Must End ‘Too Big to Fail’ Bank Subsidy Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said he wants to end investor perceptions that the largest U.S. financial institutions will be given taxpayer bailouts to prevent a collapse. “We need to stop too-big-to-fail,” Bernanke said in testimony to the Senate Banking Committee… Continue reading “Too Big To Fail” Must End
The Wall Street Journal – A Guide to New Euro Crisis The euro-zone crisis is back—although some argue it never really went away. The failure of Italy’s elections to produce a clear winner, with Pier Luigi Bersani’s center-left coalition narrowly winning the lower house but no overall control of the upper chamber of Parliament, has… Continue reading Europe
Bloomberg.com – Fed Faces Explaining Billion-Dollar Losses in QE Exit Stress Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts to rescue the economy could result in more than a half trillion dollars of paper losses on the central bank’s books if interest rates rise abruptly from recent levels. That sum is the difference between the value… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Needs To Explain Paper Losses
None Today
Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV yesterday discussing the markets. To view the interview the interview, click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. The Wall Street Journal – Italy Vote Revives Euro-Crisis Worries The euro-zone crisis is back! Or is it? The failure of Italy’s elections to… Continue reading On The Markets
Comment As we detailed yesterday, Bernanke’s testimony is typically bullish for risk markets. Will he again say the right words to push markets higher? The story below will be a topic Bernanke will be asked about. Bloomberg.com – Fed Faces Explaining Billion-Dollar Losses in Stress of QE3 Exit Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s efforts… Continue reading Bernanke Speaks Today
Zero Hedge – Santelli: “What If The Fed Did Less?” The prevalence of counter-factuals or ‘coulda-shoulda-woulda’s in mainstream economics is stunningly biased to explaining “why we’re still in the doldrums outside of course of the stock market.” As CNBC’s Rick Santelli exclaims, we are told at every turn that if we just do more –… Continue reading Is the Federal Reserve Doing Too Much?