Zero Hedge – Big GDP Miss: 2.2% Vs Expectations Of 2.5%, Composition Even Uglier So much for the +3.0% GDP whisper number. Instead of printing at the expected number of +2.5%, the first preliminary GDP data point (two more revisions pending) came out at 2.2%, a big disappointment for a quarter which had a substantial… Continue reading Market Capitalization As A Percentage Of GDP
Comment In Bernanke’s press conference earlier this week, the financial press repeatedly hit Bernanke with the left-wing/Keynesian criticism articulated by Paul Krugman that the Federal Reserve is not doing enough to create inflation. In other words, Krugman thinks Bernanke is too timid. Bernanke should start printing money like a real man and get some inflation… Continue reading Forget Paul Krugman, Here Is The Proper Criticism Of The Federal Reserve
Comment Jim Bianco was Yahoo Finance earlier this week discussing earnings. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. Yahoo Finance – Beware the Hype on Earnings: Jim Bianco “The 80% ‘beat rate’ is much higher than the 59% of companies that topped forecasts in… Continue reading Earnings Update – The “Great Beat Rate” Is Now Gone
The Economist – France’s election: The rather dangerous Monsieur Hollande The Socialist who is likely to be the next French president would be bad for his country and Europe IT IS half of the Franco-German motor that drives the European Union. It has been the swing country in the euro crisis, poised between a prudent… Continue reading Is Hollande (And No Austerity) Dangerous?
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Spanish economic crisis deepens Spain’s unemployment rate rose to almost one in four, according to data released on Friday, amid a deepening economic crisis marked by another sovereign credit downgrade from Standard & Poor’s. The number of Spaniards without jobs rose by almost 367,000 people… Continue reading The Mess That Is Spain
Reuters – BOJ Eases Policy Via Increase in Bond Buying The Bank of Japan eased monetary policy on Friday by expanding government bond purchases by 10 trillion yen ($123.8 billion), showing its determination to achieve its new 1 percent inflation target. But the central bank reduced by 5 trillion yen a pool of funds set… Continue reading The Bank Of Japan
Bloomberg.com – S&P 500 Dividend Payers Climb to Highest in 12 Years More Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies are paying dividends than at any time since January 2000 after Apple Inc. (AAPL), Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) and six other corporations initiated payouts this year. The number has risen to 401, according to data… Continue reading Everyone Loves Dividends
The Economist – Buttonwood: The great divide Why American house prices have corrected more than those in Europe It is hard to find an explanation for price movements that applies across markets. Some cite low real interest rates as the main reason that prices have held up in Europe. But real rates have fallen sharply… Continue reading Home Prices
The Financial Times – Richard Milne: Debt fears return as ECB funds are used up Investors have begun to pay especially close attention to Spanish and Italian banks. Thanks to the billions of euros in cheap loans dispensed by the European Central Bank, the banks’ dealings have become linked to moves in their countries’ bonds.… Continue reading ECB Funds Run Dry
The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: China’s property boom has peaked, forever “At first sight China looks fine. Unfortunately, there is a big problem of misclassification of loans. The financial system has much larger exposure to real estate than appears, and the weak links are the real estate trusts and non-bank lending. The smaller developers… Continue reading Chinese Real Estate – Forever Is A Long Time
None Today
Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC discussing the debt ceiling. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. We last detailed out thoughts on the debt ceiling yesterday. Bloomberg.com – Surviving ’Taxmageddon’ Without Maiming Economy The nation is hurtling toward what has been called “taxmageddon,”… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling