<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Housing Imperils Recovery Home prices have sunk to 2002 levels, effectively wiping out almost a decade’s worth of home equity across the U.S. and imperiling the fragile economic recovery as Americans confront the falling value of their biggest investment. A closely watched home-price index… Continue reading How Bad Is Housing?
The Financial Times – Housing market: renting on the rise A large earthquake is usually followed by aftershocks as the earth finds its new equilibrium. In the same way, the housing markets in the US and UK are taking a while to adjust in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Lending is tight, and many… Continue reading More on Rising Rents
The Financial Times – EU warns US to speed up bank reform The European Union’s top financial regulator has warned the Obama administration that it must speed up and toughen its new banking rules in order to prevent American banks from having unfair advantages over their European counterparts. In a letter sent last week to… Continue reading The EU Asks The U.S. To Speed Up Regulation
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Greece in Line for New Loan Discussions are under way for the European Union and the International Monetary Fund to grant Greece a fresh loan to bridge funding gaps in 2012 and possibly also 2013, said three sources familiar with the matter. EU, IMF… Continue reading Greece
The New York Times – S.E.C. Case Stands Out Because It Stands Alone Across the industry, “it’s impossible that only one person was involved with fraudulent activities in connection to the sales of these mortgage securities,” said G. Oliver Koppell, a New York attorney general in the 1990s and now a New York City councilman.… Continue reading Who Is To Blame For The Financial Crisis?
Bloomberg.com – Debt Ceiling Breach May Hurt Dollar More Than Treasuries, Citigroup Says A breach of the U.S. debt ceiling may affect the dollar more than Treasuries because international holders of the debt may view the risk of permanent losses greater than domestic investors, according to Citigroup Inc. “The foreign exchange reaction to a debt… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling
Pimco.com – Bill Gross: Buy Cheap Bonds with Safe Spread Journalists, financial advisors, and perhaps even some clients marvel at how PIMCO can be doing so well in 2011 while being underweight the Treasury/durational component of the bond market. Folks – we’re making butter. If you’re being repressed, our strategy is to churn those legs,… Continue reading Bill Gross Speaks
International Business Times – Can Gold Really Replace the US Dollar? Public faith in Western currencies has hit an extreme low.Faith in the US dollar is especially weak because the US government keeps on spending money it doesn’t have by borrowing from the generous printing presses of the Federal Reserve. Countries like China has lost… Continue reading The Gold Standard
MarketWatch.com – Paul B. Farrell: R.I.P. Reaganomics Revolution: 1981-2011 The 30-year Reaganomics Revolution will be over soon. Like the Roaring Twenties, ending in the game changing crash. Though more than 80 years apart, they share a common theme song of irrational exuberance: “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.” Many bubbles, now merging like tornadoes, in a perfect… Continue reading Reaganomics
The Wall Street Journal – Economists Downgrade Prospects for Growth Weakness in First Quarter Now Showing Signs of Persisting The world’s largest economy may be facing a growth problem. After a disappointing first quarter, economists largely predicted the U.S. recovery would ramp back up as short-term disruptions such as higher gas prices, bad weather and… Continue reading Will The Economy’s Soft Patch Open The Door For QE3?
The Wall Street Journal – What Will It Take for Companies to Unlock Their Cash Hoards? There is a cash crisis in corporate America—although it comes not from a shortage of the stuff, but from a surplus. In the first quarter, the five companies with the greatest cash hoards—Microsoft, Cisco Systems, Google, Apple and Johnson… Continue reading Cash On The Sidelines