Barron’s – Silver ETF Files To Sell 50 Million More Shares As Volume Surges In order to meet rising demand for the popular iShares Silver ETF (SLV), the trust set up to guide the fund is making plans to offer 50 million more shares to institutions. In a filing with the SEC dated Wednesday, the… Continue reading SLV Volume Tops SPY Volume In Three Of Past Four Days
The Financial Times – Mayday! Followers of stock market maxims should be prepping their sell orders. “Sell in May and go away, come back on St Leger’s day” is the best-known piece of rhyming market wisdom. It is also one of the few with a decent track record. This is not because the first signs… Continue reading Sell In May And Go Away
Calculated Risk Blog – Multifamily: Rents Rising, Record low completions, Starts increasing rapidly, more “hate” for owning AVB on Rents: Growth in portfolio rents is broad-based, as accelerating as we move into the peak leasing season in the second and third quarters, when over 60% of leases expire. During Q1, year-over-year growth in same-store revenues… Continue reading Rising Rents
<Click on chart for larger image> Calculated Risk Blog – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Delinquency Rates decline Fannie Mae reported that the serious delinquency rate decreased to 4.44% in February from 4.45% in January. This is down from the all time high 5.59% in February 2010. Freddie Mac reported that the serious delinquency rate… Continue reading Fannie/Freddie Delinquency Rates
The Wall Street Journal – Officials Unfazed by Dollar Slide In recent days, the nation’s top two economic policy makers—Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner—have publicly expressed their desire for a strong dollar. But there is little indication of a change in policy from either the Fed or Treasury—or in underlying… Continue reading A Strong Dollar?
Reuters – Most Americans say U.S. in recession despite data: poll More than half of Americans say the U.S. economy is in a recession or a depression despite official data that show a moderate recovery, according to a poll released on Thursday. The April 20-23 Gallup survey of 1,013 U.S. adults found that only 27… Continue reading The Lousy U.S. Economy
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – If Bill Gross Sees U.S. as Shaky, Check Japan: William Pesek On Wednesday, the day S&P threatened to downgrade Japan, credit-default swaps protecting government debt for five years returned to their pre-March 11 trading range. The message to politicians: By all means, continue borrowing with abandon. It’s… Continue reading Japan vs. US
The Economist – Buttonwood: Gilt-edged argument The battle to explain the remorseless rise of the bullion price Gold can be viewed in many ways: as a “barbarous relic” that is currently the subject of a speculative bubble; as the one reliable source of value over history; as a harbinger of hyperinflation; as a hedge against… Continue reading Gold’s Rally
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The Financial Times – Modest expectations Thursday sees the first estimate of US gross domestic product for the first quarter. So has the market followed the habits of the past year and overshot? Out of the last 12 monthly GDP reports, the market has overestimated six times, been spot-on four times and been positively surprised… Continue reading Market Capitalization As A Percentage Of GDP
Comment In the video above, Bernanke says: So, again, relative to what we expected and, anticipated, i think the program was successful. Why not do more? Again, this was similar to the question i received earlier. The tradeoffs are getting less attractive at this point. Inflation has gotten higher. Inflation expectations are a bit higher. … Continue reading Bernanke Says It’s All About Inflation Expectations
The Wall Street Journal – Bernanke Meets the Press Chairman Ben Bernanke proved to be a skillful monetary politician at the first of his Federal Reserve press conferences yesterday, sounding equally worried and watchful as he fielded questions about both rising prices and high unemployment. But the real story of the day is that the… Continue reading Bernanke’s Transcript