Bloomberg.com – Apartment Rentals Surge in U.S. on Home Foreclosures, Job Gains U.S. apartment landlords are seeing a surge in rentals as mounting foreclosures reduce homeownership and an improving job market for young adults encourages them to find their own places to live. The number of occupied apartments increased by 215,000 in the 64 largest… Continue reading More Anecdotal Evidence Points To Rising Rents
The Wall Street Journal – Crisis-Era Munis Haunt Wall Street Two years after the credit-market meltdown hit a once-booming sector of the municipal-bond market, Wall Street brokerage firms are being ordered to pay millions to investors who lost big on what some thought were low-risk investments. This month, an investor arbitration panel awarded a California… Continue reading Munis
The Wall Street Journal – Deflation Defies Expectations—and Solutions The old bogeyman of deflation has re-emerged as a worry for the U.S. economy. Here’s something else to fret about: After studying more than a decade of deflation in Japan, economists have slowly realized they have no idea how it works. Deflation is usually associated with… Continue reading Deflation
Forbes.com – Ben Bernanke As The Ultimate Contrarian Indicator Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s crystal ball has not been of the greatest value to investors since he took office, not that his predecessor was much better at providing profitable prognostications. Bernanke said in 2005 in response to analysts and economists pointing out the bubble forming… Continue reading Ben Bernanke: Contrarian Indicator
The Wall Street Journal – Why Jobs, Not Housing Data, Is the Key Just because housing led the economy into recession there is no reason to believe it will lead the way out. That is why investors are best off skipping over Tuesday’s housing-market data in favor of the jobs figures that come out two… Continue reading Jobs
The Wall Street Journal – Ratings Firms’ Power Trip Lays Bare Their Weaknesses The ratings firms showed their power last week. But their power is their weakness. Just hours after the passage of the new Dodd-Frank Act, the nation’s dominant credit-ratings firms had already delayed the effects of a new law in the financial overhaul… Continue reading The Ratings Agencies
The Wall Street Journal – Lenders Fared Better in Latest Downturn U.S. corporations suffered a wave of bankruptcies and other debt defaults over the past two years. But lenders, who once feared the prospect of huge losses, actually fared better than during past downturns. Investors holding debt of troubled companies recovered nearly 51 cents on… Continue reading Comparing Current Lending Environment To Past Recessionary Environments
The Wall Street Journal – Ten Stock-Market Myths That Just Won’t Die The Dow plummeted nearly 800 points a few weeks ago — and then just as dramatically rocketed back up again. The widely watched market indicator is down 7% from where it stood in April and up 59% from where it was at its… Continue reading Dispelling Common Stock Market Myths
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Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC on Friday discussing the European stress tests and debating the merits of austerity versus stimulus. To view the interview click on the picture above. To view any of our interviews click here. The Independent (UK) – Stephen King: Austerity can be postponed by a fiscal stimulus – but it… Continue reading Stimulus v. Austerity, The Debate Continues
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Comment The charts above suggest that the funding markets are getting tighter (top chart) and the market is becoming more “discriminating” (bottom chart). The markets are not buying the assurances of the European finance ministers. The Wall Street Journal – Next Test for… Continue reading Bank Funding – The Next Issue For European Banks