Most U.S. portfolio managers seem to view the EU sovereign debt crisis as they would a pesky mosquito that refuses to fly away. If only the mosquito would leave, the asset managers could concentrate on the U.S. where the economy is said to be showing so much improvement and stocks are incorrectly perceived...
Read More »
Long time readers know that I believe the National Association of Realtors reporting and analysis of the housing market is a joke, or it would be if the impact on the lives of those who listened to them were not so tragic. Turns out that their sales data was extremely inflated. Ya Think?
Read More »
Today we look at Inflation data, Mortgage Applications, Industrial Production and utilization, and the Housing Market Index.
Read More »
From Naufall Sanaullah of Shadow Capitalism we get a nice overview of the world economy and markets.
Back to school shopping has been weak, the ECRI EWeekly Leading Index,Mortgage Applications and Housing starts came in weak. On the lighter side, the legend of the michigan dog and looking at deforestation.
Read More »
The Case-Shiller housing price index was released today. It showed an increase of 1.1% in June, but in looking closer it was mostly a seasonal effect...
Read More »
Robert Shiller, famous for predicting the Crash of 2000 and the bursting of the housing bubble discusses the role of psychology on stocks, housing and the economy.
From the Baton Rouge Business Report: The number of people who signed contracts to buy homes fell in July, further evidence that the depressed housing market remains a drag on the economy. The National Association of Realtors says its index of sales agreements fell 1.3% in July to a reading of 89.7. A reading...
Read More »
From Calculated Risk we see that housing supply is still going in the wrong direction. Housing prices are likely to go lower which means more defaults and more supply (wash, rinse, repeat.)
I know we keep hearing from many quarters that stocks are cheap. We disagree vehemently and today we bring you an expert witness. Having called the last few bubbles economist Robert Shiller discusses why he believes stocks are at least 40% overvalued and Real Estate could fall in real terms (meaning adjusted for inflation) another 25%. Click read more to see second video. Hat tip: Prag Cap
38% of them to be exact, and 10.9 Million homeowners overall.More Homeowners With Second Mortgages Are Underwater – WSJ.com.
Read More »
On the heels of last weeks delightfully mixed bag of employment data (job creation looks like it may be out of reverse and into neutral) we get some new housing data. There the signals are more disquieting, if expected (at least by me.) The housing market may now be heading back down. The interesting...
Read More »
Here is a nice collection of charts based on Robert Shiller’s data. First, the really long term: For those who haven’t been here before the housing category and tag has lots more on the bubble. My thoughts on the latest data, and that in reality this is long term a good thing, can be...
Read More »
We keep hearing about positive signs month after month, but the latest data on the housing markets shows the pace of declines has been accelerating and widening, not slowing down. In my opinion this is good. The decline in prices of overvalued assets is a good thing, whether houses, stocks or debt. The problem...
Read More »
As far as I know Jeremy Grantham has never appeared for the general public on TV or video. We get a real treat from Consuelo Mack of Wealthtrack with Jeremy dispensing advice about where the market is now. Like myself he sees the market as reasonably cheap, but not spectacularly so. He gives sound...
Read More »
Tyler Cowen states his basic views on the crisis. My response in italics: 1. Glass-Steagall repeal was not a major cause of the financial crisis, nor was government-induced “minority lending.” I agree on the first, the second charge has some validity, but only in terms very different than the typical charge. 2. We...
Read More »
I do believe we should be doing something as a nation, through our government, to avoid the not insignificant chance of a total financial meltdown. I have seen several things proposed that I find interesting, and I will get into them and other longer term issues in coming days. I had hoped to address...
Read More »
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below.
