thestatedtruth.com | September 5, 2010
So even though we have nearly 8,000 banks, the bulk of the assets sit with a small number of banks and the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF), the fund that backs the assets of the banks is actually in the red for $15 billion: www.mybudget360.com
thestatedtruth.com | September 4, 2010
Without tax incentives, this may all be for not……..John Mauldin explains the simple facts of job growth…..Want to increase productivity and jobs? The best way it seems, is to encourage private business, and especially startups. “So we can’t count on the Intels or Microsofts to create employment: we need the entrepreneurs.” Delta Force There are [...]
thestatedtruth.com | September 4, 2010
Even after looking at the market’s rebound from the lows of 2009, nest eggs remain severely impaired. As of the first quarter of 2010, net household assets—homes, 401(k) plans, pension assets and other investments minus debts—stood at $54.6 trillion, down an average of 18% from the end of 2007. We actually think the losses are higher but we’ll [...]
thestatedtruth.com | September 4, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | September 3, 2010
Bond Vs. Stocks…..Pension Allocations. Looks like bonds are priced to perfection here, so if re allocations take place in the next year like this report says, then the results may not be pretty. If interest rates have any kind of a kick to the upside a broad under performance could be setting up for retirement accounts. Hmmm, isn’t [...]
thestatedtruth.com | September 2, 2010
Consumers are eschewing fixed-line alternatives for their cell phones, opting to keep connected to a single number whether they’re at home or in the car. www.dailyreckoning.com
thestatedtruth.com | September 2, 2010
Key message here is….. for liquidity ratios, equity fund portfolio managers are at an all-time record low of 3.4%, down from 3.8% in June. Tack on the fact that there are less shorts to be covered – being that the market peaked in April, and short interest is now 4.3% of the S&P 500 market cap (in August 2008 it [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 31, 2010
More then one in six Americans are currently on government anti-poverty programs and the number continues to rise. The chart is below. WASHINGTON — Government anti-poverty programs that have grown to meet the needs of recession victims now serve a record one in six Americans and are continuing to expand. More than 50 million Americans are [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 30, 2010
According to the Investment Company Institute (ICI), bond mutual funds have attracted more money than equity mutual funds for 30 consecutive months through June, the longest stretch in more than 23 years.
thestatedtruth.com | August 29, 2010
Interesting to say the least….rare earth elemnts are used in almost everything that is high tech……. Bloomberg reports that China is cutting back 72% of its exports of Rare Earth metals. China has said that environmental issues are the reason for the cutbacks. 72% drop in availability of any commodity is important. RE’s are important. Japan [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 26, 2010
One reason of many for a tough road ahead….. From JPM……The latest profit recovery (the three red dots) is reliant on declining labor costs like none before it. A profit recovery whose foundation is so reliant on sustained high productivity and low real wage growth should not command a very high P/E multiple. A recent JPM [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 22, 2010
The Phillie Fed report was just awful. Buried in the details was the fact that the hours-worked index is collapsing, consistent with previews to past recessions. Very worrisome. (From my favorite slicer and dicer of data, Greg Weldon: www.weldononline.com) Bottom line? It is going to be a tough environment for the next 6-8 years. That [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 18, 2010
This chart from Deutsche Bank, which appeared in U.S. Global’s weekly Investor Alert, shows the progression of China’s crude oil imports going back to 2002. As you can see, the trend—represented by the red annual average lines—shows that China is importing three times more crude than eight years ago to support its economic growth. [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 18, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | August 18, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | August 16, 2010
The ECRI index is an important leading indicator. It has now fallen for 10 straight weeks. There are three insurmountable problems in the US economy that are of a magnitude and gravity which can only be remedied by money printing: Federal and state deficits will soon escalate at an exponential rate. The US Federal debt [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 15, 2010
Even after looking at the market’s rebound from the lows of 2009, nest eggs remain severely impaired. As of the first quarter of 2010, net household assets—homes, 401(k) plans, pension assets and other investments minus debts—stood at $54.6 trillion, down an average of 18% from the end of 2007. We actually think the losses are higher but we’ll [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 15, 2010
More at: www.wsj.com
thestatedtruth.com | August 14, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | August 13, 2010
Source: Telegraph
thestatedtruth.com | August 12, 2010
We’re looking at what will likely be a multi year process of cleansing. Debts will have to be paid down, leverage decreased and ultimatly spending will have to be cut too! That will make things even worse. Asset values will continue to fall. At some point in the future the system will complete its debt recycling and [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 10, 2010
A deflationary debt spiral is the killer of the American middle class. Little equity is left because the debt level has stayed basically the same, while most or all their assets including retirement are falling in value. In total, roughly $7 trillion in U.S. residential real estate values have been lost in the last few years according to the Case [...]
thestatedtruth.com | August 7, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | August 3, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | July 24, 2010
By John Mauldin July 24, 2010 The Elements of Deflation Just as every school child knows that water is formed by the two elements of hydrogen and oxygen in a very simple combination we all know as H2O, so deflation has its own elements of composition. Let’s look at some of them (in no [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 22, 2010
By Lydia Saad PRINCETON, NJ — Gallup’s 2010 Confidence in Institutions poll finds Congress ranking dead last out of the 16 institutions rated this year. Eleven percent of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in Congress, down from 17% in 2009 and a percentage point lower than [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 20, 2010
Source: Institute for Policy Studies The above shows a solid plutocracy is already here. Wealth is the key issue. As many people are now finding out simply having a massive home with a jumbo mortgage and a leased foreign car is no sign of wealth. In fact, that can be taken from you quickly (and [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 20, 2010
For decades the idea was that you can spend more than you earn. This came all the way from the top so it shouldn’t be a surprise that many in the middle class took their signal from their leaders. What happened? Source: Lew Rockwell The personal savings rate went so low that it went from [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 16, 2010
U.S. consumer prices dipped slightly in June, but the core measure that strips volatile food and energy prices posted its largest gain since October 2009. The Labor Department said in a report Friday that the seasonally-adjusted consumer price index slid 0.1% last month, knocked down by a decline in energy prices. In May, consumer prices were down [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 15, 2010
Surveyed firms reported a decline in new orders this month compared with June. Employment showed a slight improvement this month. The survey’s broad indicators of future activity continue to suggest that the region’s manufacturing executives expect growth in business over the next six months, but optimism has waned notably in recent months.The survey’s broadest measure [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 14, 2010
How do we know stocks are still overvalued? We know by looking at Professor Robert Shiller’s cyclically adjusted PE chart for the past 130 years. The cyclically adjusted PE is one of the only measures of valuation that has some long-term predictive validity, and this chart suggests that stock returns are going to continue to [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 14, 2010
Speaking of credit, or the lack thereof, the U.S. has been stripped of its AAA credit rating. So have Britain, France and Germany… This morning, the Dagong Global Credit Rating Co., China’s first real attempt at a ratings agency, initiated coverage on the sovereign debt of 50 different countries. “Dagong’s sovereign credit ratings are based [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 8, 2010
The problem is actually pretty simple. We have more debt than productive growth can support. Debt has been losing its marginal productivity for years now and it no longer increases GDP. Rather, we abruptly reached debt saturation and now growth in debt reduces GDP. We have such levels of mal-investment and excess balance sheet [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 7, 2010
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | July 6, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | July 6, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | July 3, 2010
Interesting thoughts……..Data maven, Greg Weldon ( www.weldononline.com) shows that the number of people planning vacations in 2010 is down, dropping by over 35% in the last three years, and is now the second lowest number ever, only 2009 lower. Second lowest Ever. www.weldononline.com
thestatedtruth.com | July 2, 2010
By Tyler Durden on 07/02/2010 Zero hedge The decoupling theorists are about to experience a second smack down in 3 years. After the biggest bubble of 2008 blew up spectacularly and made beggars out of the Greek CEOs of various dry bulk shippers, only to see their fortunes go back to unchanged again, it looks [...]
thestatedtruth.com | July 1, 2010
Borrowing costs have tumbled in the past two months as concern that a debt crisis in Europe may spread boosted demand for the safety of bonds including mortgage-backed securities. The lower rates have failed to lift housing demand, which has tumbled since a tax credit for first- time and certain other buyers expired at the [...]
thestatedtruth.com | June 23, 2010
Source: Heritage Foundation
thestatedtruth.com | June 23, 2010
Source: Heritage Foundation
thestatedtruth.com | June 23, 2010
Source: Heritage Foundation
thestatedtruth.com | June 23, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | June 11, 2010
The financial raid against the middle class – 9 of the 10 largest occupations in the U.S. have median wages between $8 per hour and $14per hour. The middle class is inheriting a new serfdom drowning in mountains of debt. The new two income trap. Posted: Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:02:10 +0000 The war against [...]
thestatedtruth.com | June 8, 2010
The Daily Reckoning Presents The Housing Non-Recovery Whitney Tilson Ed. Note: This is an excerpt from Whitney Tilson’s presentation to the Value Investing Congress in Pasadena, California on May 5, 2010. Whitney Tilson is the founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds. Two years ago, we stood up [...]
thestatedtruth.com | June 2, 2010
July isn’t too shabby, but it has the misfortune of sitting between the only two months – June and September – that have produced losses, on average, since 1950. August has delivered a gain, but just barely. So when you add it all up, you can see that the stock market has not provided a [...]
thestatedtruth.com | June 2, 2010
Chart courtesy of Karl Denninger
thestatedtruth.com | June 2, 2010
Chart courtesy of Calculated Risk
thestatedtruth.com | May 31, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 31, 2010
The great American debt purge – Americans more stressed out about debt. Mortgage, credit card, student loan, and auto loan debt up to $13.5 trillion. Average debt per household at over $120,000. Sun, 30 May 2010 Every man, woman, and child would owe an average of $43,000 if we divided up mortgage, credit card, student, [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 28, 2010
The personal consumption to income ratio remains above 85%. A society based on excessive consumption with little investment is not sustainable. When wealth created from previous productive endeavors is consumed or transferred, society is left with obligations that it cannot pay. Personal consumption to income ratio: Consumer spending was stagnant in April while incomes posted [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 23, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 23, 2010
More at: www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 20, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 19, 2010
05/19/2010 14:01 -0500 ICI has reported the most recent fund flow data, and it’s a doozy. In the week following the flash crash, domestic equity funds saw a whopping $8.6 billion in outflows. As a result, the YTD outflow is over $9 billion, so in essence after almost going back to breakeven before May 6, [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 14, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 14, 2010
The Road to Default Follow the capital flows, people. As money flees from the European bond market, it runs to the safety of US debt, stocks, and gold. The race to the fiat bottom, however, ensures that it’s only a matter of time before the US devalues again and capital begins to flee the safe [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 12, 2010
By: Jim Sinclair Post Edited: May 12, 2010 If you were to believe the MOPE the reason that gold was strong is because of an article on Kitco. The article speculated on Germany withdrawing from the EU. www.jsmineset.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 11, 2010
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 10, 2010
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 9, 2010
www.jsmineset.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 8, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 8, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | May 8, 2010
Though not every homeowner who’s underwater on a mortgage need worry, many are finding that a foreclosure or other form of housing loss can lead to a big tax obligation. As the U.S. economy continues struggling with the fallout of the debt-induced housing crisis, millions of homeowners like Ms. McDaniel are discovering that their decision [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 7, 2010
Risks associated with the fiscal deficits. And by the way, we should note that 25 of 27 European countries are running deficits in excess of 3% of GDP. Ireland has a deficit of 14.3%. Portugal is at almost 10%. Greece is almost 14%. Here is a table from Variant Perception in London, from data from [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 7, 2010
The Globe and Mail in Toronto put together a good visual (below) on how financially exposed the larger and stronger economies of Western Europe are to the region’s teetering nations. Think of all the turmoil caused by Greece – the external debt load of Spain and Ireland together is more than eight times greater.
thestatedtruth.com | May 6, 2010
Chart Of The Four Bad Bears….Updated
thestatedtruth.com | May 6, 2010
http://www.greenfaucet.com/
thestatedtruth.com | May 6, 2010
www.ingerletter.com
thestatedtruth.com | May 5, 2010
A) the FCC will announce their version of ‘Net Neutrality’ during Thursday’s market, modified after a successful Court challenge by Comcast (this is a move unwelcomed by the telecommunications industry; we’ll see if it’s compromised) recently; B) look for a scandal involving ‘why’ the Interior Secretary went ‘rafting’ over in the Grand Canyon ‘after’ the [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 3, 2010
As of today, over 7 million current mortgage holders are 30+ days late or in some stage of foreclosure. This is at peak levels. And part of the reason why after 27 months of this recession and trillions in bailouts to Wall Street and banks, not much has changed on the housing front. Wall Street [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 3, 2010
Commercial real estate pushes $7.4 billion in FDIC Losses in one day – Hard to hear the CRE collapse with investment banks finally being called out in the court of public opinion. $3 trillion CRE market will keep Fridays busy for the FDIC. Posted: Mon, 03 May 2010 The $3 trillion commercial real estate [...]
thestatedtruth.com | May 2, 2010
thestatedtruth.com | April 30, 2010
PRIMA FACIA – WHERE IS UNCLE SAM? I have written extensively about the unregulated, non-exchange traded, offshore, off balance sheet (OTC) $605 Trillion derivatives market and specifically about the $437 Trillion Interest rate swap market. In Sultans of Swap: the Getaway I laid out some of the court actions taking place throughout Europe and the [...]