The Shadow Knows!

| September 20, 2010

“An incredible 14% of the nearly 54 million first liens in the country are now either delinquent or in default” the Real Estate Channel’s Keith Jurow, observes. “To come up with a total for the shadow inventory, let’s first add the total number of loans in default to those delinquent 90 days or more since […]

The Consumer Goes On Strike

| September 18, 2010

By Gary Shilling Consumers Go On Strike It wasn’t until late 2008 that we had the collapse in home equity as house prices nosedived (Chart 2), rising layoffs (Chart 3) and the drying up of consumer lending drove consumers into retrenchment. But they suddenly went on a buyers strike in the last four months of 2008, […]

Pension Problems Growing Larger By The Year

| September 17, 2010

The median expected investment return for more than 100 U.S. public pension plans surveyed by the National Association of State Retirement Administrators remains 8%, the same level as in 2001   “It’s unrealistic,”  according to John Bogle, founder of mutual fund giant Vanguard.  He says the return assumptions in place at most pension plans can’t be meet. […]

U.S. Home Prices May Face 3 More Years Of Decline As Inventory Surges

| September 15, 2010

Bloomberg      09-15-2010 The slide in U.S. home prices may have another three years to go as sellers add as many as 12 million more properties to the market. Shadow inventory — the supply of homes in default or foreclosure that may be offered for sale — is preventing prices from bottoming after a 28 percent […]

Unprecedented 19th Sequential Equity Outflow, $10 Billion In September Redemptions

| September 15, 2010

ICI’s latest data discloses that in the week ended September 8, domestic funds saw outflows of $2.2 billion, following last week’s massive $7.7 billion. And  ETFs experienced outflows as well. So far September has experienced nearly $10 billion in outflows, even as the market has ramped by over 6%.  This is the 19th sequential outflow […]

Pension Deficit Disorder

| September 15, 2010

The funded status of the 100 largest corporate defined benefit pension plans dropped by $108 billion during August 2010 as measured by the Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index (PFI). The funded status decrease was primarily due to a significant decrease in corporate bond interest rates that are the benchmarks used to value pension liabilities. Though […]

Corporate Pension Underfunding Hits Record $460 Billion Deficit

| September 14, 2010

A $108 Billion Deterioration In ONE MONTH www.zerohedge.com      09-14-2010 According to actuarial and consulting firm Miliman, in August 2010, the funded status of the 100 largest defined benefit pension plans sponsored by U.S. companies dropped by $108 billion to a 10-year low of 70.1%. Yes, that’s a $100 billion + deterioration in one month!  The […]

New York Fed To Buy $27 Billion In Treasurys……

| September 13, 2010

So what will bolt from the gate fastest Stocks, Bonds or could Gold and Silver lead the way?  The New York Fed has just disclosed it will buy $27 billion in Treasurys between mid-Sept and mid-October. Using the Basel III blessed 30x leverage, this money, once it makes its way to the Primary Dealers, should be […]

John Williams Of Shadow Stats Says Economic Downturn Re-Intensifies!

| September 13, 2010

From John Williams of shadowstats.com……… – Protracted Economic Downturn Re-Intensifies  – Systemic Stability: “Tap-Dancing on a Land Mine”  – Risks of U.S. Dollar Instability and Systemic-Salvation Efforts Pose          Severe Inflation Threat www.shadowstats.com

The Consumer And Debt

| September 11, 2010

If not for record low interest rates, the Debt Service Ratio chart below would look a lot different! The consumer, and why the expectation (and reality) of deflation will keep U.S. buyers subdued, and continue to make the US economy ever more reliant on the government’s transfer payment, aka welfare, program. A very simple illustration of the […]

More Stringent Mortgage Underwriting Standards Sought By The FDIC

| September 11, 2010

FDIC’s Bair Warns of Government “Exposure” in Mortgages WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A key U.S. banking regulator raised concern on Wednesday about the risk of “exposure” the government is taking on in the mortgage market and urged more stringent standards for underwriting mortgages. “We should all be concerned about the type of exposure that the government […]

Commercial Backed Loans In Delinquency Are $3.1 Billion In August

| September 10, 2010

Interesting fact…..stock market REIT ‘s (Real Estate Investment Trusts) are trading at near record highs. Of the $3.1 billion new delinquencies in August, $1.1 billion (36%) corresponded to hotel-backed loans, pushing the hotel-specific delinquency rate past 20%. Current delinquency rates by property type are as follows: –Hotel: 20.80% (from 18.64%) –Multifamily: 14.18% (from 13.87%) –Retail: […]

Shifting Demographics And The New Normal

| September 9, 2010

Shifting Demographics  A factor affecting demand is shifting demographics. The Baby Boomer generation is no longer the consumption engine it has been to the US economy.   We have a generation that, as has been predicted for some time, is reducing its expenses but it may be even more dramatic than forecasted. With home housing […]

Commercial Loan Delinquencies Sets New Record At 8.92%

| September 8, 2010

After two months of moderated growth in delinquent loans backing commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), the delinquency rate in August increased 21 basis points to 8.92%, according to the analytics firm Trepp. It’s an increase from the 8.71% measured in July and another new record. The August delinquency rate is more than double the 4.03% rate […]

Beige Book Out….Fed Banks: ‘Widespread Signs of a Deceleration’ In Economy

| September 8, 2010

The Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy maintained its expansion while showing “widespread signs of a deceleration” in mid-July through the end of August, according to a survey by 12 regional Fed banks. The New York Fed reported “signs of decelerating” in the district, including “further deceleration” in manufacturing. The Philadelphia region said business conditions […]

The Big 4 Banks Control A Huge Amount Of Bank Assets

| 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

Jim Rickards……”A Must Listen To” Interview About The Economy And More

| September 4, 2010

A must listen to interview with Jim Rickards about our economy and more.   We all need to be aware of the direction of things to come.   This interview from Jim Rickards will help in understanding these things better.   Click on the following link or paste into your browser:     http://www.kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/Broadcast/Entries/2010/9/4_Jim_Rickards.html   Biography of James G. Rickards…..James G. Rickards is […]

Cumberland Advisors: The Harrisburg Mess – The First Inning

| September 3, 2010

Very interesting,  but also a worst nightmare for tax payers……….Under Pennsylvania law, Ambac Assurance (which insures some of Harrisburg’s debt) can take Harrisburg to court to seek an order to raise property taxes to pay debt.  This is the nature of “full faith and credit” of general-obligation bonds.  So the tax payers are stuck for the […]

It’s Called The New Normal…..International Monetary Fund Warns G7 On Debt

| September 2, 2010

Key words here are…..”public debt had served for decades as the ultimate shock absorber — rising in bad times but not declining much in good times.”  Now things have to change as  the wealthiest nations face years of belt-tightening.  International Monetary Fund Warns G7 on Debt Thursday, 2 Sep 2010  By: Sewell Chan The world’s most […]

ECB Keeps Interest Rates At 1%, Maintaining Crisis Mode Because Of A Fragile World Economic Situation

| September 2, 2010

Crisis mode? Hmm…..their words not ours! ECB Keeps Key Interest Rate at 1%, May Maintain Crisis Mode By Christian Vits   Sep 2, 2010  The European Central Bank kept interest rates at a record low today and President Jean-Claude Trichet may signal the bank will stay in crisis mode into next year. The ECB’s Governing Council […]

Cumberland Associates…..Front Running The Fed

| September 1, 2010

Front Running the Fed September 1, 2010 “… the public is no longer investing in stocks, but rather in bonds.  So far this year through July, bond mutual funds have attracted $224.4bn in net inflows including reinvested dividends.  Equity funds have attracted only $17.2bn ytd, with $32.2bn going into International funds while $15.0bn flowed out […]

Bonds Vs. Equity…….Money Flows From ICI

| 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.

New Statistic On The Stock Market

| August 30, 2010

Interesting facts we haven’t heard of before!   For the first time since at least 1997, fewer than 29 percent of ratings for stocks covered by brokerages worldwide are buys, according to 159,919 recommendations compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts are turning more pessimistic even as they push up estimates for profit growth among Standard & Poor’s […]

George Friedman Of STRATFOR: China “Will Have A Collapse” In The Coming Decade And America Will Be The Primary Beneficiary

| August 29, 2010

Some food for thought from George Friedman, CEO of STRATFOR, who believes China “will have a collapse” in the coming decade due to internal striff, an export based economy, and low internal rates of return,  It will set America up as the primary beneficiary in a new Golden Era. Mr. Friedman’s views are controversial but well worth listening […]

The Economy: Where We Are Now!

| August 29, 2010

Last week, the Liscio Report posted an interesting comment on their blog, Where we are?: Here’s an updated guide to “where we are”—how the U.S. economy is faring relative to the average of previous financial crises around the world. Though individual details vary, we’re following the script pretty well. In the graphs of four major […]

Let’s Revisit This Great Piece From Todd Harrison Of Minyanville!

| August 29, 2010

By Todd Harrison of Minyanville Seeking Solutions In An Uncertain World  We used to play for silver, now we play for life; ones for sport and one’s for blood at the point of a knife. –Grateful Dead We live in interesting times. During the last two years, a financial virus spawned and infected the economic […]

Pennsylvania Property Taxes May Worsen….Does This Set The Stage For The Same In Other States?

| August 28, 2010

This continues to be a hot subject and the problems continue to get worse.  Question: Why should communities have to support bloted state and government pension and benefit plans that are guaranteed no matter what the loses are, and totaly out of control while the rest of the country in the private sector has to live with less because of loses to IRA’s and […]

California Governor ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER On Government-Employee Compensation And Benefits

| August 27, 2010

Here is a summary of parts of a Wall Street Journal article by California Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger on government pensions and employee benefit compensation.  Roughly 80 cents of every government dollar in California goes to employee compensation and benefits.  Spending on California’s state employees over the past decade rose at nearly three times the rate our […]

Robert Shiller Says Double Dip “May Be Imminent”

| August 27, 2010

08/27/2010 The WSJ’s Simon Constable interviews Robert Shiller.  He says that an economic double dip may be “imminent.”   Shiller also believes that when the NBER looks back at the data, Q3 of this year will mark the beginning of the second dip of the recession. Ironically, since up to now the previous recession has never actually […]

One In 10 Mortgage Holders Face Foreclosure

| August 26, 2010

Modest is putting it bluntly…..There was some modestly encouraging news. The percentage of mortgage borrowers receiving foreclosure notices fell slightly to 4.57 percent in the April-to-June quarter.  Government efforts haven’t made much of a difference. Nearly half of the 1.3 million homeowners who have enrolled in the Obama administration’s main mortgage-relief program have been cut loose […]

Illinois Retirement Funds Selling Assets To Pay Benefits

| August 26, 2010

The Canary in the coal mine.     Sounds like a bad situation is setting itself up here…… We went over some of this just a few days ago……It’s an unfolding disaster…. Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System, Springfield, plans to sell $3 billion in investments, or about 10% of its $33.1 billion in assets in the current fiscal year […]

Kicking The Can Down The Road….Then Stepping On It!

| August 26, 2010

Hmm…..Two months in a row, right in the middle of the traditional best seasonal time of the year for real estate….not one new home was sold valued above $750,000 in the whole U.S. according to David Rosenberg (he worked for Merrill Lynch and now resides in Canada as chief economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff). …..Attitudes towards […]

A Novel Idea, But Way To Logical To Catch On!

| August 26, 2010

In a bid to stem taxpayer losses for bad loans guaranteed by federal housing agencies Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) proposed that borrowers be required to make a 5% down payment in order to qualify. His proposal was rejected 57-42 on a party-line vote because, …………Senator Chris Dodd (D-Conn) explained, “passage […]

When Dominos Fall…..Illinois Teachers’ Retirement System Enters The Death Spiral….Are Other Pension Plans The Next Shoe To Drop?

| August 24, 2010

Pension funds everywhere had better pay attention to what’s going on with the Illinois Teachers Retirement System.  It’s a wake up call……Hello, anybody there! When the financial crisis erupted, it first hit banks, insurance companies, hedge funds, real estate/ private equity funds, asset managers, and then hit pension funds. But pensions remain very vulnerable because […]

Existing Home Sales Fall Hard In July – Can Anyone Be Really Surprised?

| August 24, 2010

Existing home sales fell to their lowest level in over 15 years in July as inventories soared.   It portrays a grim picture for the housing market absent government support. Home resales dropped a record 27.2%  or nearly twice as much as analysts had expected to an annual rate of 3.83 million in July, according to the National Association of […]

New Housing Finance Ideas…….Can It Work?

| August 23, 2010

Let’s keep this in mind…..Quoting PIMCO’s Bill Gross on real estate mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac….”To suggest the private market can come back in and take the place [of the government] is simply impractical. It won’t work”. Sources say the Obama administration is floating the idea  that any federal backing of mortgages be paid for […]

We’ve Talked About Demographic Issues Recently…..They’re Not Going Away Any Time Soon

| August 23, 2010

Bill Gross reviewed demographics in his PIMCO August Investment Outlook, and he showed a graph, “Deep Demographic Doo-Doo”…..Now we can read David Rosenberg’s take on the matter. Today David Rosenberg begins to tackle the U.S. demographic issues from his own perspective, with his preliminary conclusions,  not validating any current optimistic perspectives in the U.S. economy: “starting next […]

Credit Card Rates Are Climbing To New 9 Year Highs While Most Other Interest Rates Are At Or Near All Time Record Lows!

| August 23, 2010

One more reason that the average person on main street has no chance,  and that’s official! Interest rates continue to drop for the U.S. Treasury, large companies and home buyers, but for most of the 381 million U.S. credit-card accounts borrowing rates have been flying to the upside at an alarming pace. Amoung the reasons:  […]

Hours Worked Index Heading South In A Hurry

| 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 […]

HAMP Not On A Ramp

| August 20, 2010

HAMP stands for Home Affordable Modification Plan…… The key here is that these borrowers are still up to their eyeballs in debt after the modification. From Treasury: HAMP Servicer Performance Report Through July 2010 According to HAMP, there are 255,934 “active trials”, down from 364,077 last month. There is still a large number of borrowers in limbo […]

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