The new consumer is more frugal and likely to stay that way
(nytimes.com) LINCOLN, Calif. — The Ferrells have cut back on dance lessons for their twin daughters. Vaccinations for the family’s two cats and two dogs are out. Haircuts have become a luxury. And before heading out recently to the discount grocery store that has become the family’s new lifeline, Sharon Ferrell checked her bank account balance one more time, dialing the toll-free number from memory.
Read the entire story
Friday, May 29, 2009
Top Buffett Aide Says There's No Sign Of A Recovery
Berkshire not seeing the same "green shoots" as the media......
(www.businessinsider.com) During the recent Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) annual meeting, Warren Buffett admitted that signs of an economic recovery were few and far between, at least at his businesses.
His close advisors are saying the same thing. Speaking at the Ira Sohn investment conference in New York, top aide David Sokol, the head of Mid-America energy holdings said there were no signs of a rebound ("We're not seeing the green shoots.") in housing or the economy and that the housing mess might persist through 2011.
Read the entire article here
(www.businessinsider.com) During the recent Berkshire Hathaway (BRK) annual meeting, Warren Buffett admitted that signs of an economic recovery were few and far between, at least at his businesses.
His close advisors are saying the same thing. Speaking at the Ira Sohn investment conference in New York, top aide David Sokol, the head of Mid-America energy holdings said there were no signs of a rebound ("We're not seeing the green shoots.") in housing or the economy and that the housing mess might persist through 2011.
Read the entire article here
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Mortgage Rates Soar As Quantitative Easing Fails
(www.businessinsider.com) $1.25 trillion of quantitive easing hasn't been enough to keep mortgage rates down. Will the government double down again?
Bloomberg: Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage bonds rose for a fourth day, after yesterday for the first time exceeding where they stood before the Federal Reserve announced it would expand purchases to drive down loan rates.
Yields on Washington-based Fannie Mae’s current-coupon 30- year fixed-rate mortgage bonds climbed to 4.3 percent as of 10:25 a.m. in New York, the highest since March 10and up from 3.94 percent on May 20, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Read the entire story
Bloomberg: Yields on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage bonds rose for a fourth day, after yesterday for the first time exceeding where they stood before the Federal Reserve announced it would expand purchases to drive down loan rates.
Yields on Washington-based Fannie Mae’s current-coupon 30- year fixed-rate mortgage bonds climbed to 4.3 percent as of 10:25 a.m. in New York, the highest since March 10and up from 3.94 percent on May 20, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
Read the entire story
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Last Hurrah and Seven Lean Years
(www.gmo.com) Another must read from Jeremy Grantham...this time his May letter
Read the letter here
Read the letter here
TARP Warrants Show Banks May Reap ‘Ruthless Bargain’
(bloomberg.com) Banks negotiating to reclaim stock warrants they granted in return for Troubled Asset Relief Program money may shortchange taxpayers by almost $10 billion if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s first sale sets the pace, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
While 17 financial institutions have repaid TARP funds, two have come to terms with the U.S. on the value of the rights to buy stock that taxpayers received for the risk of recapitalizing the industry. The first was Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Indiana, which gave the Treasury Department $1.2 million last week for warrants that may have been worth $5.81 million, according to the data.
Read the entire story
While 17 financial institutions have repaid TARP funds, two have come to terms with the U.S. on the value of the rights to buy stock that taxpayers received for the risk of recapitalizing the industry. The first was Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Indiana, which gave the Treasury Department $1.2 million last week for warrants that may have been worth $5.81 million, according to the data.
Read the entire story
Yale’s Swensen Recommends TIPS to Hedge ‘Substantial Inflation’
(bloomberg.com) May 23--David Swensen, the top-ranked college endowment manager in the past decade, said individual investors should own inflation-protected Treasuries because U.S. economic recovery efforts may lead to an increase in consumer prices.
“We’ve had this massive fiscal stimulus, massive monetary stimulus, and it’s hard to see how that doesn’t translate into pretty substantial inflation, or at least pretty substantial risk of inflation,” Swensen, Yale University’s investment chief, said in an interview on the “Consuelo Mack WealthTrack” television show that aired yesterday. Treasury Inflation- Protected Securities “should be in every investor’s portfolio," he said.
Read the entire article
“We’ve had this massive fiscal stimulus, massive monetary stimulus, and it’s hard to see how that doesn’t translate into pretty substantial inflation, or at least pretty substantial risk of inflation,” Swensen, Yale University’s investment chief, said in an interview on the “Consuelo Mack WealthTrack” television show that aired yesterday. Treasury Inflation- Protected Securities “should be in every investor’s portfolio," he said.
Read the entire article
CHART OF THE DAY: Credit Card Debt Swallows American Households*
(Clusterstock.com) *UPDATE: As several readers have noted, this chart compares an aggregate national figure with a per-household figure. This is an apples-and-oranges comparison. We apologize for the illogic and thank to our readers for catching it. We'll fix the chart on Monday.
EARLIER: Americans built up a lot of spending power over the last three decades, but it wasn't because they started earning more money. As today's chart starkly illustrates, credit card debt has exploded, making up for more modest gains in median household income. As you can see, for the very first time in history, credit card debt is creeping down, though it has a long way to go. And of course, this doesn't even include home all the home equity loans Americans used in place of the ATM. (Both lines are based on non-adjusted numbers)
Read the entire article
EARLIER: Americans built up a lot of spending power over the last three decades, but it wasn't because they started earning more money. As today's chart starkly illustrates, credit card debt has exploded, making up for more modest gains in median household income. As you can see, for the very first time in history, credit card debt is creeping down, though it has a long way to go. And of course, this doesn't even include home all the home equity loans Americans used in place of the ATM. (Both lines are based on non-adjusted numbers)
Read the entire article
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
