Economy
Economic Report: Jobless claims at highest since mid-December
First-time filings for state unemployment benefits climbed to their highest level since mid-December last week, defying the forecasts of economists who had expected a sharp downturn, government data showed Thursday. For the week ended Jan. 30, initial claims rose 8,000 to stand at 480,000, according to the Labor Department.
Read the whole story at MarketWatch.com
Barney Frank:Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Should Be Eliminated
By NICK TIMIRAOS And MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN
A top House Democrat on Friday said his committee was preparing to recommend “abolishing” mortgage-finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and rebuilding the U.S. housing-finance system from scratch.
“The remedy here is…as I believe this committee will be recommending, abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form […]
Obama America: Couple found dead hours before foreclosure auction (Hope and Change)
Police believe a man facing a foreclosure auction yesterday took his own life after shooting his sick wife, shooting their horse, setting fire to the home they shared and torching his pickup truck.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegram.com …
Dollar Crisis Looms if US Doesn’t Curb Debt: Experts
The United States must soon raise taxes or cut government spending to curb its debt, and failure to act will risk a crippling dollar crisis as investor confidence ebbs, a panel of experts said on Wednesday.
“It has got to be done. It will be done some day. It may be done with enormous pain. Or […]
New jobless claims rise ‘more than expected’, Retail sales sink
Retail sales unexpectedly fell in December, leaving 2009 with the biggest yearly drop on record and highlighting the formidable hurdles facing the economy as it struggles to recover from the deepest recession in seven decades.In another disappointing economic report, the number of newly laid-off workers requesting unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week as […]
U.S. Chamber warns of ‘double-dip’ recession because of Dem policies
U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue warned the U.S. faces a double-dip recession because of the taxes and regulations under consideration by the Democratic Congress and President Barack Obama.
“Congress, the administration and states must recognize that our weak economy simply could not sustain all the new taxes, regulations and mandates now under consideration. It’s […]
1 in 5 American Households Lives on Food Stamps (Living on Nothing but Food Stamps)
Living on Nothing but Food Stamps
JASON DEPARLE and ROBERT M. GEBELOFF January 2, 2010
CAPE CORAL, Fla. — After an improbable rise from the Bronx projects to a job selling Gulf Coast homes, Isabel Bermudez lost it all to an epic housing bust — the six-figure income, the house with the pool and the investment property.
With […]
Eric Sprott: Stocks Heading Below March Lows, We’re In A Two-Decade Bear Market
Here’s a big non-shocker. Eric Sprott, the Canadian gold bull who thinks the Federal Reserve is a gigantic ponzi scheme (literally), things we’re heading below our march lows. Look, if that’s true, and it turns out the government is just creating numbers out of thin air, we agree. Stocks are toast.
Bloomberg: The Toronto-based money manager, […]
Roach: The Fed Is Going To Blow The Exit, Get Ready For Another Massive Bubble
The Fed is stuck in a bind: With 10% unemployment, it can’t raise interest rates. With zero interest rates, however, it can’t prevent another asset bubble.
The problem, Stephen Roach, says is the Fed’s impossible dual mandate: protect the value of our money AND keep the economy humming.
That combination will cause the Fed to keep rates […]
Lies, Damn Lies, And Government Statistics (Fasten your seat belt America)
We are clearly starting to get some better data points here and there. But as I pointed out this summer, it is going to be a recovery in the statistics and not in the things that count, such as income and employment. This week we look at the nascent recovery (which could be at 3% […]
Obama advisor and former Fed chief Paul Volcker: There’s No Growth Other Than What The Fed’s Pouring Into The Economy
Obama advisor and former Fed chief Paul Volcker has an excellent interview this weekend with Germany’s Der Spiegel.An excerpt:
SPIEGEL: The US has not yet instituted any kind of reform policy. What we see is the government and the Federal Reserve pouring money into the economy. If one looks beyond that money, one sees that the […]
While Millions of Americans Are Losing Thier Jobs, Federal Employees Earn 2% Pay Raise
Congressional appropriators agreed Tuesday night to give civilian federal employees a 2 percent pay increase — which includes a locality pay increase President Obama didn’t want.
Government workers will get a 1.5 percent nationwide increase in base pay and a 0.5 percent average increase in locality pay. The final agreement goes against the wishes of Obama, […]
80% Chance Of A Market Crash In The Next Year
The following is an excerpt from fund manager John Hussman’s weekly letter. You can read the whole thing here.
I noted last week that from a Bayesian perspective, I would estimate a probability of nearly 80% that we will observe a second round of credit losses coupled with a market plunge in the coming year […]
Many Mutual Funds Are Up 50% in ‘09 — But Beware
It’s been a great year for many mutual fund investors. Standard & Poor’s Equity Research reports that 165 equity mutual funds are up at least 47% through Oct. 31, or at least double the return of the S&P 500.
Read more at Times Magazine
Deflationary Economic Depression 2010, Ready Or Not Here It Comes!
Much has been written about the Great Depression and the present crisis. There is much that is similar and some that is not. The differences explain why events have unfolded differently. The similarities explain why the end will be the same.
Deflationary depressions occur after the collapse of large speculative bubbles. The collapse of the 1920s […]
Here Is Why The Dollar Is Now Effectively Worthless (A picture is worth a thousand)
A picture is worth a thousand Krugman essays, which is why we present a chart comparing the US Monetary Base (and by subtracting Reserve Balances with Fed Reserve Banks, Currency in Circulation), and the Fed’s holdings of MBS and Agency paper (worthless GSE/FHA garbage). In summary: Currency in Circulation: $920 billion; MBS/Agency Holdings: $997 billion. […]
New York Times Predicting US Economic Collapse?
Many conservative sources have been predicting problems for the United States Economy based on the record-setting national debt whose growth has been accelerated during the first year of the Obama Administration. Today in a front page, top of the fold story, the “Bible of Progressiveness,” the NY Times has joined the conservatives in predicting severe […]
U.S. Home Building Unexpectedly Slumps in October
U.S. Home Building Unexpectedly Slumps in October
By JAVIER C. HERNANDEZ
New home construction slowed unexpectedly in October to the lowest level in six months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday, resurrecting fears that the housing market may be slow to recover.
A separate report showed consumer prices inched upward in October, but not enough to make inflation a […]
CIT files for 5th largest US bankruptcy (Feds Unlikely to Recoup $2.3 Billion Bailout)
CIT Group Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday, in a final attempt to restructure and keep the doors open at the century-old commercial lender.
Now, the lender to nearly a million small and midsize businesses must maintain its customer base as it tries to rehabilitate under Chapter 11 protection. Most financial firms sell off assets […]
REPORT: TAXPAYERS PAID $24K PER ‘CASH FOR CLUNKERS’ VEHICLE (Liberals will not be happy until they destroy the economy)
A total of 690,000 new vehicles were sold under the Cash for Clunkers program last summer, but only 125,000 of those were vehicles that would not have been sold anyway, according to an analysis released Wednesday by the automotive Web site Edmunds.com.Still, auto sales contributed heavily to the economy’s expansion in the third quarter, adding […]