Jobs Report From Alternate Universe

11-2-2007 • MISH: Global Economic Analysis

Honey, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is the value of our house fell $200,000. The good news is my hourly wages went up by 3 cents.

Gold is up 27 percent this year as the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to ease strains in financial markets, sending the dollar to a record low against the euro.

They Have Got to be Kidding

11-2-2007 • Kitco

Yesterday, as the dollar fell to new record lows and oil and gold prices surged to new highs, Wall Street remained fixated on wholly meaningless government data that managed to report the lowest inflation in the last half century.

Foreclosure filings soar in 3rd quarter

11-1-2007 • AP

A soaring number of U.S. homeowners struggled to make mortgage payments in the third quarter, with properties in some stage of foreclosure more than doubling from the same time last year, a mortgage data company said.

Fed Pumps $41B Into US Financial System

11-1-2007 • AP

The Federal Reserve pumped $41 billion into the U.S. financial system, the largest cash infusion since September 2001, to help companies get through a credit crunch. The action came one day after the central bank voted to cut the interest rate.

Western banks suffer big losses

11-1-2007 • Financial Times

Global investors succumbed to a new bout of jitters amid concerns that a host of important financial institutions are nursing additional problems related to the troubled US mortgage market. Equity markets tumbled and bond prices rose in the US and Eu

Job Cuts at Chrysler Go Even Deeper Than Expected

11-01-2007 • New York Times

Chrysler announced it would eliminate 11,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the United States and Canada, and cut shifts of workers at five plants. The decision comes on top of a plan, announced in February, to eliminate 13,000 jobs and close a factory

Question of Solvency at Citigroup

11-1-2007 • MISH: Global Economic Analysis

Financials took a big hit one day after a 1/4 point cut by the Fed. Analysts blamed the collapse on a possible dividend cut at Citigroup. Analyst Richard Bove looked at Citi's assets and said solvency is not the issue. However, Bove ignored the l

Oil leaps to $96 high on U.S. inventory drop

11-1-2007 • Reuters

Oil leaped nearly 2 percent to top $96 for the first time on Thursday, extending the previous day's 5 percent surge after an unexpected sharp fall in U.S. crude stocks and data showing strong economic growth.

Fed cuts US interest rates amid fears of slowing growth

11-1-2007 • AFP

The Federal Reserve cut US short-term interest rates Wednesday in a widely anticipated move, saying it had acted amid concerns economic growth will likely cool in coming months. The central bank said it had cut its federal funds interest rate by a

Government: US economy surges 3.9%

11-1-2007 • AFP

The US economy grew by a robust 3.9 percent in the third quarter despite tight credit that is deepening a housing slump, as consumers regained their appetite for spending, the government said.

Gold passes US$800 an ounce

10-31-2007 • AFP

THE price of gold passed US$800 (S$1,160) an ounce here on Wednesday for the first time since 1980 after the US Federal Reserve lowered its key short-term interest rate, the New York Mercantile Exchange said. Gold futures for December touched US$8

Home Prices Tumble, Consumers Shaken

10-31-2007 • BusinessWeek

The latest data on home prices show that the downturn in the housing market is getting worse, rather than better, raising questions about consumers' ability to keep propping up the economy. American consumers have taken a hit not just from fallin

America's Big, Fat Housing Inventory

10-31-2007 • BusinessWeek

At the current existing-home sales rate of 5.04 million units a year, it would take a full 10.5 months to sell the 4.4 million existing homes now on the market. The supply of existing single-family homes was at 10.2 months in September—the highest si

Oil price at record $94 a barrel

10-31-2007 • BBC News

Oil prices have hit a new record of $94 a barrel, as US government data showed a surprise fall in crude stockpiles for a second week in a row.

Oil prices have hit a new record of $94 a barrel, as US government data showed a surprise fall in crude stockpiles for a second week in a row.

Which Comes First: The Cart or the Horse?

10-31-2007 • MISH: Global Economic Analysis

To answer the question, the horse is money supply and credit, the cart is prices of goods, services, and assets. Is expansion of credit infinite? Is anything stopping the Fed from sending every household $100k? What is money? Is a bet on rising equit

No end to US's war budget woes

10-30-2007 • Asia Times

The costs of the overall US global "war on terror", including, but not limited to the Iraq war, just keep rolling along and piling up. The title "The Growing Budgetary Costs of the Iraq War" of an October 24 House Budget Committee

The Litigation Scorecard

10-30-2007 • MISH: Global Economic Analysis

A huge number of lawsuits have been initiated in October, most of them in the past couple weeks. Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial both had shareholder lawsuits filed against them on October 30. Get your "Litigation Scorecard" ready.

'Institute For Justice' victory for Minneapolis taxi entrepreneurs

10-30-2007 • IJ

In just two years, IJ-MN already has four economic liberty victories. Chip Mellor, president and general counsel of the Institute for Justice, concluded, “We will not rest until the fundamental right of economic liberty is vindicated for all American

Stock Buybacks: A Good Thing Or Slipped DISCs?

10-30-2007 • Mish Shedlock

In Feb Ambac borrowed $400 million to buy back shares. Shortly thereafter the former CEO and the current CEO each dumped over $10 million worth of shares. Soon after that dumping, Ambac plunged over 50%. The result is Ambac lost $200 million not coun

Option ARM Performance

10-30-2007 • calculatedrisk.blogspot.com

The subject of this report is Option ARM performance, and the results are rather grim. The 3 charts will get you in the mood for a very scary Halloween.

Dollar's Demise Can Be Seen Even in the Maldives

10-29-2007 • Bloomberg.com

For years now, Joseph Quinlan, chief market strategist at Bank of America Corp. in New York, has been warning that the U.S.'s image as a ``rogue nation'' is a key force behind the dollar's decline.

ABX: More Cliff Diving

10-29-2007 • Calculated Risk

From MarkitIt; the ABX indices are moving down again.

Pent Up Housing Supply

10-29-2007 • By Mike Shedlock

Let's do the math. A record 17.9 million U.S. homes stood empty in the third quarter. mere 2.07 million empty homes were for sale. How long can that last?

The American Real Estate Nightmare

10-29-2007`` • BBC News

The result is a city blighted by house repossessions - with one in six households in Cleveland have faced eviction proceedings since 2000. Due to a glut of houses on the property market, house prices have crashed.

Firearms manufacturers looking to 'gun-friendly' states for business

10-29-2007 • Times News

When it comes to guns, Idaho economic development officials are starting to see green. The Gem State, eager to attract new jobs and industry, is positioning itself as the best possible home for the nation's 200 small arms manufacturers - compa

Oil leaps to record over $93 on Mexico, dollar

10-29-2007 • Reuters

Oil prices have soared by more than a third since mid-August as a stand-off between Turkey and Kurdish rebels, dollar weakness, easing interest rates and winter supply fears attracted a fresh wave of investment capital.

The Ripple Effect of Collateralized Debt Downgrades

10-28-2007 • Minyanville

In addition, given the ratings interdependence of billions of dollars of structured debt, the downgrading of one structured debt security could result in immediate ripples across a far larger universe of financial institutions.