Mike Morgan January 2008 Update - On Real Estate
• Michael Shedlock / MishIf you think paying 50 cents on the dollar is a smart move, when something is worth 25 cents, go for it. Better yet, call me. I have tons of it.
Contents Pages by Subject
Economy - Economics USA
McCain, Paul, and the ‘Plunge Protection Team’
• US News and World ReportMcCain really seemed to have no clue what Ron Paul was talking about when Paul asked him a question about the President's Working Group on Financial Markets—the so-called Plunge Protection Team—consisting of the Treasury secretary, the Fed chairm
Platinum, gold reach record peaks
• AFPPlatinum raced to a series of record highs as mine stoppages in South Africa sparked a fresh wave of investment. By 12.53pm, platinum was up at USD1,688 per ounce against USD1,551, having earlier hit a record USD1,697 an ounce.
Senators holds up rebates for social security recipients
• APRetirees living off Social Security are frustrated that they won't get tax rebate checks through a bipartisan economic stimulus package before the House. Senate Democrats Friday began efforts to include them. [I just have to laugh or cry.]
U.S. slides into dangerous 1930s 'liquidity trap'
• Telegraph.co.uk"People have been drawing home equity out of the houses at a rate of $700bn or $800bn a year. It's been a huge boost to consumption, but that game is now up. House prices are going to continue falling...
U.S. Slides into dangerous 1930s 'liquidity trap'
• Telegraph.co.uk"People have been drawing home equity out of the houses at a rate of $700bn or $800bn a year. It's been a huge boost to consumption, but that game is now up. House prices are going to continue falling...
Thinking Ahead About our Immigration Future
• Dowell MyersRecent US immigration trends show leveling and, in some cases, declines in foreign-born persons as a percentage of the total population. [.pdf of study that includes a good look at upward mobility of immigrants vs. the US population]
Ford to offer buyouts to all U.S. factory workers
• Bloomberg.comThe automaker has shut or is scheduled to close 10 North American plants following $15.3 billion in losses since 2005 and 12 years of declining sales in the U.S.
U.S. Existing Home Sales Fell More Than Forecast
• Bloomberg.comThe median sales price fell 6 percent to $208,400 from December 2006 and was down 1.4 percent for all of 2007 from the previous year.
Empire and the Economy<br>by Jacob G. Hornberger
• FFFIt’s quite amusing to watch U.S. officials, presidential candidates, and mainstream-media types presenting plans to “revive the economy.” They all operate on the assumption that a recession, like terrorism, is some sort of mysterious disease that per
World's Largest Bond Insurers Collapsing
• MoneyandMarkets.comAmbac and MBIA, the two largest bond insurers in the world, are careening toward collapse.
Going Bankrupt: The US's greatest threat - by Chalmers Johnson
• Asia Times.comThe fact that we did not modernize or replace our capital assets is one of the main reasons why, by the turn of the 21st century, our manufacturing base had all but evaporated.
Bernanke to Cut Rates Further, Faster to Buoy Growth
• BloombergFederal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has decided inflation concerns have faded enough to let him cut interest rates further and faster to keep the U.S. from tipping world economies into recession.
SunTrust Bank: 98% Fall in Net 4th Quarter Earnings
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comSunTrust Banks Inc.'s fourth-quarter net income fell 98% as the company recorded a higher-than-expected $555 million in write-downs and reported soaring credit costs.
Bush Becomes Supplicant for Saudi's Aid to Help Avoid Recession
• BloombergThe Saudi monarchy once depended on the U.S. to protect its reign and its oil from foes like Saddam Hussein. These days, President Bush needs the world's biggest exporter of crude more than it needs him. With oil at about $90 a barrel, the U.S. e
Govt' red ink expected to get deeper
• APThe latest deficit projections from the Congressional Budget Office forecast a sea of red ink that will only deepen under plans to jump-start the economy with tax cuts and government spending.
Merrill Lynch: House Prices May Fall 30%
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comFrom the Fed's Flow of Funds report, household real estate assets totaled $20.99 trillion at the end of Q3 2007. So a 30% decline in prices would reduce "housing wealth" by about $6 trillion.
California: 81,550 Notice of Defaults in the 4th Quarter
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comLast quarter's default numbers were a record in 42 of the states 58 counties.
Wachovia: Homeowners Just Walking Away
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comAs I've noted before, one of the greatest fears for lenders (and investors in mortgage backed securities) is that it will become socially acceptable for upside middle class Americans to walk away....
BofA: 95% Fall in Fourth-Quarter Net Income
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comBank of America Corp.'s fourth-quarter net income fell 95% as the company recorded a higher-than-expected $5.28 billion in collateralized debt obligation write-downs and said credit costs soared.
Asia, European markets extend decline
• AP"Some people think there's going to be a deep fall off a cliff" because of a potential recession in the U.S., said Lawrence Peterman, investement director at Eden Financial, a London-based stockbroker.
Stock futures gyrate after unprecedented emergency Fed move
• APU.S. stock futures seesawed Tuesday after the Federal Reserve, responding to a growing financial market crisis, slashed interest rates 0.75 percentage point. The Dow Jones industrial futures were fluctuating violently an hour before the start of t
Gold hits 3-week low below $850: Time to buy?
• ReutersGold slipped to a 3-week low in choppy trade on Tuesday as unfavorable currency fundamentals, falling oil and struggling stock markets prompted investors to continue taking profits from last week's record high.
U.S. Stock Futures Fall Sharply
• APWall Street was expected to plunge at the opening of trading Tuesday, extending its huge losses from last week and taking more cues from heavy selling that has spread throughout the world. The Dow Jones was set to fall by 500 points when trading begi
Futures Markets: DJIA Index -487.00, NASDAQ 100 -79.00
• Bloomberg.comPimco's Paul McCulley on the need for a rate cut by the FED. "Sometimes when you are ill, you make an appointment with your doctor; other times, you go straight to the emergency room. Now is an other time...
Federal Reserve St. Louis: "The US is Bankrupt?"
• NewstargetIn a remarkable paper posted by the Federal Reserve of St. Louis, authored by a Boston Univ. Prof Kotlikoff, it is revealed in blunt, powerful language that the era of borrowing and spending without consequence may soon come to a close.
Bear Markets and Recessions
• CalculatedRisk.blogspot.comThese two charts give a very accurate picture of bear market corrections going back all the way to the Great Depression. The average bear market correction was -25.6%.
Global Bloodbath
• MikeI have been telling everyone for weeks "Markets do not crash from overbought. Markets crash from oversold. It's a low probability event but one guaranteed to eventually happen." This could be the start of one. .... Mish
UK Property Funds Shut Down By Panic Selling
• Michael Shedlock / MishOne of Britain's biggest property funds was forced to shut its doors to withdrawals yesterday after the slump in commercial prices triggered panic selling by small investors.
City limits: London counts the cost of six stormy months for banks
• Financial TimesThe US had been looking to the UK for inspiration. The drift of initial public offerings away from New York, coupled with fears about the overall competitiveness of US capital markets, had sparked unprecedented debate over the structure of financial
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