|
||||||
    |
CHICAGO (CBS) — Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is putting more pressure on gun makers to get behind his push for an assault weapons ban and criminal background checks for gun purchasers. This time, he wants to go after their bottom line. Emanuel is pushing two major financial institutions to stop their financial backing of gun makers, unless those companies support “commonsense reforms, including requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales.” The mayor is [...]  from Phoenix Capital Research: Last week I outlined the reason why we are very likely going over the fiscal cliff: there are little if any political incentives for the GOP or Dems to fix the problem; the best option politically is to let us go over the cliff and then offer targeted tax breaks in late 2013 early 2014 as part of their 2014 Congressional campaigns. With that in mind, corporations are [...] The major problem with daily jawboning by central bankers, such as Draghi today, and the Fed via Hilsenrath on Tuesday, is that it “achieves” to price in QE without QE actually being implemented: in essence the various central banks try to run up assets on the rumor, knowing well that with every incremental “news” event, the news will be sold ever faster, and ever more forcefully. Which then begs the [...] From Dan Greenhaus at BTIG:
“As earnings growth is expected to decline on a YOY basis, much negativity is already expected. But with many companies warning about demand levels, we question whether sales and margin expectations have been appropriately reduced. With the S&P up nearly 2% from the end of the last earnings season (defined as five weeks from AA’s report date), we think not and again repeat that these are not the [...] Here are his 10 reasons for liking America: 1.Above all (and as cited above), U.S. relative and absolute economic growth is superior to global growth. The U.S. economy, though sluggish in recovery relative to past expansions, is superior to most of the world’s economies (with the exception of some emerging markets) in terms of diversity of end markets, quality of global franchises, management expertise, operating execution andfinancial foundations. 2.U.S. banks are well-capitalized, liquid [...] Yes, U.S. GDP is still rising, according to the latest reports. But that doesn’t mean we’ve dodged a new recession. Sound surprising? What most people don’t understand is that recessions often begin when gross domestic product is still showing positive growth. Four of the past six recessions started during a quarter when GDP was growing, as did 72% of all recessions in the past 94 years . How can that be? The answer [...] by Tyler Durden
With the need for exponentially larger expansions of the central bank balance sheets – and most importantly, the rate of expansion (flow) not just the size (stock) – we thought it useful to see just how the Fed’s actions had impacted the S&P 500. From the lows in March 2009, 1150 S&P points have been ‘created-or-saved’ thanks to central bank largesse. That is a cost of $2 million for every S&P [...] Back in February we were quite amused by conflicting internal and external reports of manufacturing growth in China, which according to the HSBC Markit Manufacturing PMI index had contracted for a 4th consecutive month even as the official Chinese PMI data showed 3 consecutive expansions. It just happened again, only this time the spread between the two indices has jumped to the second highest ever, with the official PMI index surging [...] The Fed, Gold, the S&P 500, & the Retail Mindset The recent rally has been breathtaking, however the majority of investors have missed out on a large portion of these gains as significant levels of cash have been either moved to bond funds or taken out of equity markets consistently during this rally. Let’s face it, financial markets around the world are not what they once were. U.S. equity markets [...] From Acting Man: As an update to our recent missive on China, there is now more evidence of a bursting property bubble as well as a more general economic slowdown. BHP Billiton is reconsidering its planned iron ore related investment expansions as imports into China are declining due to falling steel production and a slowdown in car sales. Meanwhile, house prices have lately been falling in 45 of 70 Chinese cities, with property [...] When Ronald Reagan said that big government undermined the economy, some people dismissed his comments because of his philosophical belief in liberty. And when I discuss my work on the economic impact of government spending, I often get the same reaction. This is why it’s important that a growing number of establishment outfits are slowly but surely coming around to the same point of view. The European Central Bank published a study showing [...] by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds You Can’t Fool Mother Nature For Long: The Substitution of Debt for Productivity The “big story” of the U.S. economy is that we have substituted expansion of debt for meaningful increases in productivity. For the past 30 years, the U.S. economy has become increasingly dependent on explosive debt expansion for its “growth” rather than on meaningful rises in meaningful productivity.Growth is in quotes because growth based [...] U.S. relative and absolute economic growth is superior to global growth. The U.S. economy, though sluggish in recovery relative to past expansions, is superior to most of the world’s economies (with the exception of some emerging markets) in terms of diversity of end markets, quality of global franchises, management expertise, operating execution and financial foundations. byAftab Singh of Gresham’s Law Huh? When the Fed expands its balance sheet these days it’s actually bullish for the dollar!? If you ever happen to acquire an inclination for being the subject of disrepute and ridicule I highly recommend endorsing the conceit alluded to in the title. Apparently this issue is ‘so obvious’ that even gold bugs and government officials can reach common ground via the contention that I’m deluded. My folly [...]
SATURDAY AM, 3RD UPDATE: Here are numbers for the North American box office for today and estimates for the Christmas weekend. The latest news is that Twentieth Century Fox is suffering another disappointing debut: We Bought A Zoo opened very weak despite stars Matt Damon-Scarlett Johansson and director Cameron Crowe and heavy TV advertising and two rounds of national sneaks to build word of mouth. You’d think all those animals would have put more people in seats, especially [...] All of the White Houses budget numbers from the “Ivy League Geniuses” (and I won’t even include clueless Gene Sperling) assume 3% PLUS GDP expansions to support the massive spending. Sorry folks, the deficit is getting WORSE. See page #3 of “summary Tables” http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/budget/fy2012/assets/tables.pdf Barry’s Boyz assume $400 Billion in “additional revenues” above 2011 for 2012. They then assume ANOTHER $400 Billion on top of THAT for 2013. The leftists that “adore” these people are fools. [...] By Mitt Romney In less than a year, the American people will go to the polls and choose a new president. A matter of great moment is at stake in this election. The question we will decide is this: Will the United States be an Entitlement Society or an Opportunity Society? In an Entitlement Society, government provides every citizen the same or similar rewards, regardless of education, effort and willingness to innovate, [...] Graphs of GDP report, consumer confidence, capital goods orders Comparing recoveries The Commerce Department this week said the U.S. economy grew at a 2.5% clip in the third quarter. While that’s the best quarterly growth of 2011, the blue line above shows the cumulative growth since the recession ended, and compares it to other post-recession expansions. Verdict: The recovery hasn’t been impressive. The depths of the recession More [...] by DShort.com Tomorrow we’ll get the Advance Monthly Retail Trade Report for March from the Census Bureau. Shortly thereafter I’ll post my revised retail sales charts. Meanwhile, I’ve updated my Consumer Metrics Institute (CMI) charts through the latest data. The CMI Daily Growth Index is retesting the lows of last October. The Institute’s April 10 commentary, Retail Sales and Credit Expansions, may help to explain [...] by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds Chart Of The Week: Stocks Are Overvalued A chart from dshort.com of the Q-Ratio suggests stocks are remarkably overvalued. You won’t hear anything about it from the mainstream financial media or the Federal Reserve, but this chart is screaming “stocks are extremely overvalued.” Please visit dshort.com’s excellent overview Market Valuation: The Message from the Q Ratio for additional charts of the Q [...] From Alasdair Macleod of FinanceAndEconomics.Org The mathematics of hyper-inflation We have already passed the point of no return on our journey into hyper-inflation for many paper currencies, and investors seeking to protect themselves from currency debasement should understand why. This opening statement is valid even if we ignore today’s abounding systemic risks. There is a simple reason why monetary inflation becomes an exponential phenomenon. As [...] “1. U.S. consumer spending in the first quarter is higher because the savings |
Custom Search
|
||||
|
Copyright © 2013 InvestmentWatch - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
