The minutes show that Fed policymakers were worried that a “deep” recession, rather than a “shallow” one, would permeate the U.S. economy…
April 10th, 2008 | Kate Incontrera | 0 comments | ContinuedArchive for Kate Incontrera
Kate Incontrera is the managing editor of The Daily Reckoning. She is also the author of The Daily Reckoning's Weekend Edition, a weekly wrap-up of contrarian investment analysis.
Ethanol is a Fraud But Gold Rallies
The price of corn per bushel has doubled in the past year, which is great for grain farmers – but not-so-good for livestock producers that count on cheap, corn-based feed for their cattle, hogs and poultry.
AFP reports that “registered Angus breeder Jim Skinner said soaring grain and fuel prices have led to a 40 percent [...]
U.S. Setting Dubious Economic Records
The Fed’s Beige Book was released yesterday afternoon…although the Fed should rename the book ‘Lilywhite Book’ on account of what’s printed inside.
And what was printed inside, you ask? Here’s a snippet:
“Outside of real estate, reports that the turmoil in the financial markets had affected economic activity during the survey period were limited. Credit availability and [...]
U.S. Stock Market Falls on Employment & Housing Data
The Dow, the S&P and the NASDAQ all suffered their first losses in three days at market open this morning.
The drop was caused by not-so-good employment and housing data, and on the news that short-term interest rates in Europe rose to the highest since January 2001.
Although the big employment news will come from the Labor [...]
California Real Estate Market Waning As Wealth Evaporates
In California, real estate is (or was) king. We’ve noticed something interesting on morning walks around the Hollywood Hills…
About a year ago, around every turn was a construction truck… people were gutting their homes (or their investment properties), installing granite countertops perhaps, or new hardwood flooring, and prepping their homes to be put on the market. [...]
Fed Torn Over Effect of Subprime on the Economy
The minutes from the August 7 Fed meeting were released yesterday, showing that Fed heads were feeling a little torn and uncertain about the effect of subprime mortgages on the overall U.S. economy, but expected “a return to normal market conditions” – although it may take a while.
Of course, everything that happened after that is [...]
U.S. Consumer Confidence Experiences Sharpest Fall Since Hurricane Katrina
Here’s a shocker: consumer confidence in the United States is down the most since Hurricane Katrina hit two years ago.
Honestly, what do consumers have to be confident about? The markets are up and down – but mostly down… jobs aren’t exactly plentiful, wages are going nowhere… mortgages are harder to pay… houses are worth less [...]
Home Equity ATM Tapped Out, Hello High Interest Debt
Looks like the home ATM is tapped out. Home lending has down-shifted in the past few months, and more and more homeowners are finding it nearly impossible to use their home equity line of credit to pay for their credit card bill, a practice that has become widespread in the past few years of EZ [...]
August 28th, 2007 | Kate Incontrera | 1 comment | Continued
Living Without China in Our Lives
This year, our annual Agora Financial Symposium going on right now in Vancouver is based around the crisis and opportunity found in global investing - with an emphasis on Asia. So, as we flipped through the paper today, we had China on the brain.
An article called “Living Without Chinese Imports” caught our eye. Hmmm…it seems [...]
China Construction Boom Boosts Steel Demand
“You wouldn’t believe the amount of construction that’s going on China,” our friend, and director of our upcoming documentary reported upon his return from the Far East. “Construction cranes crowded every street.”
It’s looking like the construction boom isn’t just confined to China; according to the U.S. Census Bureau, “spending on nonresidential construction was up nearly [...]
