But February saw an unexpected upturn in consumer credit, reports the Times. And unemployment seems to have bottomed out, adds The Wall Street Journal.
March 10th, 2010 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "employment"
No Way Today’s Economy is Going Back to What it Was Pre-2007
The bubble of the pre-2007 period was pumped up by consumer spending financed by housing debt. Ain’t no way that can happen any time again soon.
December 9th, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 4 comments | Continued
Chinese Government Expected to Sign Off on Second Stimulus Package
Chinese bank lending and credit growth is already through the roof. Last year’s $685 billion stimulus program sent fixed asset investment in China much higher. It was, by most accounts, hugely supportive of resource prices, and thus most welcome in Australian resource circles.
December 4th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 8 comments | Continued
People Without Jobs Can’t Make Mortgage Payments
Housing and employment numbers are weak. What’s going on? Maybe this recovery is not a sure thing after all.
November 23rd, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Obama Urged to Fix Airline Industry
On the surface of it, the idea is absurd. What does Obama know about airplanes? Who would want to fly in an airplane with Obama in the pilot seat?
November 16th, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Your Average Australian Super Fund
Is it down 0.8% for the year (since January) or in the last twelve months? Or is the average super fund down 0.8% from its all-time high? The average super fund fell 21% from its heights to its lows during the GFC. But the Aussie market has rallied 55% this year.
So does this mean super has done well? Average? Above average?
November 9th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 14 comments | Continued
More Money in Cash Right Now Than Equity in U.S. Companies
Now, there is a very good reason investors are reducing their allocation to stocks. As we’ve said before, we think the equity premium – what people are willing to pay for stocks – is regressing to the mean. It was so high for so long because corporate cash flows in the second half of the last century benefitted so much from low interest rates and globalisation.
November 6th, 2009 | Dan Denning | 15 comments | Continued
The Interest Only Mortgage Option
How much more will these people have to pay? Between 5 and 10 times what they’re paying now. Almost all these homeowners are underwater. They bought at the bubbliest period.
September 22nd, 2009 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
Financial Markets Have Clearly Rallied
If it’s true that markets lead economies, markets are telling us that things are going to get much better. The FTSE index of emerging markets is up 99% from its March lows. The S&P 500 is up nearly 60%. And gold itself is up 25%, with much of that move coming in the last few weeks.
September 21st, 2009 | Dan Denning | 10 comments | Continued
A Deflation in Unit Labor Costs
Since employment is a lagging indicator of economic activity, we learned over the years to dig deeper than the headline figure to get a read on where labor market conditions may be going.
September 10th, 2009 | Rob Parenteau | 0 comments | Continued