While there are numerous dynamics at work in the turmoil roiling Saudi Arabia and by extension, the Mideast, one way to cut to the chase is to follow the oil, follow the money. Correspondent B.D. recently posited a factor that has been…
How shocked would you be if it was announced that the U.S. had just entered a recession, that is, a period in which gross domestic product (GDP) declines (when adjusted for inflation) for two or more quarters? Would you really…
What do we mean when we say the U.S. economy is at stall speed? Stall speed refers to the air speed and angle of the wing (called the angle of attack) needed to keep an aircraft aloft. “An aircraft flying at…
Here is the conventional narrative about rents and housing valuations: 1. Rents have soared because people can’t afford to buy a house and have to rent 2. Based on soaring rents, housing is fairly valued In other words, rents and…
When a speculator bought a new particle-board-and-paint McMansion in the middle of nowhere in 2007 with nothing down and a $500,000 mortgage, the lender and the buyer both considered the house as $500,000 of collateral. The lender counted the house…
Three charts crystallize the healthcare dynamics that are dooming the U.S. economy. The first depicts the runaway growth of healthcare costs–a rapid expansion that is a permanent feature of U.S. healthcare, regardless of which party is in office or what…
Three charts crystallize the healthcare dynamics that are dooming the U.S. economy. The first depicts the runaway growth of healthcare costs–a rapid expansion that is a permanent feature of U.S. healthcare, regardless of which party is in office or what…
Three charts crystallize the healthcare dynamics that are dooming the U.S. economy. The first depicts the runaway growth of healthcare costs–a rapid expansion that is a permanent feature of U.S. healthcare, regardless of which party is in office or what…
U.S. and UK GDP Fall Heralds New Depression – ZIRP to Continue – U.S. first quarter GDP grew 0.2%, down from 2.2% last quarter – U.K. GDP for first quarter was 0.3%, last than half the previous quarter’s figure –…
This long-term weakening of the economy is the direct result of financialization and the Federal Reserve’s policy of propping up impaired debt with more debt and constantly bringing demand forward with zero interest rates. The U.S. economy is slowing to…
History is rather unkind to blind faith in central banks, just as the rising U.S. dollar and stagnant sales are being very unkind to corporate profits. The quasi-religious faith that central banks can push stock markets ever higher regardless of…
New Orders are in recessionary territory. The financial news is astonishingly rosy: record trade surpluses in China, positive surprises in Europe, the best run of new jobs added to the U.S. economy since the go-go 1990s, and the gift that…
SNB Shock Was ‘Icing On Cake’ For Gold Ahead of Draghi’s Euro ‘Bazooka’ Is gold a safe haven? Mark O’Byrne, executive and research director at GoldCore, told CNBC yesterday that yes it is. He said that the Swiss National Bank’s…
Oil Collapses and Copper Crashes 8% in Day – Great Recession Cometh? Oil prices fell another 1 per cent this morning and continue their collapse – down 57% in just over 6 months. Copper crashed 8% on the London Metal…