Posts from ‘December, 2009’

Stocks managed to hold modest gains into the final hour. The November CPI gained .4% matching expectations, much like the PPI the increase was driven by energy costs as they jumped 4.1% during the period in question. This pushed the annualized rate to +.2% its first positive showing in quite some time. OER or owners [...]

Stocks struggled early on mixed data. Factory activity increased a larger than expected .8% in November though data on the sector remains mixed. The NAHB Index fell to 16 for December, a loss of 1 point and bucking expectations for an increase to 18. Much was made of this mornings big jump in the PPI [...]

Once again our elected representatives sell out to the special interest groups and fail to do what is best for America and your average American whom they were elected to serve. Regulators Resist Volcker Wandering Warning of Too-Big-to-Fail Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Paul A. Volcker visited nine cities in five countries in the past eight [...]

A lucid discussion of the so-called regulation being touted in the media as the most significant financial regulation reform since the 30′s, when in fact it is anything but being long on content and short on substance. US House passes pro-Wall Street banking bill By Barry Grey 14 December 2009 The Democrats’ claims for the [...]

Stocks struggled to begin the week despite a bailout for Dubai following their poorly considered plan to build a palm tree in the ocean visible from outer space. There has also been a lot of discussion about the Obama administrations supposed reforms of the financial sector. Comments from the mainstream media notwithstanding, the claim that [...]

What follows are excerpts and links to three articles on the supposed financial reform. I can’t encourage you to read them strongly enough as they detail one of the biggest examples of bait and switch I have ever seen. Mr. Obama’s claims that he would change things for the better have produced a series of [...]

Stocks struggled into the final hour mixed. For the week the DOW is up some 80 points or about a bit less than 1% while the NASDAQ is essentially unchanged. The ECRI Weekly Leading Index broke a string of losses with an increase to 130.1 during the latest week while the smoothed annualized growth rate [...]

Stocks added modest gains into the final hour on little economic news. The trade deficit fell to 32.9 billion in October as exports increased and a fall in the imported energy bill. Interestingly despite a 9.2% increase in the average cost per barrel of crude oil in October from September oil imports fell 13.1% 17.8 [...]

A very interesting and well reasoned forecast for next year from an economist rated as the 6th most accurate by Bloomberg. Mr. Rosenberg had a lengthy career at Merrill Lynch before joining his current firm and is well worth a read. David Rosenberg’s 2010 Outlook “The Recession Is Really A Depression” With December almost done, [...]

Stocks struggled in early trade and enter the final hour about even. There is little economic data out today but we do have some very interesting commentary. First up is a proposal to decouple bank capital rules from normal accounting standards as proposed by Robert Herz, chairman of the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Who bowing [...]