Posts under ‘The Fed’

Earned income falls to just 51.8% of the total over the last 50-years yet consumer debt increases 1,932% during the same period, the 2008 crash in a nutshell.

Credit is critical to understanding current economic events. As the Great Recession and recovery shows that neither is your typical business cycle variety.

The Fed leaves rates unchanged. No criminal prosecution of MF Global. Matt Taibbi’s latest piece skewers B of A, calling it a “hurricane of fraud and theft”.

Factory orders fall 1%, ISM Services Index gains .5% to 57.3% both in January. The Fed overrules the FDIC allowing banks to pay dividends at our expense.

ISM manufacturing slips 1.7 points to 52.4 in February. Fed chair Ben Bernanke says don’t worry, be happy. Greece shows that CDS are a worthless ponzi scheme.

NY Fed reports that personal debt, and debt to income is falling. So is income and little job growth? The ECB pumps another 530 billion Euros into their banks.

Consumer credit use gains 7.5% in 2011. DOCX gets a 136 count criminal indictment, will a significant bankster actually go to jail? Inflation, what inflation.

Stocks enter the final hour with modest gains on little significant news. As expected the Fed kept interest rates unchanged and more or less promised to do so through next year. That said QE 3 was played down as the Fed figures it doesn’t need to offer more stimulus besides rock bottom interest rates. Will [...]

FOMC minutes from 2006 shows that the Alan Greenspan chaired Fed was clueless, as their statements at the time implied. 2011 proves a tough year for investors.

Stocks mark small gains on little real news. B of A loses another round. Q 4 earnings estimates fall by more than half, analysts figure 2012 will be great, sure