The end game of global leveraged debt – double-digit percentage point market declines in Europe and Japan and the danger of refinancing debt with longer term debt.
There is a painful realization that shifting debt around like a game of musical chairs has little merit unless real production is achieved as an end result. May was a disappointing month for markets in general. While the S&P 500 certainly fell, markets in Japan and Europe took double-digit declines. The massive amount of leverage [...]
A new gilded age shines on America – 50 million Americans roam the countryside uninsured. 45 million Americans receiving food stamps up by 18 million since the Great Recession began in late 2007.
Much of the country is in psychological denial to the damage being created by the current recession. Some even believe that we are fully in a recovery. Part of this has to do with the way the safety net is designed but also the lack of coverage presented in the media. We have over 45,000,000 [...]
Working for less – Aggregate hours worked in U.S. economy from all workers moves back to February 1999 levels. 25 million Americans out of work or looking for full-time work as middle class continues to shrink.
The economy continues to sputter along and the weak employment report only adds more doubt for a summer recovery. As if the American worker was in a position to support more economic bad news? Many are now looking at new methods of measuring employment in our economy since the headline unemployment rate has failed to [...]
Wall Street rally based on fantasy valuations and investment banking trading – S&P 500 back to 2007 valuations and up nearly 100 percent from March 2009 trough.
Wall Street has a way of sucking people back into a money losing vortex. With hedge funds using high frequency trading boxes the public has no chance in competing with these organized and sophisticated gambling casinos. It is amazing how quickly people forget. It was only in March of 2009 that the S&P 500 hit [...]
The Struggling Class – The emergence of consistent poverty. How the other half live financially. 40 million Americans on food assistance and large unbanked population. Family Dollar up over 80 percent through the recession.
It is disturbing to see many articles published in foreign newspapers and magazines highlighting the plight of the middle class in America. You would think that our own media would want to cover this issue which should be at the top of the list for everyone. Instead, our mainstream media systematically attempts to keep everyone [...]
40 years of housing data – U.S. homes still too expensive for typical families. In 1970 the median home could be purchased with 657 ounces of gold. Today, it only requires 155 ounces. The erosion of the U.S. dollar
The last 40 years have seen the U.S. housing market transform into a market largely driven by incredible amounts of debt. The credit card companies understood the basic notion that the monthly payment drove most financial decisions. Even though people purchase a home with a 30 year mortgage, the implicit understanding was that in a [...]
Real Estate Still Overpriced in California in many Markets and Paying your Mortgage with Unemployment Benefits – Examining Housing Values through Employment and Local Market Trends. Los Angeles has a 4.4 Income to Home Price Ratio even after a 42 Percent Price Decline.
As housing prices have collapsed from their halcyon bubble peak, many are peering out into the foreclosure landscape that is the current U.S. real estate market and are wondering if prices now fall in line with economic fundamentals. The problem in many areas across the U.S. isn’t so much with housing prices but actual employment [...]
Top 10 States make up 55 Percent of United States GDP. 6 of the top 10 States have Unemployment Rates over 10 Percent.
It should come as no surprise that the economic production of each state is not evenly divided. There are many variables including population, industrial base, and regional specialties. With this deep recession it is important to get an understanding of how things are divided in the United States. It is easy to get into the [...]
The Long Lost City of Detroit: The Economic and Financial Pain of Motor City. How Detroit went from 1.8 Million to 912,000 Residents. 28.9 Percent Unemployment.
There is no other city in the United States that highlights the Achilles Heel of the current financial crisis like Detroit Michigan. Detroit Michigan had a booming population from 1870 to 1950. In 1870 Detroit had 79,577 residents and in 1950 Detroit had a stunning 1.8 million. The massive boom came with the growth of [...]
S&P 500 is The New Bubble: Current S&P 500 Value is Betting on Return to Bubble Peak, Housing Mania, and 4 Percent Unemployment.
One question that seems to pop up every so often is whether the S&P 500 is overvalued. To put it simply, it is hyper-valued. From the 666 low reached in March the index has rallied 57 percent. Unfortunately much of the rally is based on temporary government stimulus, the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve trashing [...]
