Posts Tagged ‘Eisenberg and housing economics’
Strengthening Sales
While existing home sales fell 2.3% in 6/14 to 5.04 million from 5.16 million a year earlier, don’t worry. Sales are at their highest level in eight months, and more importantly distressed sales are down from 15% of all sales in 6/13 to 11% of sales in 6/14. As a result, the number of non-distressed…
Read MoreBRICS Banking
Other than their collective animosity towards the World Bank and IMF, the five BRICS nations, despite having little in common, being geopolitical rivals, and disagreeing on fundamental issues, have created a Shanghai-based Development Bank. While undercapitalized, the Bank’s major role will be to increase the political weight of the BRICS by diminishing the ability of…
Read MoreTroubling Trade
While the labor market, consumer spending, and capital expenditures are slowly improving, net exports are slightly weakening. When the Great Recession began, exports were flat while imports collapsed as our economy weakened much faster than the rest of the globe. Now, oil shipments are dramatically boosting exports. The problem, however, is that our economy is…
Read MoreAlien Activity
The Friday File: Since 1974, there have been almost 90,000 reported UFO sightings worldwide, most in the USA! Washington State is number one in sightings per capita (and number two in total sightings behind California) followed closely by Montana and Vermont. Other states with relatively high per capita sightings: Arizona, Idaho, Maine, New Hampshire, New…
Read MoreAbominable Abodes
Today’s housing numbers stank! Starts for Jan-June 2014 are up 6% compared to 2013, single-family starts up 1%! Multifamily is up 18%. With these numbers a premature rate hike will kill single-family construction. Yes, weather was bad, prices are up, financing is hard, incomes are down, student loans hurt and there’s no labor, but in…
Read MorePeppy Profits
Tax inversion deals, where a US firm buys a foreign-based firm in a low tax nation and then locates the merged firm’s headquarters overseas, are particularly appealing for drug and computer chip makers. It’s because both generate substantial overseas profits that face heavy taxation if repatriated. Better yet, the US acquirer lowers its tax rate…
Read MoreMixed Messages
While the unemployment rate, inflation rate, and job creation numbers are starting to improve, GDP growth, wage growth, labor force participation, labor productivity and home building remain weak. It’s as if the economy is schizophrenic! Since the Fed has no idea how this unfolds, it cannot provide any assurances as to the timing or magnitude…
Read MoreHurricane Henrietta
The Friday File: While Atlantic hurricane names have alternated between the sexes since 1979, it turns out hurricanes with women’s names are much more deadly. While names don’t matter for low-damage hurricanes, for high-damage storms the more feminine the name the more deadly the storm! People just don’t take hurricanes with women’s names as seriously!…
Read MoreSorry Settlement
While Citi will soon pay $7 billion to settle with the DOJ over mortgage abuses, and BNP Paribas just paid $9 billion for violations of US sanctions, and recently JP Morgan paid $13 billion over various residential-backed mortgage securities, the problem is bankers don’t do time! These fines, large as they are, have simply become…
Read MoreHighway Happenings
In a display of bi-partisan common sense rarely seen on Capitol Hill, short-term financing to help the virtually depleted Highway Trust Fund (HTF) through next year seems likely. The HTF is financed by a gas tax of 18.4 cents/gallon that hasn’t been increased since 1993. Adjusted for inflation, it would be 30 cents. The tax…
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