Salient to Investors: Michael Gapen at Barclays Capital said the late 1990s was a very good period for the US economy, with Greenspan making the correct call on monetary policy; but the general consensus is that Fed policy in the run-up to the housing bust prior to the 2007-2009 recession
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: Destroying ISIS will take collaboration with Iran (which has far more influence than the US with the Iraqi government) which would have beneficial effects from Iraq to Syria to Afghanistan. While air strikes are usually successful, what usually follows is messy. The US cannot both destroy ISIS
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The resumption of growth in the US and UK is in stark contrast to the 25-yr yield curve for government bonds of the developed economies, which indicate government borrowing real costs of negative or zero for up to 25 years. The contradiction implies investors do not expect
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Stephen Antczak et al at Citigroup said: Each of the 5 times since 1980 that the Fed started raising its benchmark rate, the extra yield on corporate bonds over government debt narrowed in the following 6 months as accelerating growth boosted optimism. Spreads will tighten this time also,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jan Hatzius at Goldman Sachs said: Home construction will grow 10% to 15% by 2015-2016, while capital spending will fall to 5%, a reminder of how very different this recovery is. It is unusual for a housing recovery to lag a capital-spending recovery. Gains in business investment
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said the IMF says India and China were similar sized in the 1980s yet China has gone from 2% of global GDP to 16% in three decades. Zakaria said India is poor, has a young, vibrant population and an extraordinary private sector, but over-regulation strangles growth.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Gender inequality in median earnings adjusted for inflation is still significant. In 2013, women earned 78 cents for every dollar that a man made versus 77 cents in 2012. Women are more likely to be impoverished than men, especially for women 65 and older. In 2013, 2
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Pew Charitable Trusts said: 82% of American Gen Xers – those born between 1965 and 1980 – with at least a bachelor’s degree earn more than their parents did, yet only 30% have greater wealth. 70% of Xers without a college education earn more than their parents
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Moody’s Investors Service said the US Aaa credit rating outlook remains stable, short-term outlooks for most indicators are positive, but spending on social programs will put pressure on budget deficits and the rating toward the end of the decade. Steven Hess at Moody’s sees accelerating economic growth as
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: US millennial women are holding off on motherhood, which bodes well for their economic and social mobility and that of their future children. Isabel Sawhill at Brookings said lower US birth rates are permanent, even if some of the recession-induced decline reverses. Preventing unexpected births increases a
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