Salient to Investors: The Census Bureau Gini Index shows income inequality reached a new high in 2011. Quarterly corporate profits have almost doubled since the end of 2008, while workers’ inflation- adjusted average hourly earnings have declined. Anne Mathias at Guggenheim Securities said said fifty years ago it was how the other half lived,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: It’s unlikely the leaders will allow any escalation into open conflict. Richard Samuels at MIT said the conflict is due to domestic political considerations as the whole region is roiling amid uncertainty over leadership. Samuels says there is always the danger of miscalculation which is why Japan patrols with
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ryan Sweet at Moody’s Analytics said the consumer will be unable to lead the recovery. The saving rate dropped to the lowest since April, while disposable income had its weakest reading since November. The jobless rate has exceeded 8 percent for 43 months, the longest stretch since monthly records began in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Alan B. Krueger at the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers said revisions suggest that the recession that began at the end of 2007 was deeper than initially reported, and the jobs recovery over the last 2.5 years has been stronger than initially reported. Macroeconomic Advisers sees growth tracking at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: An estimated nearly one out of two tomatoes eaten in the US comes from Mexico. Florida is the US’’s largest producer, followed by California. The risk of hurricanes in Florida makes it harder for growers there to set up greenhouse cultivation. Gary Clyde Hufbauer at the Peterson Institute
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Daniel Altman at NYU and BigThink says the biggest threat facing the global economy is short-term thinking, which has swept over the world in the past few decades. One cause is we can’t plan for the long-term as easily as we used to because of the growing complexity of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Ho-Fung Hung at Johns Hopkins University said the central government appears to be paralyzed and the situation is looking increasingly dire. Direct foreign investment has fallen for 9 months out of the past 10, and industrial output is rising at the slowest rate in three years. FedEx warned that China’s
READ MORE... →Saient Points: Charles Plosser at FRB of Philadelphia said QE3 won’t boost growth or hiring and may jeopardize the Fed’s credibility, which may be forced into selling assets in the open market when it needs to reduce stimulus. Central banks can’t effectively target employment levels the same way they can guide inflation rates
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: More than a million of the college graduate class of 2008 have gone back home. The number of 26-year-olds living with parents is up 46 percent since 2007: a quarter of American adults between the ages of 18 and 30 now live with parents. Read the full article at
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Malcolm Polley at Stewart Capital said things won’t improve as fast as people think, and Fed’s actions won’t lead to higher growth. FRB of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said this months new bond buying by the Fed won’t boost growth or hiring and may jeopardize Fed credibility. The Dow is 5.3 percent from its
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