Salient to Investors: Greece accounts for just 2.3 percent of EU GDP, and 4.3 percent of EU debt. Without Greece , the EU would have had a trade surplus in 2011. Germany has posted a trade surplus every month since May 1991 and has avoided recession since 2009. OECD says the euro is undervalued
READ MORE... →Predictions: Wall Street lawyers and lobbyists continue to mock re-regulation. Expect fewer substantive rules and limitations on risks than now. Nine bills presented in Congress this year are designed to weaken the already weak Dodd-Frank law, mostly by holding off real accountability until the public has lost interest. Barney Frank has succumbed to pressure from Wall Street. Read the full article
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Indian GDP rose the least in nine years last quarter. Standard & Poor’s said slowing growth and political roadblocks to economic policy risks India becoming the first BRIC to lose investment-grade credit rating – economy in much better shape than earlier, especially the early 1990s, with $250 billion in foreign-exchange reserves and a floating exchange
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: China’s consumer prices rose the least in two years in May and industrial output and retail sales trailed estimates. Industrial production growth was below 10 percent for a second month in May, the first time in three years. Retail sales rose the least in almost six years, excluding January and
READ MORE... →Predictions: Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Lee Hardman expects the Bank of England will have to ease more, which will weaken the pound to under $1.50 in the next couple of months. Economists expect data next week to show the U.K. economy is slowing. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-09/pound-strengthens-as-boe-keeps-stimulus-on-hold-gilts-decline.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Carmakers exceeding forecasts and pushing passenger vehicles onto distributors faster than they can sell them. Predictions: Bloomberg Industries analyst Kevin Tynan expects either consumer discounts or lower production. Read the full article at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-11/china-auto-glut-builds-as-plant-shipments-outstrip-sales.html
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Banking by nature is and always has been, risky. Banks diversified to keep up with American corporations. A new Glass-Steagall isn’t the solution. The bulk of bank losses during the postwar financial crises came from bad loans, this time on residential real estate. Investment banking contributed. More bank capital is the solution. Read the full article
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The worst recession in six decades is hurting workers while leaving bosses almost unscathed. Between 2007 and 2010, people in nonprofessional occupations without college degrees saw median earnings fall 4.6 percent versus a 1.9 percent rise for college-educated professionals or managers. BLS reports 8.1 percent of workers with a high school degree
READ MORE... →Predictions: Asianomics Ltd. said China’s surprise first interest rate cut since 2008 and loosened financial controls are a sign of panic, will fail to boost the Chinese economy, which is close to recession, that the world is headed for recession. Chinese banks need to raise lending rates because their cost of funds is going up. Read the full article
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Martin Feldstein said Greece cannot be fixed. A Greek departure would be chaotic short-term, but longer-term would return Greece to growth and more robust employment. Italy is in good shape. Spanish regional budget deficits pose a bigger problem than the banking crisis. European leaders lack a longer-term strategy on how to
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