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: Moody’s Investors Service said: The 25 largest US public pensions – 40% of the $5.3 trillion in US public pensions – face $2 trillion in unfunded liabilities, showing that investment returns cannot keep up with ballooning obligations and inadequate pension contributions – from 2004 to 2013 an average
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: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Ebola could spread to hundreds of thousands more people by the end of January, 2015, with a worst-case scenario at 550,000 or more infections assuming no additional aid or intervention by governments and relief agencies. UN envoy David
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: The $1 trilli0n unregulated market for leveraged corporate loans – from $35 billion in 1997 – poses a growing threat of gridlock in a downturn when investors expect to get their money back. Beth MacLean at Pimco said one single retail fund unable to meet redemptions would have a
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: IEA said global oil demand growth in 2014 will be the weakest since 2011, as the US shale boom causes oil production from non-OPEC rises by the most since the 1980s. China will account for 11%, the US 21% of demand in 2014. Mike Wittner at Societe
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