Salient to Investors: Gail Whiteman at Erasmus University and other scientists say that the release of large amounts of methane from thawing permafrost in the Arctic could cost $60 trillion, or roughly the size of the global economy in 2012, with impacts most likely to be felt in developing countries, which are more
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: ARM applications in late June rose to the highest level since 2008. loan pay Cameron Findlay at Discover Financial Service said we’ve seen a shift in the way people look at adjustable-rate mortgages: they are still skeptical but the sticker shock of fixed rates is making them
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A. Gary Shilling at A. Gary Shilling & Co writes: The outlook for the labor market remains bleak. Older Americans are holding onto jobs longer, limiting openings for newcomers, and employers are extending working hours and paying overtime rather than hiring. In June 2013, almost 11 million people
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nouriel Roubini writes: QE is not creating credit for the real economy, but instead boosting leverage and risk-taking in financial markets. The issuance of risky junk bonds is increasing and the stock market is at new highs, despite the growth slowdown. Money is flowing to high-yielding emerging markets.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A strengthening economy that cause more Americans to seek work would paradoxically make it harder to lower the unemployment rate to the Fed’s target level. The BLS estimates there are 2.6 million interested in working who remained outside of the labor force because of discouragement, illness, or school. Joel Prakken at Macroeconomic
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A. Gary Shilling at A. Gary Shilling & Co writes: The total labor-force participation rates tend was 63.5 percent in June 2013 versus 67.4 percent in early 2000. The participation rates of 16-to 24-year-olds has declined sharply since 2000 as slow economic growth, limited jobs and rising unemployment rates have encouraged
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Caroline Baum writes: The Fed’s forecast for improved half2 growth is just that – we’ve been waiting years for stronger growth. Many of the more hawkish Fed presidents have been uncomfortable with QE from the start, and are supported by little data on which to evaluate the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: A. Gary Shilling writes: The Fed has yet to achieve its dual mandate of price stability and full employment. QE had been tried by the Bank of Japan for years without notable success, but Western central banks have become increasingly desperate as they look for ways to
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Fareed Zakaria said: Unlike most developing nations, China spends little on subsidizing current consumption but spends massively on export-free zones, highways, rail systems and airports. No developing democracy has been able to ignore short-term political pressures and execute a disciplined growth strategy with such success. China’s growth
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nouriel Roubini writes: Economic growth and earnings growth are slowing down, while both top and bottom lines are not what they were, though margins are high. The gravitational forces of a slowing economy will lead to a correction, but the levitational forces of QEs, zero policy rates,
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