Salient to Investors: Investor Jim Pogoda said just extending Operation Twist was seen as not enough to keep positive momentum in gold, which will attract some safe haven investment as the focus turn quickly back to debt troubles in Europe. Nick Moore at Royal Bank of Scotland Group said global financial market risks abound and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Economists expect sales of previously owned U.S. homes fell in May and reflect an uneven recovery. Existing-home sales reached a low of 3.39 million annual in July 2010 versus a peak of 7.25 million in September 2005. Foreclosure starts grew in May for the first time since January 2010. Michael Feder
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Four-week moving average increased to the highest since the week ended Dec. 3. The level of dismissals may raise concern the slowdown in payrolls will be prolonged, limiting consumer spending. Ryan Wang at HSBC Securities USA says momentum is slowing, companies have curtailed demand for labor, meaning less income growth, a restraint on
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Henry Paulson at the University of Chicago said Europe will drag on but eventually stabilize and avoid catastrophe. Europeans are committed to monetary union, but isn’t sustainable without some political union. Paulson said government policies is more to blame than banks because it encourages people to save too little and borrow too much. The root causes
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The U.S. economy may be on the cusp of a pickup in productivity that will make it more difficult for the Fed to reduce unemployment. Corporate profits rose 6.5 percent in Q1 from a year ago, the smallest year-to-year gain since the recession ended in mid-2009. Predictions: Ellen Zentner at Nomura securities
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Bloomberg poll shows: 45 percent believe they are better off, 36 percent worse off, than at the beginning of 2009. 28 percent say their household income is higher than a year ago, 22 percent who said it is lower. 32 percent are hopeful about improvement in the economy, down
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Arizona building permits are close to a three-year high, creating a scarcity of framers, roofers and masons. Immigration laws add to the shortage by pushing experienced laborers out of the state. The construction jobs increase in May from a year ago was the biggest gain of any industry
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Companies are delaying hiring and spending out of concern about ‘ fiscal cliff’ and economists are predicting this trend will pick up through the year. Predictions: Bank of America sees U.S. growth falling to 1.3 percent in Q3 and 1 percent in Q4. Sixty-one percent of 234 fund managers surveyed by Bank
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: FedEx, regarded as an economic bellwether, predicted Q1 profit lower than analyst estimates. Barnes & Noble Q4 revenue trailed analysts’ estimates. Predictions: Tom Wirth of Chemung Canal Trust sees the risks easing slightly, but expects any market action should the Fed extend Operation Twist to be short-lived. Myles Zyblock of RBC Capital Markets says growing uncertainty – due to
READ MORE... →Salients Points: The residential real-estate market is weathering the U.S. economic slowdown. Single family starts rose at the highest rate this year, while apartment construction slumped. Building permits climbed to the highest level since September 2008 on lower prices and record-low mortgage rates. Overall starts in May declined 13 percent in the Midwest, 20 percent in
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