Salient to Investors: Freddie Mac said the average rate for a 30-yr fixed mortgage rose to 4.46 percent from 3.93 percent, the biggest one-week increase since 1987. The average 15-yr rate climbed to 3.5 percent from 3.04 percent. The average rate for a 30-yr mortgage in the 10 years through last
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nouriel Roubini writes: All investors should own a very modest share of gold as a hedge against extreme tail risks, but other real assets can provide a similar hedge, and those tail risks are certainly lower today than at the peak of the global financial crisis. Read
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The UK said fields of shale gas in northern England are twice as large as previously estimated. A recovery rate of 10 percent, similar to fields in the US, would give the U.K. enough gas to meet demand for about 47 years. Lawrence Carter at Greenpeace said
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Moody’s Investors Service the total funded ratio – assets relative to liabilities – of state pensions fell to 48 percent under its new methodology from 74 percent before the changes. The ratio measures fund management and whether a state is keeping up with promises to retirees. Moody’s said
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: California Association of Realtors says the median price for a single-family home sold in San Francisco was $947,260 in May, up 32 percent from a year earlier, and estimates this will surpass $1 million this year. Condo prices rose 27 percent in May from a year earlier
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jim Rogers says: Natural gas fundamentals are not nearly as good as the hype. The number of rigs on the ground is down 75% over the last two years as the wells are very short-lived, and it takes an enormous amount of money to keep them up.
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Jeffrey Lacker at FRB of Richmond said: The Fed is not close to tapering QE and expects 2 more years of sluggish growth, and 2.25 percent growth in 2014. The Fed will not alter their guidance about tapering based on GDP, focusing instead on jobs. Markets are better aligned now
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Richard Stern at TrimTabs Investment Research said investors withdrew $52.8 billion from bond mutual funds and $8.9 billion from ETFs in June through June 24 . David Santschi at TrimTabs said before June, bond funds posted inflows for 21 consecutive months. Individual investors typically own bonds through mutual funds while
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Social-investment networks, which started appearing in the middle of the last decade, are attracting record interest, turning top performers into market stars for individual investors. The top traders – gurus – may have as many as 100,000 followers and 10,000 copiers, raising concerns among professional investors. Justin
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Daniel Silver at JPMorgan Chase said it is not big pullback in consumer spending, just weaker than previously estimated, and the housing recovery will continue and overall growth will strengthen in half2. Joshua Shapiro at Maria Fiorini Ramirez said all in all, things are improving, but a lot of negatives
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