Salient to Investors: Zillow expects home values to continue to rise in 2013. Low interest rates, improving employment and prices almost 30 percent below the July 2006 peak have attracted buyers and a limited inventory of homes for sale have pushed up prices. Stan Humphries at Zillow said housing has turned a corner in 2012, as historic affordability and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: 27 US states showed signs of economic improvement. Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois posted four of the eight biggest gains for Q3 over Q2. California, District of Columbia, Florida, Arizona and North Dakota improved. The largest declines were in Vermont, followed by New Mexico, Alaska, Wyoming and New Hampshire. Florida’s
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Index of Leading Indicators fell in November, pointing to a slowdown in the economy in early 2013 as companies curb investment and global growth cools. Russell Price at Ameriprise Financial says the economy is moving sideways and expects a weak Q4. Ken Goldstein at the Conference Board said growth will be slow
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Global investment through silver-backed ETPs reached a record equal to more than 9 months of mine output. The median analyst, trader and investor expects prices to rise as much as 29 percent in 2013. Hedge funds et al increased bets on higher prices 12-fold since the end of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: In the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, prices for handgun magazines are surging on EBay and semi-automatic rifles are sold out at many Wal-Mart stores . Wal-Mart said it would continue to sell guns, including rifles like the one used at Newtown. Dick’s Sporting Goods suspended sales of
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: By 2015, firearm fatalities will probably exceed traffic fatalities for the first time. 85 Americans are shot dead daily, 53 of them suicides. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports motor-vehicle deaths dropped 22 percent from 2005 to 2010, gun fatalities are rising again after a low point
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The SEC is increasing its focus on insider trading by overseas buyers of US-traded securities. Overseas trading probes present significant obstacles to criminal charges. Foreign insider traders, while at some risk of losing their money, face very little chance of going to prison. The significant number of cross-border transactions
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Stephen Roach at Yale said: The fiscal cliff is moonshine, designed to make the politicians look good ‘saving’ America. We are not going to go over the cliff as even dysfunctional politicians know it would be political and economic suicide. Expect a phony deal of $10 trillion back loaded in years 8, 9 and
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Caroline Baum writes: The $1.2 trillion of revenue Obama hopes to generate by raising taxes on the rich represents only a small down payment on a budget solution. The real source of the problem is runaway growth in entitlements, especially health care. There are no real cuts on the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Employees at the biggest Wall Street banks experienced job cuts, lower pay and tarnished reputations in 2012, while the S&P 500 Financial Index is up 27 percent year to date, its largest annual increase since 2003. Davide Serra at Algebris Investments said the pendulum has totally shifted and it’s better to be a bondholder
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