Salient to Investors: Home prices rose in the year ended in September by the most since July 2010 and in Q3 2012 by the most since Q2 2010. 18 of the 20 cities in the S&P/Case-Shiller Index showed a year-over-year gains, led by Phoenix. New York and Chicago posted the two decreases in
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Cass Sunstein at Harvard writes: Joel Waldfogel at University of Minnesota said Americans spend $65 billion on winter holiday presents every year, much of which is unwanted. Personal debts tend to jump after December. Most people have an exaggerated sense of how much other people are like them so beware of thinking that
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Nancy Koehn at Harvard said the boundaries between brick and mortar and online, and between channels is blurring. Koehn said we don’t yet know if online sales adds up to incremental, organic growth, but consumers are much smarter and much more adaptable. Nariman Behravesh at IHS said the consumer is in a very good mood because income growth is
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Investors reacting to government curbs on home buying are shifting money into parking spaces. The average price of a previously owned parking spot in residential complexes rose in Q3 to the second highest on record. Hong Kong has one of the lowest car ownership rates among developed countries,
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Wang Zheng at Jingxi Investment Mgmt said investors have no confidence in long-term growth prospects and the government is doing little to reverse the situation. The Shanghai Composite trades at 9.5 times estimated earnings for 2012, versus the 17.7 average multiple since 2006. Chongkyu Juhn at Samsung Securities said China’s stocks
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Hedge funds et al increased combined net-long positions for the first time in 7 weeks. James Paulsen at Wells Capital Mgmt sees many reasons why we are turning the corner, and says growth in the US and China supports being in commodities. Societe Generale said Chinese manufacturers are seeing the light at the
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Moody’s forecast home equity lines of credit will rise 30 percent in 2012 to the highest level since the start of the financial crisis in 2008, and rise another 31 percent in 2013. Mustafa Akcay at Moody’s Analytics said lending will keep rising if house prices continue to rise. The Mortgage Bankers Association forecast
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Warren Buffett said: Increase taxes on those earning more than $500,000, and minimum rates of at least 30 percent on all income above $1 million. The rich won’t strike or stuff mattresses if tax rates are increased. Eliminate carried interest et al that enable income from labor to be converted into capital gains
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: Goldman Sachs turned down roles in offerings by banks in Spain and Italy in 2012, the only top US securities firm to avoid the fundraisings by southern European lenders. Last month, Gary Cohn at Goldman saw only a small probability that the euro area will stick together, and Goldman equity strategists warned investors
READ MORE... →Salient to Investors: The Stoxx Europe 600 Index is at 11 times estimated earnings versus 13 before the financial crisis. The average strategist expects earnings to rise almost 5 percent in 2013 and the Index to gain 10 percent to the highest level since 2008. The Index is 32 percent below its June
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