Bernanke says if inflation expectations anchored, food, energy prices have little effect on core prices. that will provide much needed relief to those of us that atcaully eat food and use oil for heating and gas. investors fail to realize the full effect of oil such as all the products that are made using oil from paints to plastics. did anyone else notice how much consumer debt increased yesterday? the gain was most notable on credit cards.the cnbc pumpers will argue that the consumer is healthy;in my eyes,the consumer is about as healthy as a degenerate gambler going to a loanshark.its only a matter of time before he skips some payments and gets a beating. also,the big gain in credit card debt shows that the consumer is having a tough time getting home equity loans as lenders tighten standards and mortgage companies appraise peoples homes at more realistic values. lets not forget that the dollar keeps falling,that is not good either.
And remember when the dollar was strong? The Euro was worth like .80 dollars not that long ago (about 6 years ago)and deflation was all the buzz, that wasn't all that great either. Yin and yang my friend. So what if the average American is tapped out, they're not afraid to mortgage their future to consume more crap. It's their choice to play today and pay later, so what. The only thing that will slow the U.S. consumer down is higher unemployment and slower job growth (recession). The average pay per hour is still rising at the higher end of expectations and as long as employers are making profits, they're going to continue to hire and pay more to those they hire. So what if those on the fringe of home ownership get their overpriced houses foreclosed on... they just walk away (out the 2K or so they put down) and go back to renting. The only thing you need to concern yourself with is how to profit off all this. Good Luck!
I just hope the tax payers don't get stuck with wallstreets mess. It was all a part of the plan so George Bush could stand up before the elections last fall and say " more americans are home owners than ever before" See how prosperous everyone is under the republican leadership.
Just today, Moody's and S&P figured out that there's a problem with CDOs.... The Fed. better load up with ink to print Benny Bonds to bail everybody out...again... something not lost on the US Dollar index...
Not trying to agrue with you, but I think you give Bush too much credit. They don't think on such a large scale. They bring attention to the numbers that are good and downplay the numbers that are bad just like every other administration. The markets are certainly manipulated to an extent, but you guys (Bush haters) always make it sound like manipulation is the easiest thing in the world to do. Banks are businesses that are out to make a profit. They will leverage and lend as much as possible within the guidelines of their business strategy. Consumers are making this market what it is. The president doesn't really have that much influence. And contrary to popular belief, the Fed doesn't have that much short-term influence either. Politics don't really affect short-term stock prices. Speculation regarding the effects of politics greatly affects short-term movement. I don't agree with Bush most of the time, but he isn't to blame for the mortgage crisis any more than he is to blame for the stock market making new highs and unemployment dropping so low.
hi guys, good discussion. there has been some extremely good points made but some of you just might be missing the big picture. I read the attached article yesterday mostly because I live in Atlanta. Some other noteworthy items I see are the number of small business spaces that are vacant or recently closed in all 17 counties including the extremely affluent areas and they are remaining vacant. I recently read where the state of Ohio is looking at some kind of bailout for people that IMO should not have one as they have chosen to live beyond their means. The taxpayer is going to foot the bill like the S&L Bailout years ago! I have lived through a few major financial "hiccups or recessions" in our country and the current situation reminds me of those others. I truly hope that I am so so wrong on this. I hope that the powers that be can keep us from sliding into recession or having the dual problems of 1973-74.
OK who should I blame that 1 Euro costs almost twice more than 6 years ago? Who should I blame for a budget deficit is a half of trillion? And I don't want to mention Iraq as a major financial blackhole Adminstration and Bush responsible for what happens in this country
That's simple - Republicans. They always fk with the money. And Dems always fk with the tax code, launch a real estate scam, etc.