Archive for the 'Economy' Category
In a Bid to Stem Panic, Grain Exports Halted
April 16th, 2008Via: Globe and Mail: Some of the world’s biggest grain exporters barred their farmers from selling in global markets yesterday, exacerbating the food price crisis for poorer nations that import their food and highlighting the failure of governments to nurture stronger rules for agricultural trade. Rice and corn prices soared to records on U.S. markets […]
As Other Staples Soar, Potatoes Break New Ground
April 16th, 2008There’s one sentence in the article below that I’d like to highlight: One factor helping the potato remain affordable is the fact that unlike wheat, it is not a global commodity, so it has not attracted speculative professional investment. If you don’t understand why that sentence is so important, please see, CBOT Resembles Carnival Act […]
EUR/USD BREAKOUT; NEW RECORD HIGH
April 16th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. You might recall the one about that messy symmetrical triangle on the USDX. EUR/USD just touched 1.5967.
Foreclosures Jump 57% in Last 12 Months
April 15th, 2008My guess is that homeowners with these loan products will wind up in very dire situations within six months of the reset. That puts the crescendo of the economic crisis in September 2008. —Some Guesses About 2008 Via: Reuters: Home foreclosure filings surged 57 percent in the 12 month-period ended in March and bank repossessions […]
“Subprime Was Just the Beginning”
April 15th, 2008Mmm hmm. Via: Slate: California is to mortgage lending what Chicago is to pork bellies. For years, that meant it was a place with soaring house values; today, the foreclosure rate across the state is twice the national average and going up fast. Riverside County, outside Los Angeles, may be the foreclosure capital of the […]
Oil: New High Above $113
April 15th, 2008Oil prices flat since 2001… if priced in gold. HA Via: AP: Oil prices rose to new heights Tuesday, surging to almost $114 a barrel after the U.S. dollar fell and worries mounted about the global oil supply. A report from the International Energy Agency said Russian oil production dropped this year for the first […]
UK: House Prices Fall at Fastest Rate Since 1978
April 15th, 2008Via: Guardian: House prices are falling at their fastest rate since records began 30 years ago as the mortgage lending freeze continues to undermine the housing market, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says today. In a big blow to the government, which claims Britain is well-placed to withstand the global economic downturn, the RICS […]
Wachovia Resorts to Emergency Fundraising
April 15th, 2008Via: Guardian: America’s fourth-largest bank, Wachovia, is raising $7bn (£3.52bn) through emergency fundraising as the subprime mortgage crisis in the US continues to reverberate through the banking sector. Wachovia is raising the funds through public offerings of common and convertible preference stock after incurring a surprise $350m loss in the first quarter of 2008 compared […]
Messy Symmetrical Triangle on U.S. Dollar Index Daily Interval
April 15th, 2008WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. April U.S. Dollar Index, daily interval The next leg down could be setting up. 71.34 is the all time low and the strategic support. Any rally below 73 is, most likely, fake. At 73 it’s still constrained by the 50 fib […]
Retailing Chains Caught in a Wave of Bankruptcies
April 15th, 2008Via: New York Times: The consumer spending slump and tightening credit markets are unleashing a widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing, prompting thousands of store closings that are expected to remake suburban malls and downtown shopping districts across the country. Since last fall, eight mostly midsize chains — as diverse as the furniture store […]
