Friday, June 6, 2008

Weekend Weimar and Beagle

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Busy week -- but now it's over. Mr$. Bonddad and I are getting the house ready for the big move next week. So no pictures today. I...

Unemployment Jumps

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From the WSJ: The U.S. unemployment rate posted its sharpest one-month increase in 22 years last month, suggesting U.S. consumers already ...

Debt Information From the Flow of Funds Report

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The Federal Reserve has released the latest Flow of Funds report. This is a veritable goldmine of economic information about the US econom...

Retail Sales Surprise on the Upside

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From the WSJ: Shoppers spending their government rebate checks helped push May retail sales higher, giving companies such as Wal-Mart Stores...

Forex Fridays

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Bernanke made public statements supporting the dollar on Tuesday and Wedndesday: Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's warning this we...
Thursday, June 5, 2008

Today's Markets

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Wal-Mart did well with the rebate checks as did Costco. Unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell as well -- although "the four-week a...

Should These Guys Be Insuring the Market?

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From the NY Times: Moody’s Investors Service said on Wednesday that it was likely to cut the top ratings of the bond insurance arms of MBIA ...

Airlines Taking Nasty Hits

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First it was American: That came two weeks after a similar move by AMR Corp.'s American Airlines, the only U.S. carrier larger than Unit...

We're Nowhere Near A Bottom in Housing

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From Dow Jones: U.S. mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures continued to rise in the first quarter despite efforts to calm the nation's...

The Credit Crisis is Far From Over

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Consider this: According to First American CoreLogic LoanPerformance data, the percentage of both subprime and prime mortgages that are seve...

Thursday Oil Market Round-up

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Oil has been correcting a bit over the last week. Overall this is good news. But before we pop the champaign cork..... On the weekly chart...
Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Today's Markets

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Oil dropped again, which is overall good news. But that didn't stop United from announcing it is cutting staff and planes. In addition...

My Conversation With the Next President

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The “script” that follows assumes the highly unlikely (actually downright improbable) that Bonddad becomes the Treasury secretary in the new...

More of Agricultural Prices

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Below are some individual charts from the agricultural sector. On the weekly corn chart, notice the clear rally/consolidate/rally pattern t...

Wednesday's Commodities Roundup

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Let's take a look at a few charts to see how these markets are doing. The overall CRB index has been in a rally since the end of last su...
Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Today's Markets

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Another day of bad news. Lehman Brothers tanked hard on news they might have to raise more capital. GM is closing 4 truck plants because...

A Closer Look At the Financial Sector

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Yesterday, S&P downgraded three members of the financial community, essentially saying there were more problems coming down the pike. L...

Construction Spending Drops; Manufacturing Weak

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From the WSJ: U.S. manufacturing activity contracted slightly in May, as exports kept the sector afloat and prices surged, but performed bet...