May 2008

From today's Guardian Newspaper: House prices carry on falling Larry Elliott The Guardian, Monday May 26 2008 House…

Warren Buffett is in Germany looking for large acquisitions of German companies. He's been forced to go global as his size and the US's competitive position has limited his options in the US. I caught a German-language article from Der…

The Telegraph notes today that Vulture Funds are circling the London Commercial Real Estate (CRE) market. Prices have fallen, but funds are waiting for the other shoe to drop before stepping in. I imagine this will mean credit losses for…

Another side effect of the credit crunch is the lack of availability of cheap debt financing for businesses. Companies have two alternatives: they can hold off on needed financing until the credit markets are more inviting or they can…

The Guardian has a brilliant piece out today about how widespread the housing bubble's downdraft has become. We're not talking just the South east here but idyllic countryside villages like Ely just north of Cambridge. This should…

This article speaks for itself.Bill for taxpayers swells by trillionsDeficit far bigger than government estimateBy Dennis CauchonUSA TODAYThe federal government's long-term financial obligations grew by $2.5 trillion last year, a reflection…

Here's a long-term view of the US Federal government deficit.

This past week, I attended an Investment luncheon to hear Greg Valliere, the chief political strategist with the Stanford Washington Research Group. He had a number of important things to say regarding the economic implications of…

I'd say that the UK is looking a lot like the U.S. looked a year or so ago, with high consumer debt loads and high property prices. What's the likelihood of recession. A near certainty."Over to the strategy team at Legal and General.…

I started tracking an odd statistic that I made up in the aftermath of the last recession called the 'Mortgage to Growth Gap' (MGG). At the time, a lot of pundits I respected where saying that American consumers were spending right through…