July 2008

The LA Times got a front row seat with one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics staffers as she drove some of her 850 miles per month to record all of the prices that eventually make their way into the CPI. This is a nuts and bolts look into…

When you start monkeying around with markets, strange things happen. This is what the SEC is about to learn as market makers from the seven options exchanges are preparing to ask for exemptions from the new anti-free market SEC…

Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In - OnionFed Steps Back From Imaginary Tightening Ledge: Caroline Baum - BlombergFinancier's Death Hints at Trouble for Lenders - WSJGoldman Is Queried About Bear's Fall - WSJJim…

Stories of commercial real estate distress in the U.S. are mounting. As the residential real estate fallout takes form, commercial real estate has come under pressure as well. The Wall Street Journal has a front-page story out today that…

Now that we are practically guaranteed to add the Fannie and Freddie debt to the already robust debt levels of the US Government, its a good time to look at what the Government's accountant (GAO) says about its fiscal position going…

The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 1.0 percent in June, before seasonal adjustment, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. The June level of 218.815 (1982-84=100) was…

Last month, in a post called 'Chart of the day: real hourly earnings' I said that U.S. real wage rates were lower today than they were a generation ago on the eve of the first oil hock. hat's pretty poor. Today 'UK Bubble' highlights the…

We bailed out Bear Stearns. We have effectively said we are bailing out Fannie and Freddie. Who's next? All of this is only going to increase U.S. Government debt. Is this where we're headed? Note the last part in red: From 2002:…

As you would expect, the market sees the U.S. Government as much less creditworthy. Note the rise in credit default swaps on U.S. Treasuries. The question is: when will its foreign government supporters abandon a sinking ship. This is…

In his prepared remarks at the Senate Banking Committee, Jim Bunning had a classic line.When I picked up my newspaper yesterday, I thought I woke up in France. But no, it turns out socialism is alive and well in America.-Bunning Senate…