2008

This morning I was in my usual routine, listening to 'Wake Up To Money," and the first guest came on the show from the British Chambers of Commerce. He was alarmed at the sudden slowdown in the UK. Consumer confidence is down ad shoppers…

One cannot expect double digit returns from the U.S. market over the medium term as there are significant headwinds impeding that from high P/E ratios, reversion to the mean, consumer price inflation, credit deflation, high debt, to a…

North AmericaGM may be mulling thousands of job cuts - ReutersSt. Louis Fed Economist: Let Mortgage Mess Resolve Itself - Housing WireHome Prices Fall in 23 of 25 U.S. Metropolitan Areas - BloombergTSX falls more than 300 points on…

GDP revisions are coming out on July 31st right in the middle of Q2 earnings reports and before many banks get to report. These revisions could be significant according to Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg.As the revisions come…

When the Economist warned in 2005 that residential property prices were in bubble territory in many national markets, South Africa led the list by far with an eight-year price appreciation of 244%. Now it seems that bubble has popped…

Here are some charts from the latest issue of Barron's. They have a readable article on bear markets (for those of you subscribed to it) as the Dow was down over 20% last week. That's supposed to mark the beginning of a bear market as the…

The tenor was downbeat at a panel put together by Pensions and Investments online that included well-known Boson-based investor Jeremy Grantham. Grantham is on record as being a sceptic of the current investment climate and sees the rally…

The FT reports:The eurozone economy has shown fresh signs of spluttering, with German industrial production dropping unexpectedly sharply in May - the strongest monthly fall since August 1997.-FT, 7 Jul 2008This is the latest sign in a…

Below are the latest writedown stories from the web. For the full timeline of news, visit my credit crisis timeline.2008 06 23 Citigroup and Goldman Sachs cut more staff as effect of credit crunch lingers2008 06 26 Fortis launches urgent…

PoliticsBritain must act to prevent an attack on Iran - FTCongress tries to tighten commodities loopholes - MarketWatchObama Faces Resistance From Top Supporters of Clinton - WSJEconomyGM Weighs More Layoffs, Sale of Brands - WSJRecession…