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Browsing Category
Economy
Unemployment: U-6 data versus the Great Depression
Because of changes in the way the unemployment rate is calculated, the figures today are apple to oranges comparisons to the ones quoted for the Great Depression or even the 1970s. Further, changes in the economy (less manufacturing) and…
Spain’s savings banks may have 40 billion in writedowns
We should consider Spain one of the four original bubble markets where residential property markets soared to ridiculous levels during the housing bubble. The bubble has now popped and those countries, the U.K., the U.S., Ireland and…
Switzerland gets deflation too
First Spain, now Switzerland:
Consumer prices in March were down 0.4% from a year ago, the Federal Statistics Office said, a 50-year low.
The country has been close to deflation all year, with inflation having fallen from a peak of 3.1%…
Employment situation report paints grim picture
I have just finished looking at the latest employment situation report and there is absolutely no good news there. This report is miles apart from the jobless claims data I reviewed yesterday and does not cofirm we are anywhere close to a…
A few comments about mark-to-market
Because I received a message via e-mail that my previous post on mark-to-market was misleading, I thought I would clarify what is happening with FAS 157 and provide some good links.
The long and short of the rule is it gives more…
A note on government statistics and unemployment
Update 31 Mar 2009: I am re-posting this post about unemployment figures from November 2008 because I think it relevant. The next unemployment number is coming out on Friday and I expect a large number. If you read this analysis, you can…
Are jobless claims peaking?
Tomorrow, we all await the unemployment number with anticipation. In all likelihood, it is going to be a nasty number edging us ever closer to the 9.0% I once saw as a sort of upper range number for 2009.
Meanwhile, jobless claims for…
Eastern European economic growth to crater in 2009
This comes via Angus Robertson over at Research Recap:
Fitch Ratings forecasts that Emerging Europe (EE) will suffer its steepest fall in real GDP since the collapse of the Communist planned economic system in the early 1990s, reflecting…
U.S. banks’ derivatives exposure explodes to $200 trillion
The OCC’s Quarterly Report on Bank Trading and Derivatives Activities
for the Fourth Quarter 2008 is out. And derivatives exposure is way up. U.S. commercial banks now have a massive $200 trillion in derivatives exposure, which is 14x U.S.…
More credit card writedowns are coming
Of course you know I think credit cards are going to produce a tsunami of writedowns, right? Things are looking more and more like that tsunami is right around the corner:
Credit card writedowns soared to record levels in February,…