US & Canada Archives - Page 127 of 169

July 31, 2012

The Dinged-Up, Broken-Down, Fender-Bended Economic Recovery Plan – NYTimes.com

ADAM DAVIDSON highlights that consumers’ cars have aged as they postponed replacement purchases during the GFC. This has led to pent-up demand which is getting auto-makers excited:

New-car sales, which collapsed to less than 11 million in 2009, are expected to surpass 14 million this year. And forecasters believe that they will increase by around a million annually for the next couple of years. In 2015, we could eclipse 16 million vehicles sold, which is near the precrisis peak…….This optimism is also embodied in the number of new models about to hit the production line. A few years ago, the industry introduced only around 50 new models. This year, it is planning 94; next year, there will be another 101.

via The Dinged-Up, Broken-Down, Fender-Bended Economic Recovery Plan – NYTimes.com.

July 31, 2012

No End To Long-Term Unemployment – Business Insider

J BRADFORD DE LONG, professor of economics at University of California at Berkeley, argues for expansionary monetary and fiscal policy.

At its nadir in the winter of 1933, the Great Depression was a form of collective insanity. Workers were idle because firms would not hire them; firms would not hire them because they saw no market for their output; and there was no market for output because workers had no incomes to spend.

I have been arguing for four years that our business-cycle problems call for more aggressively expansionary monetary and fiscal policies, and that our biggest problems would quickly melt away were such policies to be adopted. That is still true. But, over the next two years, barring a sudden and unexpected interruption of current trends, it will become less true.

But private sector deleveraging means expansionary monetary policy is as effective as pushing on a string. And fiscal policy needs to focus on productive infrastructure investment, not just stimulus spending that runs up public liabilities without any assets to show for it on the other side of the balance sheet.

via No End To Long-Term Unemployment – Business Insider.

July 31, 2012

STEPHEN ROACH: America Can't Keep Relying On Spending To Drive The Economy – Business Insider

STEPHEN ROACH highlights the importance of capital investment in any US recovery:

Over the last 18 quarters, annualized growth in real consumer demand has averaged a mere 0.7%, compared to a 3.6% growth trend in the decade before the crisis erupted…… Consumption typically accounts for 70% of GDP (71% in the second quarter, to be precise). But the 70% is barely growing, and is unlikely to expand strongly at any point in the foreseeable future. That puts an enormous burden on the other 30% of the US economy to generate any sort of recovery.

Capital spending and exports, which together account for about 24% of GDP, hold the key to this shift. At just over 10% of GDP, the share of capital spending is well below the peak of nearly 13% in 2000. But capital spending must exceed that peak if US businesses are to be equipped with state-of-the-art capacity, technology, and private infrastructure that will enable them to recapture market share at home and abroad. Only then could export growth, impressive since mid-2009, sustain further increases. And only then could the US stem the rising tide of import penetration by foreign producers.

via STEPHEN ROACH: America Can't Keep Relying On Spending To Drive The Economy – Business Insider.

July 31, 2012

S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 correction

The monthly chart of the S&P 500 shows 63-day Twiggs Momentum has been falling for about two years but is now threatening to form a trough above zero which would signal resumption of the primary up-trend. Breakout above 1420 would confirm, offering a target of the 2007 high at 1550*. Respect of resistance, however, would mean more of the same gloomy outlook — our steady diet over the past few months.

S&P 500 Index Daily Chart

* Target calculation: 1400 + ( 1400 – 1250 ) = 1550

Respect of 2400 on the Nasdaq 100 monthly chart is also a bullish sign. Breakout above 2800 would offer a target of 3200*.

Nasdaq 100 Index

* Target calculation: 2800 + ( 2800 – 2400 ) = 3200

July 30, 2012

Corporate Profit Streak Faces a Threat – WSJ.com

KATE LINEBAUGH: In the third quarter, earnings by companies in the S&P 500 are expected to shrink for the first time since just after the recession ended, according to Thomson Reuters, which surveys Wall Street analysts…..declining by about 0.4% from the year-earlier quarter…..That follows what will likely have been three straight quarters of decelerating profit growth.

via Corporate Profit Streak Faces a Threat – WSJ.com.

July 28, 2012

Towns Cut Costs by Sending Work Next Door – WSJ.com

Towns and cities in the US are using a novel way of cutting costs as tax revenues shrink: out-source administrative functions to neighboring towns or to local counties. Here is an excerpt from an article by Joel Millman in the Wall Street Journal:

Molalla, 30 miles south of Portland, is part of a trend spreading across Oregon among towns and cities facing fiscal crises and seeking to cut spending. The towns of Lowell and Westfir, populations 1,045 and 300, say they outsourced their traffic patrols and criminal complaints to nearby Oak Ridge, population 3,200.

Oak Ridge, in turn, closed its 911 dispatch service—which had been costing nearly $400,000 a year—by paying the Lane County Sheriff’s Department $93,000 to take its calls. Earlier this year, the city of Eugene contracted with Lane County to take over some legal work.

…Oregon’s public sector is catching up to a trend that has already taken off in some other states as cities and towns consolidate operations. Often called “service contracting,” or “service sharing,” this type of outsourcing lets cities keep the work local and maintain a connection with voters, instead of privatizing operations to a commercial venture that might be located far away.

If this idea catches on it could lead to widespread savings at town, city, county and even state level as neighbors reduce costs by sharing duplicated functions.

via Towns Cut Costs by Sending Work Next Door – WSJ.com.

July 28, 2012

Study: High-Speed Trading Hurts Long-Term Investors – WSJ.com

SCOTT PATTERSON: Investors trying to trade cost-effectively often find themselves standing in line behind the fleet-footed traders and are forced to wait to execute their trades, which in turn can cause poorer results, the report [by Pragma Securities LLC — a research and trading firm] says. The upshot: Investors are often paying more for many blue-chip stocks than they would have otherwise.

The results contradict a number of industry and academic studies that claim high-speed trading has cut costs for investors.

via Study: High-Speed Trading Hurts Long-Term Investors – WSJ.com.

July 28, 2012

David Stockman

David Stockman, former Director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, gives Alex Daley a run-down of the Fed’s performance.

Duration 30:43

July 27, 2012

Treasury yields: What a difference a day makes

10-Year Treasury yields gapped above resistance at 1.45 percent and the descending trendline, signaling an outflow from Treasuries and into stocks. Breakout above 1.70 percent would suggest a primary down-trend for bonds (price is the inverse of yield) and an up-trend for stocks.

10-Year Treasury Yields

* Target calculation: 1.45 – ( 1.70 – 1.45 ) = 1.20

July 27, 2012

Forex: Euro, Pound Sterling, Yen, Aussie, Loonie, Rand

The euro is testing resistance at $1.23/$1.24 against the greenback. Breakout above resistance and the descending trendline would warn that the primary down-trend is weakening and a bottom is forming . Negative values on 63 -day Twiggs Momentum continue to indicate a primary down-trend and respect of resistance would favor another decline.

Index

* Target calculation: 1.205 – ( 1.240 – 1.205) = 1.170

Pound Sterling is retracing to find support against the euro. Friday’s doji signals uncertainty. Respect of €1.27 would mean that the up-trend is still accelerating, while respect of €1.255 would indicate a healthy trend.

Index

* Target calculation: 1.26 + ( 1.26 – 1.23 ) = 1.29

Canada’s Loonie is strengthening against the greenback on the weekly chart. Breakout above parity would confirm a test of $1.02*. Fluctuation of 63 -day Twiggs Momentum around zero, between 3% and -3%, would indicate a ranging market.

Index

The Aussie dollar is testing resistance at $1.045/$1.05 against the greenback. Breakout would offer an initial target of $1.08*. Recovery of 63 -day Twiggs Momentum above zero suggests a primary up-trend.

Index

* Target calculation: 1.05 + ( 1.05 – 1.02 ) = 1.08

The Aussie is also testing resistance at 82/82.50 Japanese yen. Breakout would offer an initial target of 84.50* and a medium-term target of ¥88.

Index

* Target calculation: 82 + ( 82 – 79.50 ) = 84.50

Against the South African Rand, the Aussie is retracing to test support at R8.50. Respect would offer an initial target of R9.00*. Rising 63 -day Twiggs Momentum continues to indicate a primary up-trend.

Index

* Target calculation: 8.75 + ( 8.75 – 8.50 ) = 9.00