Housing Bubble Bursting?

[Michael S]

"The most liquid capital markets in the world," were halted for 5 seconds this morning as "great news" on surging jobs sent bond markets into turmoil ...

I wonder how much the high frequency traders made on that one....

 

[Meandering]

Being it looks similar to a heart attack..........

I'd say the outcome was probably similar.

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[Randolph Kinney]

Wage growth is finally happening

All eyes continue to be on the Federal Reserve as it decides whether to raise interest rates by the end of this year, and Fed chair Janet Yellen has repeatedly hammered home the idea that the Fed will raise rates when it feels confident that the US labor market is back to full health and inflation is coming.

The latest jobs report, out Friday morning, suggests we may finally be getting there. Average hourly earnings grew 2.5% between October 2014 and October 2015, the highest growth rate we have seen since the Great Recession.

http://www.businessinsider.com/aver...y happening&utm_term=Markets Chart Of The Day

Wonder if that wage growth is a false one time event? Adding low wage jobs may be driving it since WalMart raised their minimum wage.

 

[Meandering]

temporary jobs for the Christmas Season?

They have been advertising Black Friday here for more than a week.


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[Meandering]

Peter Schiff: It's going to be a 'horrible Christmas'

On CNBC's " Futures Now" Thursday, the contrarian investor said that while Americans are wrapping presents this holiday season, they should instead brace themselves for "a horrible Christmas" and possible recession.

"I expect [job] layoffs to start picking up by the end of the year," Schiff said, pointing to retailers as the first victim. "Retailers have overestimated the ability of their customers to buy their products. Americans are broke. They are loaded up with debt," he said. "We're teetering on the edge of an official recession," and "the labor market is softening."

For Schiff, there is no one else to blame but the Federal Reserve. As he sees it, the central bank's easy money policies have created a bubble so big that any prick could send the U.S. economy spiraling out of control. And that makes the possibility of hiking interest rates slim to none.

The Fed has to talk about raising rates to pretend the whole recovery is real, but they can't actually raise them," said the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital. "[Fed Chair Janet Yellen] can't admit that she can't raise them because then she's admitting the whole recovery is a sham and that the policy was a failure."

According to Schiff, the recent rally in the dollar (Intercontinental Exchange US: .DXY) is "the biggest bubble that the Fed has ever inflated" and "it's the only thing keeping the economy afloat." The greenback hit a three-month high this week after Yellen said a December rate hike was a "live" possibility.

"[The inflated dollar] is keeping the cost of living from rising rapidly and it's keeping interest rates artificially low. It's allowing the Fed to pretend everything is great," Schiff said. "Eventually the bottom is going to drop out of the dollar and we are going to have to deal with reality," he added. "That reality is we are staring at a financial crisis much worse than the one we saw in 2008."

Schiff, a longtime Fed foe, has been doubting a rate hike for some time. And while his predictions for a stock market and dollar crash have yet to pan out, he has maintained his stance that the Fed's hands are tied.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/peter-schiff-going-horrible-christmas-120000472.html

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[Randolph Kinney]

Virtually All Oct. Jobs Gains Went To Seniors

What a shocking surprise looking at the age breakdown of the October job gains as released by the BLS' Household Survey. What it shows is that while total jobs soared, that was certainly not the case in the most important for wage growth purposes age group, those aged 25-54.

In October, the age group that accounted for virtually all total job gains was workers aged 55 and over. They added some 378K jobs in the past month, representing virtually the entire increase in payrolls. And more troubling: workers aged 25-54 actually declined by 35,000, with males in this age group tumbling by 119,000!

What's wrong with this picture? System trouble?

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Congress Proposes A Chilling Resolution On Social Security

In a recently proposed resolution, H. Res 488, Congress states point blank that Social Security “was never intended by Congress to be the sole source of retirement income for families.”

Apparently they got the message from the Social Security Trustees and they want to start preparing people for the inevitable truth.

The Treasury Secretary is saying it. Congress is saying it. The numbers are screaming it: Social Security is going to fail.

Financial literacy is absolutely critical here, which includes the ability to both generate income and manage money, two things that aren’t taught in the government controlled education system.

You might also consider some lifestyle adjustments, which may include moving abroad where your money can go much, much further.

With so many of the working age population not in the labor force, payroll taxes are declining while at the same time the senior population is exploding and drawing benefits. Granted, that is not enough to live on as can be seen with the statistics on who is the getting jobs.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Not enough debt to propel the economy by the consumer?

 

[TD Morgan]

I remember many folks who predicted the last "Pop!" for several years. Everyone argued how wrong the dire predictions were. "No way! The government knows what it is doing!" they said while they used their houses as ATMs and spent like drunken sailors at the ***** house on shore leave.

Yet I know people gleefully buying houses and new cars on extended credit and weak jobs. "I know what I am doing! The lending finance guy told me how rosy it is going to get. My house will only go UP in value, my real estate agent promised me!"

"That 'thing' that happened to the economy was a fluke that could never happen again. And, besides, home prices are back to 'normal'. Even Jim Kramer on CNBC is promising a rosy future. He's NEVER wrong!"

It is just as distressing knowing how real it is going to get again. A train wreck at 10 miles per hour can do just as much damage as one at 35 mph if no one is minding the brakes...

The United States has long been the world's engine of economic growth. But the engine is worn out, the wheels are wobbly, and a low-paid Chinese conductor is at the wheel. Even at a slow speed, a train can go off the tracks.

This next time, the government won't be able to borrow and lend its way to prosperity. It won't be able to help home borrowers. It will lose its ability to continue with the promised social "safety net" for millions of citizens.

Instead, it had become the safety net for banks, buying up all the credit to keep it off the books of financial institutions. The Government has become the "lender of last resort" because we are at the point of last resort.

Doom? Gloom? Just being a Negative Nelly and a financial Contrarian?

That is what they said in 2005 to folks who were sounding the alarm bell.

The mere fact that this thread has stayed alive for almost a decade should be testament enough to the reality that is going to again befall us. But I know that I am preaching to the choir here. (And what a great looking group it is, with beautiful sounding voices!)

Housing market? "We don't need to Stinkin' Housing Market!"

Get Ready for the carnage when interest rates start to rise!

Oh, wait, the government will indirectly OWN the majority of houses. What do we have to worry about? Socialism? Or worse?

Peter Schiff: It's going to be a 'horrible Christmas'

On CNBC's " Futures Now" Thursday, the contrarian investor said that while Americans are wrapping presents this holiday season, they should instead brace themselves for "a horrible Christmas" and possible recession.

"I expect [job] layoffs to start picking up by the end of the year," Schiff said, pointing to retailers as the first victim. "Retailers have overestimated the ability of their customers to buy their products. Americans are broke. They are loaded up with debt," he said. "We're teetering on the edge of an official recession," and "the labor market is softening."

For Schiff, there is no one else to blame but the Federal Reserve. As he sees it, the central bank's easy money policies have created a bubble so big that any prick could send the U.S. economy spiraling out of control. And that makes the possibility of hiking interest rates slim to none.

The Fed has to talk about raising rates to pretend the whole recovery is real, but they can't actually raise them," said the CEO of Euro Pacific Capital. "[Fed Chair Janet Yellen] can't admit that she can't raise them because then she's admitting the whole recovery is a sham and that the policy was a failure."

According to Schiff, the recent rally in the dollar (Intercontinental Exchange US: .DXY) is "the biggest bubble that the Fed has ever inflated" and "it's the only thing keeping the economy afloat." The greenback hit a three-month high this week after Yellen said a December rate hike was a "live" possibility.

"[The inflated dollar] is keeping the cost of living from rising rapidly and it's keeping interest rates artificially low. It's allowing the Fed to pretend everything is great," Schiff said. "Eventually the bottom is going to drop out of the dollar and we are going to have to deal with reality," he added. "That reality is we are staring at a financial crisis much worse than the one we saw in 2008."

Schiff, a longtime Fed foe, has been doubting a rate hike for some time. And while his predictions for a stock market and dollar crash have yet to pan out, he has maintained his stance that the Fed's hands are tied.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/peter-schiff-going-horrible-christmas-120000472.html

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