After a prolonged 7 years of extremely accommodating, near-zero interest rates in the United States, the Federal Reserve has today tightened interest rates to between 0.25 and 0.5 per cent. Today’s historic move is the first increase in almost a decade, and came as no surprise to anyone with the …
On the 18th of December 2013, the U.S. Federal Reserve finally announced it would begin to taper or wind down QE3 – an $85 billion a month shot in the arm to keep the economy afloat after the worst recession since the 1930s. Starting in January 2014, the Fed will …
While the property lobby is saying it is never a better time to buy following a single data point showing rising house prices, a look at real house prices (corrected for inflation) raises a lot of concern: Making the above statement in the United States, however, is much more convincing. …
Ask any real estate agent and they will tell you security is owning your own home!!. Ask America’s Generation X and they are likely to tell you something very different. The U.S. Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) for 2010 has reported what could be unprecedented levels of …
A plan announced on Thursday to address the Eurozone debt crisis has bouyed markets around the world. But questions remain if it will go anywhere near fixing the problem. Eurozone leaders have formed an agreement with private banks and insurers to accept a 50 percent loss on Greek’s bonds. Long …
According to the Australian Associated Press, Harry Dent has arrived in Australia today to promote his new book, “The Great Crash Ahead: Strategies for a World Turned Upside Down.” Amazon suggests his book will be released on the 20th of September. In promoting his book, Mr Dent has told AAP, …
In 2005, America had a shortage of homes. Today, its banks are using bulldozers to get rid of the oversupply. Bloomberg reports that the Bank of America has a glut of foreclosed homes that it can not sell. In June 1,679,125 were in some stage of foreclosure. Flooding the market …
According to the Zillow Home Value Index, the current housing crisis in the U.S. has surpassed that of the 25.9% decline observed during the Great Depression. The Index recorded a fall of 25.9% between 1928 and 1933. Since the peak of the U.S. bubble in June 2006, prices have now …
A surprise sharp decline in house prices in the United States has analysts calling the start of the double dip for the already depressed U.S. housing market. The S&P/Case Shiller home price index for a composite of 20 U.S. cites plunged 1.3 percent in the month of October, the biggest …
OECD Chief Economist, Pier Carlo Padoan has said “Recent high-frequency indicators point to a slowdown in the pace of recovery of the world economy that is somewhat more pronounced than previously expected” and that policy makers may need to extend or bolster stimulus programs. This comes as governments around the …
Real estate experts in the U.S. suggest houses are now a bad investment, indicating there is no law to say real estate will appreciate in value. For a century prior to the great housing bubble that started in the 1990’s, house prices only appreciated in line with inflation. This ensured …
The U.S. Commerce Department last night reported sales of new homes sunk 33 percent in May to the lowest level since records began in 1963. The May collapse is also the biggest monthly drop on record and follows the end of federal tax credits used to prop up the unsustainable …
The Financial Times has an interview with Jeremy Grantham, founder and chief strategist at GMO, on bubbles. Mr Grantham has identified over 34 bubbles over the years based on the 40 year event based from price and volatility. At present 32 of the 34 bubbles have moved back to trend …
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has this week released a report showing Australia’s housing “shortage” will quadruple if we don’t act now and increase the number of homes being constructed. The group has called for another 466,000 homes to be built by 2020, with the “shortage” currently at 109,000 homes. …
According to a report from FirstAmerican CoreLogic, more than 11.3 million mortgage holders have negative equity – they owe more on their mortgage than what their home is worth. This represents almost 25% of all Americans with a mortgage. Worst still, more than 10% of people with a mortgage owes …
The FDIC on Wednesday has indicated there are 702 banks on the FDIC trouble list which is in danger of defaulting. This is the highest level in 16 years. Last year 140 banks failed in the US, with another 20 this year. The FDIC Chairwoman, Shella Bair says this pace …
The U.S. government has removed the US $400 billion dollar cap and extended support to 2012 for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in preparation for the second wave. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac together guarantee almost half of all mortgages in the USA. The timing of the announcement, done during …
The price earnings ratio or PE is a gauge of a stock’s valuation. The higher the PE ratio the more overvalued a stock or share is. Below is a chart of the average PE ratio for the S&P500 (an indice of 500 large cap stocks listed on the NYSE and …
While U.S. unemployment has hit a 26 year high of 9.8%, spare a thought for young Americans aged between 16 and 24 who are not studying – more than half are unemployed. The New York Times reports for this group, getting a job and moving out of the family home …
While economists were only expecting the lost of 180,000 jobs in the U.S., figures just released show in September 263,000 payroll jobs were axed, pushing U.S. unemployment up to a 26 year high of 9.8%. » U.S. job losses accelerate to 263,000 in September – Market Watch, 2nd October 2009.
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