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"Sales of new single-family houses in January 2011 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 284,000, according to estimates released jointly today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is 12.6 percent (±11.2%) below the revised December rate of 325,000 and is 18.6 percent (±15.4%) below the January 2010 estimate of 349,000. The median sales price of new houses sold in January 2011 was $230,600; the average sales price was $260,300. The seasonally adjusted estimate of new houses for sale at the end of January was 188,000. This represents a supply of...

The week of Sept. 15, 2008, was a debacle of huge proportions. On Monday, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy while other lending institutions lined up like dominoes teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But the week was hardly over. On Thursday, an electronic run on the banks occurred. In an unprecedented move, the Treasury and the Federal Reserve had to act together to stop what had become a full-fledged panic. On Saturday, Sept. 20, The Wall Street Journal recounted events of that previous Thursday:

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department will propose on Monday that Congress give the Federal Reserve broad new authority to oversee financial market stability, in effect allowing it to send SWAT teams into any corner of the industry or any institution that might pose a risk to the overall system. The proposal is part of a sweeping blueprint to overhaul the nation’s hodgepodge of financial regulatory agencies, which many experts say failed to recognize rampant excesses in mortgage lending until after they set off what is now the worst financial calamity in decades.

SynopsisIs the United States bankrupt? Many would scoff at this notion. Others would argue that financial implosion is just around the corner. This paper explores these views from both partial and general equilibrium perspectives. It concludes that countries can go broke, that the United States is going broke, that remaining open to foreign investment can help stave off bankruptcy, but that radical reform of U.S. fiscal institutions is essential to secure the nation’s economic future. The paper offers three policies to eliminate the nation’s enormous fiscal gap and avert bankruptcy: a retail sales tax, personalized Social Security, and a globally...

FIAT and CREDIT – “The coming Financial Holocaust�   By Nigel Maund June 1, 2006   clivemaund.com Setting the Scene This article builds on earlier essays by the writer based on a similar theme. However, as the reader will see, this gold boom cycle will be like none before it, and, as is often the case in human affairs, events of the past, whilst similar in outline, may differ significantly from presently unfolding events. To quote Winston Churchill, they are "variants on a familiar theme". That theme is determined by repetition of man's own inherent weaknesses: lust, greed and...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed on Monday as investors' focus shifted from positive earnings to a report that President Bush has picked his top economic adviser Ben Bernanke to succeed Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Falling crude oil prices lifted energy shares like Exxon Mobil Corp. , which helped boost both the blue-chip Dow average and the broad Standard & Poor's 500. Exxon Mobil was up 1.6 percent at $56.26 on the New York Stock Exchange. According to a knowledgeable source, Bush was likely to pick Bernanke, 51, a Fed governor who became a top White House adviser last...

Home  l  Broadcast  l  Market Monitor  l  Top 10  l  Storm Watch  l  Sitemap  l  About Us Today's WrapUp by Tim W. Wood 08.13.2004  Mon   Tue   Wed   Thu   Fri   Archive THE DOW REPORT The Global Bear I have maintained that according to Dow theory, the rally out of the October 2002 low has been a giant “Secondary Reaction?which will likely serve to separate Phase I from Phase II of this great bear market. The sad thing is that few truly realize or believe that we are actually in a bear market. As you should all know from previous writings,...

Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan At a symposium sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Jackson Hole, Wyoming August 29, 2003Monetary Policy under Uncertainty Uncertainty is not just an important feature of the monetary policy landscape; it is the defining characteristic of that landscape. As a consequence, the conduct of monetary policy in the United States at its core involves crucial elements of risk management, a process that requires an understanding of the many sources of risk and uncertainty that policymakers face and the quantifying of those risks when possible. It also entails devising, in light of...