11月4日美国大选对未来经济走势的影响
But even when they leave, will things be any different?
Bernanke told us last month, "There is a consensus that even as the personnel change and so going forward, that this is (QE3 and low interest rates) the appropriate approach." He's right.
It doesn't matter who is elected or who plays puppet at the Fed, the end result will be the same:
We're either going to print and inflate, or crash. We are in too deep now and there is no turning back.
住房平均价
sales of new single-family houses in September 2012 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of
389,000, according to estimates released jointly by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This is the highest number since April of 2010.
But just like the recent unemployment numbers, there's a fine print (see Another Record High.)
These numbers were based on a September unadjusted number of 31K in actual sales. This unadjusted number of 31k consisted of
10K homes Not Started, 10K Under Construction, and 11K homes actually completed. What happens if the 10k homes Not Started and the 10k Under Construction never get completed, or payments stop? Doesn't matter, they still count.
In other words, they took the sale of 11k new and completed homes and turned it into an annualized seasonally adjusted number of 389k sales.
But let's play Devil's Advocate.
Let's say those numbers are correct. Let's say that the unemployment numbers from a few weeks ago can be trusted. Assuming the recent surveys are real and conclusive, we should see better numbers everywhere else; because money for housing must come from somewhere, and stronger unemployment numbers must mean there's more hiring. But is there?
The Highest Since 2010
失业率
If unemployment numbers are the best they have been January 2009, then why are "firings", not "hirings," the highest since 2010?
North American companies have announced plans to eliminate more than 62,600 positions at home and abroad since Sept. 1, the biggest two-month drop since the start of 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Firings total 158,100 so far this year, more than the 129,000 job cuts in the same period in 2011.
Here are just some of the massive job cuts:
Colgate-Palmolive Co. will cut 2,300 jobs
5,500 cuts were announced by Dow Chemical, DuPont Co. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) this past week
Hewlett-Packard Co. announced 29,000 cuts in September
Banks are eliminating more than 19,000 positions
AMD, the second-largest maker of processors for personal computers, said last week it will cut 15 percent of its staff, or about 1,665 jobs
Dow Chemical is shutting down about 20 plants in the U.S. and abroad, eliminating about 2,400 jobs
Cummins Inc. said it expects to erase as many as 1,500 jobs by the end of 2012
If there are so many people being fired, where are the jobs coming from? Can someone help answer that? Anyone?
The Merry-Go-Round
Let's talk housing numbers.
If people are losing their jobs, how can they afford new homes?
Because the banks are lending at negative zero interest rates, which means that should translate into more easily affordable housing and a spike in housing demand, of course.
As PIMCO's bond King Bill Gross just tweeted:
"Fed merry-go-round: inflate stocks til 2000. Then inflate housing til 2007. Then inflate stocks til 2012. Now inflate housing again."
But are the banks lending?
The Fed is currently monetizing $40 billion in Mortgage-Backed Securities every month and keeping interest rates as low as possible in a plan to inflate housing. This should, in effect, work; low interest rates and swelling cash reserves causes banks to lend more freely.
So why aren't we seeing this reflected in the housing market?
Let's go back to what happened just a few years ago when the government inflated housing by giving free money to the banks.
The banks did what they were told and lent lots of money out; it led to the housing crash.
As a result, many of the banks were are being sued* because of the same lending policies that were practically forced onto them.
*(Just look at the hundreds of mortgage-related lawsuits against Country Wide and Merrill Lynch (now BofA) and the just announced $1 billion lawsuit against Bank of America by the US)
Count on It
If you can't bet on both housing and employment numbers, then what can you bet on?
QE.
No matter what happens, you can bet more money will be printed. There are already talks that the Fed will decide to expand QE3 to more than $85 billion per month, and with Treasurys instead of MBS. This is expected to be announced at the December meeting.
The U.S. public debt is now well over $16 trillion, which means US Debt-to-GDP, is now 102.94. I've been keeping track of the debt clock for a long time and in December 2009, public debt sat at $12 trillion. That means U.S. public debt has gained more than $1.3 trillion every year.
What About Canadians?
We're not doing much better. Last week, the Bank of Canada released a note stating:
"...the Bank has decided to maintain the target for the overnight rate at 1 per cent. Over time, some modest withdrawal of monetary policy stimulus will likely be required consistent with achieving the 2 per cent inflation target."
The loonie fell four days in a row, the longest losing streak versus its U.S. counterpart since May*.
(This is a good thing for trade, but it won't last.
Soon the U.S. will inflate and the Canadian dollar will bounce back against USD.)
Those who think the housing sector in Canada still has legs are out to lunch and haven't listened to anything I