ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
September 9, 2024 | What’s Your Plan?
Last week, the two-year US Treasury bond yield (3.654%) closed below the ten-year yield (3.716%), making for a +.062% spread and the first upward-sloping curve for these yields since July 2022. The re-steepening of Treasury yield spreads after months of inversion has historically proven to be a reliable warning of economic contraction, accelerating unemployment, and […]
September 4, 2024 | Recession Warning in Wine, Watches, Art and Yields
Fine wine prices have tumbled back to the pandemic lows of 2020 due to falling consumption, globally. Fine wine prices are decreasing sharply amid rising inventories and low demand for some of the most expensive wine #MacroEdge pic.twitter.com/qzuVSh3ixd — MacroEdge (@MacroEdgeRes) September 3, 2024 Are consumers struggling financially or realizing that alcohol is toxic for […]
September 3, 2024 | Why Are So Many Canadian Real Estate Developments Going Bust?
Over the last year, more than 200 real estate developments in Canada became insolvent. Andrew Chang explains why, at a time of high demand for housing, a growing number of projects are falling through. Here is a direct video link.
August 30, 2024 | Disappointing Demand is Dominant Theme
One after another, consumer-driven sectors are warning of tumbling demand amid still inflated prices and the highest real interest rates in 17 years. Although mortgage rates have fallen year-to-date, auto and home sales have continued to slump, with buying conditions the worst in decades (U of Michigan Home buying conditions below since 2000, courtesy of […]
August 29, 2024 | Hunt: Economic Review and Outlook August 2024
In this episode, Dr. Hunt explains that non-farm payrolls overshot by five standard errors, making it the worst miss since a 9 standard one for 2009, during the GFC recession, and marking another bureaucratic failure. According to Dr. Hunt, the reported overshoot of 818,000 was based on an internal seasonally adjusted series, but based on […]
August 28, 2024 | China Ramps up Exports to Offset Weakness at Home
As China’s real estate bubble continues to implode, the government has directed Chinese banks to shift lending from real estate to Chinese industry, including manufacturing firms. At the same time, 99% of publicly listed Chinese companies now disclose some form of government subsidy, according to the Kiel Institute, a German think tank. China is spending […]
August 27, 2024 | Fed Cuts in Response to Weakening Employment
Rosenberg Research President David Rosenberg joins ‘Squawk on the Street’ to discuss his economic models, what’s happening in today’s economy, and much more. Here is a direct video link. The 21.3% increase in US unemployment since 2022 is a degree of change only seen during the past 12 recessions since 1948. But, sure, maybe this time […]
August 24, 2024 | ‘Easy Money’ Boom to Bust
The same ‘easy money’ policies that enabled excessive spending and mal-investment in real estate fuelled a boom and bust now unfolding in the venture capital and start-up space, as well. This has broader implications for asset prices, lenders, investment, jobs and the economy at large. See, Start-up failures rise 60% as founders face hangover from the […]
August 23, 2024 | About That: Record Developer Insolvencies in Canada
Over the last year, more than 200 real estate developments in Canada became insolvent. Andrew Chang explains why, at a time of high demand for housing, a growing number of projects are falling through. Here is a direct video link.
August 22, 2024 | Toronto Condos Aren’t Selling
Mortgage rates are historically average today, but too high prices and insufficient household income levels remain a problem. Welcome to a buyer’s market without buyers. Condo sales in the GTA are down, according to the latest data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board, but the number of condos on the market is up. With […]
August 21, 2024 | Extreme Over-Valuations Suggest Years of Negative Returns
At 35x the average of the past decade’s earnings, adjusted for inflation, the S&P 500 basket of stocks is the third most expensive since 1871 (CAPE, in blue below, versus long-term interest rates in red, courtesy of Shillerdata.com). It is pricier than at the 1929 secular peak and more than twice the long-term median of 16x […]
August 20, 2024 | Lucid Motors CTO Rawlinson on the Evolution of Electric Vehicles
Bloomberg Radio host Barry Ritholtz speaks to Peter Rawlinson, chief executive officer, chief technology officer and member of the board of directors at Lucid Motors Inc., where he is responsible for the company’s strategy and execution, as well as the creation and delivery of all Lucid products. Before Lucid, Peter was vice president of vehicle […]
August 16, 2024 | Pandemic Era Wealth Mirage Has Evaporated for Most
Stocks cheered yesterday on news that US households further eroded their savings in July, increasing retail sales by 1% while the average weekly earnings contracted by .1%. Year over year, retail sales volumes are running -.3% and full-time employment -.4%. Costco and Walmart are the best-performing retail companies. Everyday discounters are some of the few […]
August 15, 2024 | Recession to Slow Inflation and Spike Unemployment
Nancy Lazar, Piper Sandler global chief economist, joins ‘Money Movers’ to discuss whether Tuesday’s economic data changes any of the economists’ forecasts, whether the Federal Reserve has room to focus on its employment mandate, and more. Here is a direct video link. Also, see, Investors return to bonds as recession fears stalk markets: Investors are piling back […]
August 13, 2024 | Canadian Real Estate Company Insolvency Outpacing Great Financial Crisis
From January to May this year, there was an average of 20 real estate, rental or leasing insolvencies in Canada every month where companies either sought bankruptcy protection or filed creditor proposals. At this pace, Canada is on track to reach about 240 corporate real estate insolvencies in 2024, which would be 57% more than in 2023 […]
August 7, 2024 | Luxury Condo Sells for 21 Percent Loss
According to the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average sale price for all property types in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) dropped to $1.106 million in July. On a month-over-month basis, the price fell by 4.7% from June. On the supply side, new listings rose 18.5%, and the sales-to-new listings ratio was […]
August 6, 2024 | Canada’s Financial Hell Paved with Good Intentions
As interest rates fell from 1980 to 2020, the average Canadian home price increased 746% from $67k to $566k, while the median household income rose about half that rate (400%) from $21,252 in 1980 to $84,000 by 2020 (table courtesy of Nerd Wallet). The average Canadian home price rose from about 3x the median household income […]
July 31, 2024 | Inflated Prices Increasingly Weigh
Policymakers and economies face a similar challenge globally. After the 2008 meltdown, short-term rates were intentionally suppressed to incentivize credit growth and consumption at the expense of savers and productivity-improving investments. Now, we are paying the longer-term costs of those short-term focused choices. As debt and unaffordability weigh on spending and employment, excess capacity and […]
July 30, 2024 | Central Banks Easing into a Recession
David Rosenberg, founder and president at Rosenberg Research, and Ed Devlin, founder of Devlin Capital, senior fellow at C.D. Howe Institute. and former head of Canadian portfolio management at PIMCO, join BNN Bloomberg to share their outlook on the economy and the markets. Here is a direct video link.
July 29, 2024 | Danielle on The Jay Martin Show
In this episode of The Jay Martin Show, host Jay Martin sits down with Danielle Park of Venable Park Investment Counsel to explore the current state of the Canadian real estate and bond markets. Danielle provides in-depth insights into how negative yields have driven the Canadian home price bubble, the lagging effects of recent rate […]
July 24, 2024 | Hoisington Q2 Review and Outlook
Hoisington’s Q2 Review and Outlook is now available; see Monetary and Fiscal Extremes. One of several standout charts shows the US Net National Savings Rate since 1929, negative in 2024 for only the second time ever, as the federal budget deficit (dissaving) exceeds the total of household, corporate and foreign savings. Hoisington notes that, as in […]
July 23, 2024 | Canada’s Economy Feels Like a Recession
Canada’s June unemployment rate of 6.4% was up 160 basis points from the cycle low of 4.8% in June 2022. Since the 1970s (as shown below courtesy of RBC), Canada has never had this trough-to-peak rise in the unemployment rate without the economy going through a recession (blue bars). The increase following the 2000-03 dotcom […]
July 22, 2024 | US Recession in Motion?
The US Conference Board of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI Index) declined for a 30th month in June (purple line below since 1959, courtesy of Advisor Perspectives) and is now -14.2% from the cycle peak in December 2021. As shown, since 1959, an LEI contraction of this magnitude has never happened outside of an officially declared recession […]
July 19, 2024 | Electricity Produced by Renewable Power Dramatically Lowers Energy Waste
Electricity generated by renewable power reduces energy waste significantly and, therefore, global power needs. This critical fact is key to understanding the energy evolution unfolding. Fossil fuels still supply 80% of our energy. And people point to this number to say it’s impossible to switch to renewables, especially if we want to do it quick […]
July 18, 2024 | Loan Defaults Confirm Faltering Consumers
In the second quarter of 2024, loan loss provisions at the six largest US banks increased the most since 2020 and car repossessions in June (drivers over 60 days late on payments) rose 23% year over year and were +14% compared to the pre-pandemic first half of 2019. See Car Repossessions Surge 23% as Americans Fall […]