4Q Corporate Revenues

I have been looking at the revenue figures posted for a variety of diversified manufacturers and distributors.  These are well-respected, S&P500 firms. One would expect these firms to be posting decent revenue gains, especially as compared to the very weak year-ago period (4Q2008).  Additionally, these firms stand to benefit from the prevailing economic climate due …

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The State of the Union Address – A Few Comments

I found plenty of noteworthy comments in last night’s State of the Union Address.   Here is the link to the transcript: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-state-union-address Here are a couple of my thoughts: First, many stimulus initiatives were mentioned.  Some of these were new ideas.  That stimulus ideas are proliferating should not be a surprise, as many in …

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Roubini Interview Concerning Bubbles

Here is a link to an interview today with Nouriel Roubini in which he discusses bubbles: http://www.cnbc.com/id/35078010 I would argue against those who believe that bubbles could start to form or that they are just beginning to form.  I strongly believe that there are many bubbles in existence right now, and the implications of such …

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Article On Strategic Defaults

I ran across this article from U.S. News & World Report, dated 1/19/10 concerning “strategic defaults”: http://www.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/real-estate/articles/2010/01/19/strategic-defaults-and-the-foreclosure-crisis.html The article is interesting in that it summarizes various facets of the “strategic default” situation and presents an interesting example of the dynamics that one “underwater” homeowner faces.  I have mentioned “strategic defaults” on numerous occasions.  It is a very important “wildcard” …

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Political Volatility

Over the last few years the political scene has become more volatile, swinging from heavily Republican to heavily Democratic.  Now, it appears as if the political volatility is increasing yet again, with the recent election of Scott Brown and the unexpected hurdles Ben Bernanke is facing during his reconfirmation.  Many incumbents (and political appointees) who until recently seemed …

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The Global Economic Situation

On this blog, I have maintained a focus on the U.S. economy.  I have done so for a variety of reasons, many of which are explained in this June 21 2009 post: https://www.economicgreenfield.com/2009/06/21/the-global-economic-future/ Additionally, from a practical perspective, from a time standpoint it would be prohibitive to attempt to comment on all global economic affairs that I consider relevant. …

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My Thoughts On Our Current Economic Situation

I would like to provide an overall update as to my thoughts on our current economic situation. My blog post of September 1, 2009 summarizes my current thoughts well.  It can be found here: https://www.economicgreenfield.com/2009/09/01/are-we-going-into-a-depression/ Many of my concerns and reasons for such an outlook have been expressed in this blog.  Of course, over the last …

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The January Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey

Here is the link to the latest (January) Wall Street Journal Economic Forecast Survey: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704363504575002700724430016.html As seen in the survey details, there hasn’t been much change in expectations concerning full-year 2010 GDP or the Unemployment Rate for many months.  The average expectation is for a full-year GDP of 3.0% and Unemployment Rate for December 2010 of 9.5%. …

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The US Dollar – A Few Comments

On December 17, I commented on the US Dollar, especially in the context of the US Dollar carry trade.  Today, I would like to make a few overall comments about the US Dollar.  Here is a weekly chart of the US Dollar from 2000, with the MACD and CCI indicators shown above the price plot: Chart courtesy …

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Three Unemployment Charts

Occasionally, I have posted charts concerning unemployment.  With Friday’s unemployment release, here are three charts that I find noteworthy: First, from the St. Louis Fed site, the Median Duration of Unemployment.  Second, from the CalculatedRisk blog of 1/8/10, Unemployed Over 26 Weeks: http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/ Third, again from the CalculatedRisk blog of 1/8/10 – I like this chart …

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