Total Household Net Worth As A Percent Of GDP 4Q 2013

The following chart is from the CalculatedRisk blog post of March 6, 2014 titled “Fed’s Q4 Flow of Funds:  Household Net Worth at Record High.” It depicts Total Household Net Worth as a Percent of GDP.  The underlying data is from the Federal Reserve’s Z.1 report, “Financial Accounts of the United States“ : (click on chart to enlarge image)   …

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St. Louis Financial Stress Index – March 6, 2014 Update

On March 28, 2011 I wrote a post (“The STLFSI“) about the St. Louis Fed’s Financial Stress Index (STLFSI) which is supposed to measure stress in the financial system.  For reference purposes, the most recent chart is seen below.  This chart was last updated on March 6, incorporating data from December 31,1993 to February 28, …

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Recession Probability Models

There are a variety of economic models that are supposed to predict the probabilities of recession. While I don’t agree with the methodologies employed or probabilities of impending economic weakness as depicted by the following two models, I think the results of these models should be monitored. Please note that each of these models is …

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March 4 Gallup Poll Results On Economic Confidence – Notable Excerpts

On March 4, 2014 Gallup released the poll results titled “Economic Confidence Unchanged in February.”  The subtitle is “Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index remains at -16.” Notable excerpts include: Gallup’s Economic Confidence Index was -16 for the month of February, the same as in January. February marked the end of consecutive monthly increases in economic confidence after …

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The S&P500 Vs. The Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index – March 4, 2014

Starting on May 3, 2010 I have written posts concerning the notable divergence that has occurred between the S&P500 and Chinese (Shanghai Composite) stock markets. The chart below illustrates this divergence; it shows the S&P500 vs. the Shanghai Composite on a daily basis, since 2006: (click on chart to enlarge image)(chart courtesy of StockCharts.com; chart creation and annotation by …

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U.S. Dollar Decline – March 3, 2014 Update

U.S. Dollar weakness is a foremost concern of mine.  As such, I have extensively written about it.  I am very concerned that the actions being taken to “improve” our economic situation will dramatically weaken the Dollar.  Should the Dollar substantially decline from here, as I expect, the negative consequences will far outweigh any benefits.  The negative impact of a substantial …

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