Tim Geithner is named the Treasury Secretary

Obama picks Geithner as Treasury Secretary.  I was hoping it was going to be Paul Volcker.  It looks like we are going to continue more of the same policy.

I know he is a smart guy.  But he wanted to save Lehman.  I want a guy who is not worried about letting something fail. 

 

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of HousingDepression.
This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business in any way - such inquiries will not be responded to. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.  We may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog.  The information in blog may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.  It is provided "As IS," without express or implied warranties of any kind.  HD represents all rights to the information.

Technorati Tags     timgeithner,treasury

Weekly Jobless Claims

Weekly Jobless claims rose by 27,000 to 542,000 from a revised 515,000 previous week.  The four week moving average rose to 506,500 from 490,750.

It is about to get worse for the job market.  Especially with Citi laying off 50,000 and other financials laying off more people. 

Equity futures were off on the news.  Two year bonds declined below 1 percent for the first time.  The three month bill is yielding .06 percent.  There is a lot of fear out there. 

 

 

Technorati Tags     weekly,jobless,claims

PPI Falls by a record amount

Deflation?

The headline PPI fell by a record 2.8 percent last month.  The core rate which excludes oil and food prices rose by .4 percent in October. 
The headline inflation fell along with energy prices.  It looks like deflation is showing up in the (headline) numbers.  The only question now is, are we going to jump to the other side of hyper-inflation - especially with the fed pumping all the dollars.  The only problem for the fed is the banks are not lending and individuals are too much in debt already to borrow more.

 

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of HousingDepression.
This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business in any way - such inquiries will not be responded to. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.  We may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog.  The information in blog may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.  It is provided "As IS," without express or implied warranties of any kind.  HD represents all rights to the information.

Technorati Tags     PPI,INflation,deflation,Hyper-INflation

Citi Shedding 50,000 Jobs

Citi is planningto cut another 50,000 jobs.  That would be on top of the 23,000 jobs it has cut already. 

 

The banking giant, Citigroup, which a decade ago set out to rewrite the rules of American finance, announced Monday morning that it would cut 50,000 jobs in the coming quarters, largely by selling assets.

In addition, the bank said that it would trim expenses by 16 percent to 19 percent to about $50 billion in 2009.

....

The cuts would leave the bank with about 300,000 employees, down from its peak of about 375,000 in the fourth quarter of last year.

In addition, according to another report, JP Morgan may be looking to shed about 10% of it's workforce.  That would be about 3,000 jobs.

 

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27755309/

 

 

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of HousingDepression.
This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business in any way - such inquiries will not be responded to. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.  We may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog.  The information in blog may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.  It is provided "As IS," without express or implied warranties of any kind.  HD represents all rights to the information.

Technorati Tags     Jobs,JPMorgan,Citi

Weekly Jobloss and GM

This was yet another grim jobs report.  From Bloomberg:

 

Initial jobless claims increased by 32,000 to a larger- than-forecast 516,000 in the week ended Nov. 8, from a revised 484,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The total number of people on benefit rolls jumped to the highest level since 1983.

``The labor market is only reinforcing a very pessimistic picture,'' Linda Barrington, a labor economist at the Conference Board, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``When you start to see the downward pressure on wages as well as the credit crunch, that's only going to make consumers much more nervous.''

Now if GM were to declare bankruptcy, that would make the jobs number much worse.  But the short term gain would probably be worth the long term benefits.  If the government provides money, it is just extending the death by a few months.  Might as well not waste money and get over with it. 

After all, all three American companies did not innovate and just sold SUVs and other gas guzzlers with 0% financing.  Now, like everyone else, it's too easy to just blame the whole thing on credit crunch and not take the blame.

Like I said previously, I don't think the government will do the right thing.  It's easy for them to blow tax payer money away then take the medication.

 

 

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of HousingDepression.
This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business in any way - such inquiries will not be responded to. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.  We may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog.  The information in blog may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.  It is provided "As IS," without express or implied warranties of any kind.  HD represents all rights to the information.

Technorati Tags     GM,weekly,jobless,claims

Fed to Back GE Debt

Where does all this stop?  We have American Exress becoming a bank holding company so they can borrow from the Fed.  We have GM begging for aid.  AIG borrowing some couple of billion more.  Now, the government will guarantee GE debt. 

WSJ is reporting that GE will paticipate in FDIC's (Not so) Temporary Liquidity Guarantee Program.

The company says the U.S. Government will now guarantee all qualifying GE Capital debt issued from Nov. 14 until June 30, 2009. GE said the government will guarantee up to about $139 billion of long-term debt, commercial paper and other debt programs such as GE Interest Plus. "This does not mean that GE intends to issue this amount of debt," Mr. Wilkerson said

What's another couple of billing between friends?  The list just goes on and on.  It's so bad that $100 billion does not even seem to register anymore. 

Although I know there is no chance, I hope the congress refuses the $350 billion of the TARP.  But knowing our congressmen and congresswomen, they would probably offer another $700 billion for the TARP - as long as GM is eligible for it. 

At this point, all these companies seem to be sinking even as they are getting more capital.  May be it is better to just let them go down rather than have zombie companies. 

Technorati Tags     GE,Fed,TARP

Bleak Jobs Report

Employers cut 240,000 jobs in October.  And August and Septemeber job loss were revised up by 179,000!  That's loss off 419,000 in this job report!  The unemployment rate rose to 6.5 percent.  That's highest since 1994. 

Despite the job loss the 10 year bond yield (as of now) rose .02 or .54%.  You have to wonder if we will have a slowdown and an increase in interest rates. 

We have been telling you that the how far down housing goes depends on employment and interest rates.  And that it's going to get worse before it gets better.  Well, this report is pretty bleak.  Today I heard on Bloomberg radio (I think Goldman) economicsts are expecting the unemployment rate to rise to 8.5% by next year-end.

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ahUhUD7lCy7s&refer=home

 

 

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The content contained in this blog represents the opinions of HousingDepression.
This commentary in no way constitutes investment advice. It should never be relied on in making an investment decision, ever. Nor are these comments meant to be a solicitation of business in any way - such inquiries will not be responded to. This content is intended solely for the entertainment of the reader, and the author.  We may hold either long or short positions in securities of various companies discussed in the blog.  The information in blog may contain misspellings and other inaccuracies.  It is provided "As IS," without express or implied warranties of any kind.  HD represents all rights to the information.

Technorati Tags     monthly,unemployment