This is a great article from the Economist. It really highlights why the recent recovery is facing significant dangers ahead. The shift from government funded recovery to privately managed recovery is a process that will be extremely difficult to manage.
I think this is a very timely article regarding gold prices and investment returns over the last several decades:
It will be interesting to see if other banks follow suit. The pay czar’s restrictions on compensation, seems to be the biggest motivator for BofA to find ways to exit its TARP obligations, seeing as it has been unsuccessful at find a new CEO to lead the bank, under the current restrictions.
The current Dubai crisis regarding Dubai World’s inability to pay its debt obligation in a timely manner:
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates dropped to an average of 4.78% this week. 15-year mortgage rates averaged 4.29%. If you have the equity in your house and can refinance, the window of opportunity is still open.
Today the National Association of Realtors released numbers on existing US home sales. It was a surprise to the market, feeding a run-up in equities, with the anticipation that the housing recovery may be a durable one:
Tight bank credit and high unemployment are cited in the article as some of the key reasons the Fed will not raise the Fed Funds target in the near future:
Bill Gross is one of the best bond managers, globally. Here he is on Bloomberg Radio: