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Been wondering about that off-the-charts stock market?
Not really.
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/26/2012
"All markets trade their way to Perdition" is how TrimTabs' CEO Charles Biderman concludes a rather clear and factually full exposition of the reason we have gone up and the reality of why a drop is inevitable. Between the outsize number of investment vehicles relative to investable assets, the trend bias that every wealth manager seems stuck with that we will grow our way out of this mess (which Biderman suggests means a long-term rate of 5-10% GDP growth for the US - which seems obviously beyond our reach). He takes on the irony of the Wall Street vs Main Street arguments and warns of the inevitable plunge in the stock market (further believing that the winner of the next election is irrelevant given the cash vs special needs imbalance that exists). The US economy, if marked to market, is broke. Take home pay for all taxpayers is now only $6.2tn, down from $7tn at its peak in 07, and additionally we have created $5tn of new debt since the start of QE1 and owe a PV of $50tn in 'unfunded' liabilities leaving the future looking quite grim in his view. Perdition indeed appears to be looming given the Fed's far from sanguine view of reality.
The housing market data is disquieting for those talking of a break in housing price decline:
2011 New Home Sales Fall To Record Low, Median New Home Price At Lowest Since October 2010
Looks like the earlier analysis that the US is slowly morphing into a second Japan just got even more confirmation. According to the Census Bureau (not NAR data, which we will hence ignore completely due to its consistent bias, error and overall worthlessness) December New Home Sales declined from 321K to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 307K in December, on expectations of a rise to 321K from last month's revised 315K. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis the US sold a whopping 21K homes, the lowest since January 2011, and on par with the lowest on record. What is more troubling is that according to Bloomberg, the 2011 number of 302K sales is the lowest on record. Of these 21K, 5K were not even started. So much for that housing recovery. And also confirming that there is not even a glimmer of hope for the US housing market is that the Median Price for new homes just dropped from $215,700 to $210,300, which is the lowest median price since October 2010. The chart below of pricing trends indicates all that is needed to know which way the housing market is going.
And as to the Greek "Endgame" (not really a metaphor this time)?
Next Steps: Presenting The Definitive Greek End-Game Flow Chart
Submitted by Tyler Durden
01/26/2012
Confused by the Greece situation? Dizzied by the PSI haircuts, retractive CACs, Troika promises, ECB participations, local vs non-local law implications, CDS triggers, and ultimately contagion concerns? Fear no more (just like Jamie Dimon apparently) as Barclays presents the definitive Greek End-Game Scenario decision tree.
Click on the image for a larger view and note that the further we move to the right the more likely contagion becomes a large concern. Of course, the key is not simply Greece but the reaction by Portuguese, Irish, and Spanish politicians at Greece's 'out'.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/next-steps-presenting-definitive-greek-end-game-flow-chart
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