1.Financial Times: US house prices are in a double dip that has erased all of their bounce since the recession and threatens to derail a stuttering economic recovery. The S&P/Case-Shiller house price index fell by 4.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, breaking through a 2009 low to hit its weakest level since 2002. House prices are now 33 per cent below their peak in 2006 – a sharper fall than the 31 per cent drop recorded during the Great Depression, according to analysts at Capital Economics.
2.WSJ: For years, China has made it tough for capital to flow to and from its economy, the second-largest in the world. Now, the government in Beijing is forging ahead with a campaign to bring the yuan onto the world stage—and breaches are appearing in that formidable financial barrier. A yuan that's more widely used in international trade and investment could eventually challenge the dollar's supremacy, correct some of the imbalances that plague the Chinese and global economy, and force a profligate U.S. to live within its means. It won't be an easy transition.
3.The only thing keeping America from nationwide job losses last month were the Golden Arches. Contrary to popular belief, McDonald's April hiring binge wasn't counted in the government;s April employment report. Those 62,000 McJobs "created" in the one day HR/publicity stunt are the only reason that America didn't flat out lose jobs according to May's report. That makes the numbers all the more depressing. McDonald's hired more people than the rest of America combined.
4.Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, will leave his position by the end of the summer, marking the latest shake-up in President Barack Obama's economic team. Mr. Goolsbee, who assumed the top job at the economic council last September, will return this fall to his position as a professor at the University of Chicago, the White House announced on Monday.
COMMENT: Looks like the ship is leaking....
5.Russell:Outrageous prices continue to be paid for art, gems and collectibles. A record half a million dollars was paid for 27 bottles of red wine. At a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction three bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild wine sold for $232,000 a bottle or $696,000 for the three bottles. Hey, when you've got a billion dollars that are losing purchasing power every month, what does it matter what you pay for a rarity? So drink up at fifty grand a swallow!
Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill
2.WSJ: For years, China has made it tough for capital to flow to and from its economy, the second-largest in the world. Now, the government in Beijing is forging ahead with a campaign to bring the yuan onto the world stage—and breaches are appearing in that formidable financial barrier. A yuan that's more widely used in international trade and investment could eventually challenge the dollar's supremacy, correct some of the imbalances that plague the Chinese and global economy, and force a profligate U.S. to live within its means. It won't be an easy transition.
3.The only thing keeping America from nationwide job losses last month were the Golden Arches. Contrary to popular belief, McDonald's April hiring binge wasn't counted in the government;s April employment report. Those 62,000 McJobs "created" in the one day HR/publicity stunt are the only reason that America didn't flat out lose jobs according to May's report. That makes the numbers all the more depressing. McDonald's hired more people than the rest of America combined.
4.Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, will leave his position by the end of the summer, marking the latest shake-up in President Barack Obama's economic team. Mr. Goolsbee, who assumed the top job at the economic council last September, will return this fall to his position as a professor at the University of Chicago, the White House announced on Monday.
COMMENT: Looks like the ship is leaking....
5.Russell:Outrageous prices continue to be paid for art, gems and collectibles. A record half a million dollars was paid for 27 bottles of red wine. At a Sotheby's Hong Kong auction three bottles of Chateau Lafite-Rothschild wine sold for $232,000 a bottle or $696,000 for the three bottles. Hey, when you've got a billion dollars that are losing purchasing power every month, what does it matter what you pay for a rarity? So drink up at fifty grand a swallow!
Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm - Winston Churchill
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