TOP
STORIES:
Student Debt a 'Roadblock' for Wider Economy: Report - (www.cnbc.com) Crushing student debt is not only killing
dreams, it's hurting the broader economy. The Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) is warning of the "potential domino effects" to the
economy of high student debt. A just-released report from the consumer watchdog
highlights the ways this debt can deplete savings, limit spending, and shape
choices about a graduate's career path and where to live. "College can
open up many opportunities, and we do not want that college degree to become
more of a burden than a blessing for those saddled with unmanageable debt in a
tough employment market," said CFPB director Richard Cordray in a
statement. "So we are concerned that unmanageable student loan debt may be
harmful to recovering consumer markets and may be dragging down borrowers'
lives." The average amount of student loan debt for the Class of 2011 was
$26,600, a 5 percent increase from approximately $25,350 in 2010, according to
The Project on Student Debt.
Investors
Rediscovering Margin Debt - (online.wsj.com)
Small investors are borrowing
against their portfolios at a rapid clip, reaching levels of debt not seen
since the financial crisis. The trend—driven by a combination of rising stock
values and rock-bottom interest rates—is sparking a growing debate among market
watchers. To some, this trend in so-called margin debt is a sign of investors'
increasing confidence in a bull market for stocks that has already lifted the
Dow Jones Industrial Average 15.1% in 2013. But to others it is a warning sign
that the Federal Reserve's easy-money policies are creating a bubble mentality
among stock investors. As of the end of March, the most recent data available,
investors had $379.5 billion of margin debt at New York Stock Exchange member
firms, according to the Big Board. That is just shy of the record $381.4
billion in margin debt set in July 2007.
Realtors
charge $50 to view $5M house (ca.finance.yahoo.com)
The listing says it all: At almost $5
million, it's an exceptionally rare and highly-coveted Toronto Beach-area home
with direct waterfront access on an acre of land. There's a two-floor guest
house and a wrap-around porch and much, much more. Just as rare is the section
that reads, "$50 Charitable Donation Required/Accepted Prior To Showing
Payable To SickKids Foundation. Receipt Will Be Provided." The idea
is to keep the gawkers away, said Dagmara Lulek, the Royal LePage listing
agent, who along with Vito Doria proposed the idea to the owner. Since
the owner prefers a non-traditional viewing of the house, agents and their
interested clients have been asked to make donations to browse the property at
1 Fallingbrook Rd. The money will go to SickKids, a not-for-profit children's
charity. "This is somebody's home. We can't have people coming through the
home just to be curious," says Lulek.
The Great Housing
Trade Part 2. Featuring the Vegas Debacle - (www.mhanson.com) Like so many other epic
bubble years’ housing market explosion epicenters, Las Vegas real estate caught
fire again pushing prices up 30% YoY vs the 10% national average. This
statement alone should raise a plethora of red flags to anybody remotely familiar
with the sector. But to new-era residential housing “investors”, who have
serious selective, mid, and long-term memory ‘challenges, this is what a
“housing market recovery” looks like this time around. I beg to differ. That’s
because there is little about the past year of ‘better’ housing market
data that is rooted in economic fundamentals(things that drive “durable housing
market expansion). It’s not like house sales volume, rents, jobs,
or income is surging. It’s not like supply is so ‘low’ because demand is
surging; rather, it’s because 6 million units of supply headed for market
was rented back to its’ legacy owners by the banks and gov’t in the form of
mods; several states made it virtually illegal to foreclose; and
foreclosure timelines were being stretched out 15 days for every 30 that
passed. But besides all that, taken in the context of “post-crash” the
past year of data are “underwhelming” especially relative to consensus opinion,
sentiment, and periods prior to 2007. That’s because this
market is structurally broken. It lacks the fundamentals horsepower imperative
to a “durable” housing market recovery. And without the
fundamentals in the drivers’ seat, the past year of housing market activity is
more closely akin to a stock market “short squeeze” than anything else.
All
Empires Crash Soon After They Reach Their Peak (www.ritholtz.com) Thomas Edison said, “Dissent
is the highest form of patriotism.” And because I love my country,
I frequently criticize America’s shortcomings in the hopes of making her
better. But the truth is that the United States is not unusual … it is just
like all other empires which have hit their peak and then quickly crashed. We noted in 2008: Political
insider and veteran reporter Kevin Phillips has documented that every major
empire over the past several hundred years has undergone a predictable cycle of
collapse, usually within 10 to 20 years of its peak power. The indications are
always the same:
- The
financialization of the economy, moving from manufacturing to speculation;
- Very
high levels of debt;
-
Extreme economic inequality;
– And
costly military overreaching.
We wrote in 2009: In
2000, America was described as the sole remaining superpower – or even the
world’s “hyperpower”. Now we’re in real trouble (at the very least, you have to
admit that we’re losing power and wealth in comparison with China).
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