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Strategies & Market Trends : The Epic American Credit and Bond Bubble Laboratory -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (29310)	3/24/2005 12:43:57 PM
From: Skywatcher	Respond to of 110194

Now you're getting the picture...it's biz as usual...sacrifice lives for MONEY~...the west coast refineries will be next just before the summer season to ENSURE highest prices in HISTORY CC

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (29310)	3/25/2005 9:46:05 AM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110194

Some interesting comments on 'The Real Estate Bubble'... maxfunds.com <<...I've owned a mortgage company for the last 12 years. Its been a good run. Whats changed...and what gets mostly glossed over is the steady decline of underwriting standards. 10 Years ago....you had to actually qualify for a loan...put some money down....and have decent credit. IN the last 2-3 years.....ANYONE can get a loan...with NO money down....crappy credit....and NO employment verification. ANYTHING goes. On top of that....Realtors are putting 2-4 thousand dollars into contracts (into the sales price of the home) to pay for closing costs. Appraisers are able to keep substantiating higher prices because people are willing to pay the higher prices because they do not have to take any (or very little) of their own money out of their pockets. Very little of the increase of home prices has to do with REAL value. Its value thats being created by lax underwriting and low rates. IS there a bubble? There is no doubt about it....and its been created by lenders, FNMA, GNMA, and the agencies that oversee them. The end is near...and when it blows.....the financial devastation will be unlike anything ever seen before...>> Posted by: BK at March 24, 2005 09:29 AM

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (29310)	3/28/2005 7:23:18 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 110194

Oil Fuels Beijing's New Power Game yaleglobal.yale.edu

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (29310)	3/31/2005 11:06:44 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 110194

Midwest economy better than expected in March _____________________ Region post 23rd straight monthly expansion March 31, 2005 (Reuters) - Business activity in the U.S. Midwest expanded in March for a 23rd straight month, and at a faster rate than expected, a report showed Thursday. The National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago business barometer rose to 69.2 from 62.7 in February. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. The reading was the highest since 1988. The employment component of the index, which rose to 66.0 from 57.7, was at its highest since 1993. Economists had forecast the index at 61.0, partly owing to weakness in the auto sector, where high inventories and slackening sales had forced carmakers to scale back production plans. ``Those numbers were a little surprising. Evidently capital spending is coming back much stronger than many people realized and that is probably what is behind that strong reading,'' said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wachovia Securities in Charlotte, North Carolina. Treasury debt prices held onto early gains despite the unexpected and sharp rise in the PMI index, with the strong manufacturing figure balanced by muted U.S. inflation data released earlier in the session. The core personal income consumption expenditure price index, the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation measure, rose 0.2 percent in February, as expected, calming concerns that inflation may be accelerating. The prices paid component of the Chicago PMI also was comforting to investors worried about inflation. The index eased to 68.2 in March from 70.1 in February. The dollar pared losses after the data. ``The Chicago PMI ... could bode well for tomorrow's ISM number and tomorrow's employment number for March,'' said Omer Esiner, market analyst at Ruesch International in Washington DC, referring to the national Institute for Supply Management report on the factory sector. ``The Chicago PMI is consistent with a more aggressive pace of policy tightening the market has been pricing in for the past two weeks, and the dollar has shown some strength as a result,'' he said. Lehman Brothers Economists John Shin said his firm was ratcheting up its forecast for the national ISM number to 56 from 55 in light of the Chicago data. A Reuters poll of economists taken last week found a median forecast of 55 for ISM. But Shin said that despite the strong showing from Chicago, there was evidence that activity in the U.S. factory sector would slacken going forward. ``We are a little bit concerned about the factory recovery in terms of how much future action we will get in a higher interest rate environment. Our overall macro outlook is for slower growth in the second half, and we're getting a little softness in the hard numbers, like factory orders, and that is something to watch,'' he said. Data released on Thursday showed that U.S. factory orders rose 0.2 percent in February, less than the 0.5 percent gain expected by Wall Street economists.

To: Jim Willie CB who wrote (29310)	4/1/2005 5:56:06 PM
From: stockman_scott	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 110194

Inflation contained: Fed's Moskow __________________________________ April 01, 2005 (Reuters) U.S. inflation is still ``well contained'' overall despite anecdotal evidence of increased pricing pressures, Chicago Federal Reserve President Michael Moskow said on Friday. It is important to look at slack in the economy when assessing the inflation picture, Moskow said in an interview on CNBC. Moskow said the Fed looks at the economy and data on an ongoing basis as it shapes monetary policy. In that vein, Friday's surprisingly weak March payrolls report is only one month's data, he said, adding that payrolls have been up over the past year. Growth of jobs is important for the U.S. economic recovery to be self-sustaining, and the labor force could see increased participation as jobs become more available, he said. Moskow said relatively low long-term U.S. interest rates are still a puzzle, but less of a ``conundrum'' than a few weeks ago when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan used that term to ponder the state of the market.