Europe’s Sovereign Debt Crisis

The collpase of stocks in Europe today shows that the European bank crisis over sovereign debt is deteriorating quickly.   When the debt-ceiling deal was announced, the stock market sold off.   The market understood that the deal was one more can kicked down a road filled with cans.   I sold some really good stocks before they dropped further.   [...]

Firing Government Workers to Pay Retired Workers’ Pensions

“Nearly half of Costa Mesa city employees get layoff notices.” In a dramatic move, the government laid off 217 of 472 workers.

157 Banks Failed in 2010

In 2010, 157 banks failed. These banks had $92 billion in assets. I predicted in January 2010 that 150 would fail. Given the liquidity that the Fed has dumped into the financial, for 2011, I predict that only 100 banks will fail. Meanwhile, the FDIC is vigorously enforcing the Community Reinvestment Act . In January, [...]

Bank Failures Reach 151 for the Year

I predicted in January that 150 banks would fail. The number reached 151 on Friday when Earthstar Bank of Pennsylvania fell to earth and Paramount Bank of Michigan failed. Neither was particularly large. There may be closures next Friday, but after that, given the holidays, I expect no closures.

Add Unfunded State and Municipal Pensions to the Debt Burden

Yesterday the NY Times published “Accounting for Pensions” by Floyd Norris, an outstanding business writer. The unfunded pension liabilities for states may be $3 trillion, and $600 billion for municipalities. No one knows, since governmental accounting for pensions doesn’t require the disclosures that corporations must make.

Bank failures reach 149 for the year

First Banking Center, Burlington, WI, Allegiance Bank of North America, Bala Cynwyd, PA and Gulf State Community Bank, Carrabelle, FL all failed yesterday, bringing the total of bank failures for the year to 149. This is the first failure of a Pennsylvania bank this year, but number 28 for Florida, showing the continuing real estate [...]

An easy CPI calculator between two dates

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has a webpage with a very easy-to-use inflation calculator. The two-bedroom home we bought in 1974, adjusted for inflation, would now be selling at $81,177. The gasoline that cost 26 cents in 1967 would be $1.70 now. go see if your salary is keeping up with inflation.

Investing While the Fed Devalues the Dollar

This past week, the Fed began a $600 billion plan for a second round of “quantititative easing.” “Quantitative easing” is Fedspeak for “printing money.” This further proves that the Fed is devaluing the dollar and stimulating an inflationary environment. I suspect that the Fed is relying solely on mathematical models, and ignoring history. History says [...]

Another seven banks failed today: 139 banks failed so far this year

139 banks failed so far this year.

FDIC “Problem” Banks At New High of 829 Institutions

The number of problem banks hit a new high, 829. This is in spite of the number of institutions dropping from 7,934 to 7,830 as institutions merged or were closed. Maybe the rate of increase is slowing.