Wolf Richter

German Economy Wobbles Between Shrinkage And Stagnation, Stocks Soar

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Since 2012, German economic growth has been back where it was when Germany was called the “Sick Man of Europe.” Only this time, Germany has been anointed the model economy for others to follow and admire.

Hang On Tight: ‘Merger Monday,’ Which Died in 2008, Is Back

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I thought we’d never see “Merger Monday” again, the concept. But now, the unthinkable happened, the zombie phrase has walked back into the scene. Like in the bubble days of 2007: the big numbers were there, the deal exuberance, the craziness, the hoopla.

The Magic for Our Hapless Renters

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Prices for housing have jumped and rents have jumped too, yet the 38.7 million renters, 34% of all households, watched with dismay as their real wages declined.

Lies, Damned Lies, and Banks: Deutsche Bank’s Whitewash Of “Senior Management”

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Germany has its own JP Morgan, mired in a swamp of sordid scandals, investigations, lawsuits, and fines. Now a letter by the banking regulator was leaked that blasts Deutsche Bank’s internal investigation of the rate rigging scandal as a senior management whitewash.

But Wait … The PC Industry Hopes That It Hasn’t Lost Hope Yet

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Signs of the entire industry in a heap of trouble are everywhere. Rumors just bubbled up that Dell would axe 25% of its global sales staff – over 9,000 souls. HP is sacking 34,000. PC shipments, including laptops, have been awful for three years in a row.

Lousy Jobs Data: Five Years Of QE Fail, Yet Fig Leaf For Taper

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Today’s employment report is special. Exactly five years ago, the Fed kicked off its zero interest rate policy and QE to create the “wealth effect”: the elite would borrow for free and buy assets to drive up asset prices and make those people immensely rich; in return, they’d spend some crumbs of this new wealth, which would create jobs, say, at luxury retailers.

China CLOBBERS The US In Auto Sales, Becomes GM’s Nirvana (Unless You Have To Breathe)

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The air in China can get so bad that the whole world talks about it. Though the government is taking the issue seriously and is doing a million things to get the fiasco under control, it remains unclear what exactly people will breathe ten years from now.

Plagued By Indigestion, Fed Issues Asset-Bubble Warning

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Hidden in the middle of the 25-page minutes of the last meeting, under the most wooden and convoluted prose, the Fed issued a doozie of a warning: it fretted about financial stability. It named soaring forward P/E ratios, stock buybacks, margin credit, and leveraged loans.

The Piranha of Portugal: Greatest Counterfeiter Ever (Or: Any Difference Between Keynesianism And Counterfeiting?)

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Bryan Taylor, Ph.D., Chief Economist, Global Financial Data: The new US $100 bill is out, as you may have seen this holiday season. Our dear old Uncle Ben is a technological wonder with a dozen different anti-counterfeiting devices on it. Since there are more $100 bills circulating outside of the United States than inside, the…