by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Fed Lying About QE, Media Not Paying Attention
Since the introduction of QE 3, honest-looking Fed chairman Bernanke told the Wall-Street media circus after each FOMC meeting that the money-printing binge in the coming month would expand the Fed’s balance sheet by $85 billion. A fact cited worldwide. And a big lie.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Mind-Game Of “Fixing” Europe’s Big Zombie Banks
Danièle Nouy, chair of the ECB’s newfangled bank regulator that doesn’t exist yet, had a term for it: “do whatever has to be done” so that the banking sector “is seen as sound and safe and transparent.” Is seen as…. Smoke and mirrors.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “Foreclosure Rebound Pattern”: Foreclosures SUDDENLY Jump 57% in California (And Soar In Much Of The Country)
The cynic in me says the dizzying jump in foreclosure starts in January in much of the country, after years of sharp and consistent declines, must be some kind of data problem. Maybe RealtyTrac’s computers got hacked, or something. But that’s wishful thinking.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on No Crisis? France’s Private Sector In Deeper Trouble Than In 2009
His US visit might give the French President the boost he sorely needs at home, because at home, things are getting mired down. The economy shriveled or had no growth in five of the last eight quarters. The dominant government sector is well, but businesses are failing in record numbers.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on California MUST Have Magnificent, Endless Bubbles in Housing, Stocks, And IPOs – Or Go Broke Again
My beloved state of California, whose $2 trillion economy is the eight largest in the world ahead of Italy and Russia, has a new problem: it’s awash in cash. It’s projecting multi-billion dollar surpluses for years to come. The feeding frenzy in Sacramento is a sight to behold.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on IPO Highflyer Hits Sidewalk After Smart Money Bails Out
The IPO scene is sizzling: 25 pre-IPO startups, dogged by puny revenues and hefty losses, have “valuations” from $1 billion to $10 billion. But post-IPO debacles, even in the immensely hyped Cloud and Big Data sector, are already hitting the sidewalk.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Why My BS-O-Meter Redlined In The Minimum-Wage War
“There is never a good time to raise the minimum wage,” explained Joseph Sabia, an associate professor of economics at San Diego State University. The Capitol Hill briefing was co-sponsored by the Employment Policies Institute, which is tied to the fast-food industry.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Stinking Corporate Revenues, Desperately Doctored Earnings-Per-Share
Last quarter was tough on large US corporations – those in the S&P 500 index. Unperturbed, the index soared all year. But its 343 companies that have reported so far have exposed the ugly underbelly of the worldwide economy: revenue “growth.”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on I’ve Hammered On Japan’s Fiscal Nightmare, Abenomics, TEPCO, And Debacles… But There’s More To Japan
Dear Readers, friends, traders, gladiators, hard-working guys dreaming of retirement…. My personal relationship with Japan goes back to 1996, so here’s something different, something that isn’t cynical and harsh and dark, but appreciative and I hope enjoyable.
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German High Court Blows Up Euro, Says ‘Oh Wait,’ Abdicates
The ECB’s money-printing and bond-buying promise, lovingly dubbed Outright Monetary Transactions, became the bailing wire and duct tape that has kept the Eurozone together to this day. Turns out, it’s illegal under the EU treaties and unconstitutional in Germany.
