Articles By: Edward Harrison
News Links 02/04/2012
Schneiderman Files Civil Fraud Lawsuit Against Three Major Banks for Use of MERS « naked capitalism New York filed a lawsuit against various units of JP Morgan, Bank of America, Wells, MERSCORP and MERS over their use of MERS in foreclosures. This civil suit alleges that the use of MERS has “resulted in a wide
El-Erian on jobs: Headline bullish but structural issues remain
Bloomberg Television has another video with PIMCO head Mohamed El-Erian, this time on the jobs number. This one number has the potential to set the tone for the short-term because it was so far ahead of consensus estimates. El-Erian cautions about getting to far into the risk-on trade because of the number though as the US still has structural issues. I would add that it is a long way to November and this is just one number. Let’s see how the picture develops
Chart of the day: Labor force participation rate at 30-year low
The jobs data were the best we have seen in a long time and well above expectations. This and the first upward revisions to the annual revisions were a pleasant surprise. While a lot of people are in disbelief because of a present bearish bias, you have to take the numbers for what they are and they are bullish. I still feel that the US economy is at stall speed and expect a second recession by the end of 2013 but I am prepared to upgrade my assessment based on how things proceed. That said, this is just one month’s data in a notoriously noisy month for employment data (See the premium post Jobless claims jump may be seasonality)
[PREMIUM] If you were looking for a reason to be bullish, this jobs report is it
The jobs report has just come out and the numbers are amazingly bullish. This article for subscribed members looks at what the report means.
Chart of the Day: Government Deficits as Far as the Eye Can See
The chart below from the blog Pragmatic Capitalism shows the U.S. Federal government deficit for each quarter since 1952. As you can see, almost the entire period is marked by deficits
With heavy Greek exposure, three largest banks in Cyprus now junk
Cyprus is not an important player on the world’s financial stage but it does bear noting that banking and sovereign debt problems run both wide and deep in the European Union. The latest news underscoring these difficulties comes via Fitch, which has just downgraded the largest banks in Cyprus to below investment-grade status
Auerback: Austerity during recession is equivalent to medieval bloodletting
Here’s a good video performance by Marshall Auerback on BNN’s Business Day program. Marshall thinks the Greek default deal is actually a relatively good one. But sees a Portuguese default after the Greek default as a real possibility and envisions a scenario in which Portugal and Spain look to extract similar terms. Moreover, the quid pro quo for Greece is austerity – and that makes getting debt loads down harder when implemented during a downturn
John Reed on Big Banks and Corporatism
Bill Moyers talks to former Citicorp and Citigroup head John Reed about what’s wrong in the banking sector. John Reed readily acknowledges his role in bringing down the Glass-Steagall Act (Hat tip finance Addict)
More on Banks Making Shed Loads But Fannie And Freddie “Losing Money as a Matter of Policy”
Fannie and Freddie have already been nationalized and the government is already on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars of losses as a result. Clearly, this makes it a lot easier to use the GSEs as vehicles to pump money into the economy because any incremental loss is completely obscured by the existing gargantuan losses. Fannie and Freddie can essentially become a giant stimulus slush fund for the Obama Administration as we head into the 2012 election