Achuthan: The US will be in recession by the end of next month

Lakshman Achuthan is sticking to his call that the US will enter recession in the second half of 2012. He spoke to CNBC’s Squawk Box crew about it this morning. Take a look

[Premium] Daily commentary: Europe is in a double dip recession

The news from Spain’s statistical agency INE is that the Spanish economy shrank 0.3% in the first quarter of 2011. Spain thus joins ten other Western European economies in recession. None of this should come as a surprise. Given the policy response, I am surprised it took as long as it did to move to recession. I predicted as much fully two years ago

[Premium] Daily commentary: On negative German data surprises

I have been saying that I expect German data to disappoint and come in on the softer side. Why? This post explains

German decoupling is an illusion

The concept of German decoupling from the Eurozone recession may have been wishful thinking. The latest German Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) has converged with that of the Eurozone as a whole. Manufacturing PMI is a closely watched index and tends to be a leading indicator for the GDP. In response, Spain’s 5yr sovereign CDS hit a new record high of 511bp (previous high was 510 on 4/16). The Eurozone is headed for a double dip

The Massendowngrade Effect

Perhaps the main point to take to heart from the events of the last week is the way the recent ECB liquidity measures have apparently been able to stabilise the debt crisis, at least for the time being, even while it is not clear that they will have the same success stabilising the deterioration in the respective real economies

Germany is in recession already with the rest of the euro zone

The eurozone is in a recession right now. And it is the banking sector where downside risk lies. Will the US also double dip? What about China’s faltering housing and stock markets

Footnote 2011: Being cautiously optimistic was right

In January, I wrote my prognosis for 2011. The title was “Cautiously Optimistic Into 2011″. I intend to write another post like this early in 2012 with asset allocation and market calls for the new newsletter. But right now I just want to review the basic outlook I presented.

I had seven major conclusions. Here’s what I said and how well it has stacked up

News Links: Central Banks Take Joint Action

Financial news links for 30 November

More on how post credit bubble fiscal austerity leads to depression

Britain’s economy is a shambles as the negative impact of austerity has been made plain. Now, mind you, it was already clear from a leaked Greek bailout document that expansionary fiscal consolidation has failed in Greece. But now the OECD’s double dip warning for Britain should make this plain to all

Euro Punched Lower by Series of Jabs

What was to be a subdued period in the markets is turning into a rout. There have been a number of poor developments that have sent the US dollar broadly higher and has weighed on the highly correlated risk assets, equities, emerging market and commodities

PIMCO’s Mohamed El-Erian: US recession odds are 50%

Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Chief Executive Officer Mohamed A. El-Erian told Bloomberg TV’s Betty Liu and Dominic Chu this morning that U.S. economic conditions are “terrifying” as the nation struggles to recover from recession. El-Erian also said the odds of the U.S. returning to recession are as high as 50%

Euro Crisis At A Tipping Point?

The European sovereign debt crisis is rapidly approaching what could be a significant tipping point as it threatens to spread to the heart of Europe. In recent days Italian 10-year bond yields have soared to 7.22% and today Spain was forced to pay 6.975% at its auction. Even French 10-year yields have climbed to 3.71%, its widest spread over German bond yields since the Euro Zone was started. All of this has happened despite large ECB purchases of periphery country bonds over the last few months and the installation of technocratic governments in Greece and Italy.

The fear has now spread to the heart of Europe