From the monthly archives:
That headline pretty much sums up the latest “Beige Book” report from the Federal Reserve. If you prefer the full Fed-speak version, click here. I’ll just excerpt the summary below …
“District reports indicate that retail sales were generally weak, particularly during the holiday season. A majority of Districts noted deep discounting during the holiday sales [...]
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That is my personal belief, and also the conclusion of the latest Winter 2009 Economic and Real Estate Trends Report (PDF link) from PMI Mortgage Insurance. The company’s Market Risk Index, which measures the likelihood that prices will fall over the next two years, climbed in 369 out of 381 metropolitan statistical areas in the third [...]
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The evidence of a second real estate crisis — this time, focused on the commercial sector — continues to pile up. According to the following Bloomberg story this morning, the next batch of banking sector earnings reports could be rather ugly …
“Synovus Financial Corp., Comerica Inc. and Huntington Bancshares Inc. are among regional banks that [...]
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Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke just released some comments on the economy, the lending industry, and the credit markets.The first portion of his comments is a recap of his view on the credit bubble …”The proximate cause of the crisis was the turn of the housing cycle in the United States and the associated rise [...]
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The latest figures show construction spending was down, but not out, in the month of November. Total spending declined 0.6% against market expectations for a decline of 1.4%. October’s decline was also revised to just -0.4% from a previously reported drop of -1.2%.
The residential market continues to be a lead anchor, with private residential spending [...]
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