Woke up in a chilly Key West this morning. Well chilly for here, at 58 F. Some excellent articles have hit my inbox the past couple of days. I thought I would share some of the not -to-be-missed ones here. Enjoy.
- Why Wall Street should stop whining, by the always insightful and necessarily irreverent, Matt Taibbi
- Who is Buying This Market?
- The insiders are selling heavily
- The world’s losing its workers. How will we compete?
- Europe is now deliberately trying to push Greece out
- Toronto real estate: why home is where the hurt is
- Markets, Murmurations, and Machines
- Dividend stocks: buyer beware
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The “world’s losing its workers” article article really just says that, with declining population growth, the problem of unemployment will go away and wages will rise. Sure, the retirement age needs eventually to go up a few years (or maybe we’ll just have to stop keeping people in school so long), to help cope with the labour shortage, and we’ll want to take advantage of technology to increase productivity. There are many good comments on the Globe and Mail site where the article is posted.
Most interesting article I’ve seen all week is…
Why Is Gasoline Consumption Tanking?
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogfeb12/gasoline-tanking02-12.html
This EIA graph shows the same monthly total gasoline sales volume drop a bit differently. Hard to believe but US gasoline sales are HALF of what they were in June 2007, and dropping like a rock. How can the US not be in a recession?
Refiner Motor Gasoline Sales Volumes
(select the “Motor Gasoline” check box and then click the “Graph” button)
http://www.eia.gov/beta/dnav/pet/pet_cons_refmg_d_nus_VTR_mgalpd_m.htm
Don’t worry, once the mega crash comes. Housing will get a 50% haircut! Plus there will be a surplus of workers.
Nice articles, especially the one about Toronto real estate and the couple ‘desperately wanting a home like her parents had’. Boo-hoo. This is now, not then. The low hanging fruit has all been plucked. Now you had either 1) Get a ladder and climb up high and pick whats left (and not rotten) or 2) Just wait it out for the inevitable price drops to come. Thats right. WAIT. Patience and prudence.
As for Hulberts MW article? He might want to take a look at Spirit Airlines SAVE out of Miami. Kind of like a Caribbean Southwest Air. Or even Westport Innovations WPRT out of Vancouver, a company heavily involved in natural gas engines for not only cars, but trucks and now trains. The future beckons, and its up to you to understand it and capitalize on it. The sky is not falling Mark, (sorry).
How JP Morgan And George Soros Ended Up With MF Global Customer Money
http://www.clearingandsettlement.com/2012/01/how-jp-morgan-and-george-soros-ended-up-with-mf-global-customer-money/