If the housing market is rolling over, as the latest
e-letter from John Mauldin argues, and as the current scorecards for the housing market at
Hanley Wood Market Intelligence suggest, then why has the index of housing stocks (HGX) risen for 6 straight sessions, and why did it close the week at the 84th percentile of its daily closes over the past 12 months?
A
speech by Fed chief Bernanke and a
higher than expected increase in February's core PPI seemed to re-ignite fears of more aggressive Fed tightening. Market breadth was once again very poor, with advancers-decliners on the NYSE at -1484. Small caps, biotechs, homebuilders, and precious metal stocks were among the day's worst performers.
There was no point in Bernanke's speech where a reader could go "Aha! 5% Fed funds rate by June is a done deal." The speech was a rather dry analysis of the yield curve, with Bernanke re-iterating his view that a fall in longer term yields resulting from a decline in the term premium could signal strength in the economy and the need for a firm monetary policy, while a decline that resulted from a belief in prospective economic weakness would require a much differ
March 22 2006 at 2006-04-04 01:40:35An Era of Protectionism?Stephen Roach
writes about the "three senators in Beijing" (Schumer, Graham, and Coburn), co-sponsors of a bill which would impose 27.5% tariffs on all Chinese imports into the US unless there was an RMB currency revaluation of a like amount. When Schumer told Roach that the tariff bill would help boost US savings, Roach said he nearly choked on his watermelon. Before he could ask Schumer a follow-up however, the senior Senator from NY was off to the nearest set of microphones and cameras. (Someone once said the most dangerous place in Washington was between Schumer and a TV camera.) Roach wrote an opinion piece on the issue in China Daily titled
Trade Frictions Result of US Savings Shortfall.
"...Thanks to China, America actually got a rather extraordinary deal
