The latest CPI numbers show that overall prices increased 0.05%. However, what this fails to acknowledge, and what the rest of us that live here know is that gas prices were up more like 7% in July. But, when we look at the infamous government figures the should be showing an increase of 0.24% vs. […]
Category: Real Estate
The FOMC Meeting And Your Self Directed IRA
The FOMC – Federal Open Market Committee just completed their most recent meeting. They decided to leave interest rates at historic lows. In prior missives we discussed the downsides and negative economic impacts of these low rate. Without re-visiting prior articles, the downsides of such a continued policy is that retirees cannot move funds into […]
Q2 2012 GDP And Your Self Directed IRA
The reported, headline, GDP numbers just came in at 1.5% in the second quarter. This is a major revision downward from 2% in the first quarter of 2012. This brings the overall annual growth rate in at 2.2% versus the previous 2.4% in Q1 2012. Overall these numbers are not statistically significant. In fact, it […]
June Housing Numbers (Corrected) and Your Self Directed IRA
Monthly changes in June home sales showed a decline of 8.4% for new homes, a decline of 5.4% for existing homes. Though large on a monthly basis, in the big scheme of things there numbers were not meaningful. Both numbers continue to show a developed and established pattern of low-level stagnation. Weakness in homes sales […]
June Housing Starts And Its Impact On Your Self Directed IRA
The June 2012 housing starts are out and they show a month-to-month gain of 6.9%. We should note that although that seems a like its a significant number, one number does not make a trend. This means that even though there is an increase of in the number, there are not enough numbers, of any […]
Fed Actions And How To Position Your Self Directed IRA
Mr. Bernanke just appeared in front of congress. What was very clear from his testimony is that the economy is weakening, jobs are not coming back, consumer spending is not materializing. This is clearly comforting. However, what’s ironic is that the markets actually rebounded because the implication is that the Fed will do more of […]
Hyperinflation Watch And Self Directed IRA Portfolios
As a general statement our predictions and outlook for hyperinflation remains unchanged. As we just reported, we are seeing significant signs of economic contraction from retails sales and consumer sentiment. We believe that its a misstatement of fact that the economy actually recovered and that we are now slipping back into recession. We contend the […]
Retail Sales Contraction And The Self Directed IRA
The June 2012 retail sales numbers are out and they show a 0.5% decrease vs. May 2012. This translates into a Q2 decrease of 0.20% which extrapolates into a 0.78% annual decrease. This downturn was the first for retail sales since Q1-2009. This can be viewed in light of the consumer sentiment index which also […]
Is Gold Money And How It Impacts Your Self Directed IRA
Americans feel “gold is the safest long term investment” today, a Gallup survey has found. Gold was favoured over four other types of investments perceived as the best long term choice for American investors today. 28% of the American public choose gold as their favoured investment of choice today. Real estate followed in second place, […]
The Low-Zero Yield Play And The Self Directed IRA
The Fed has continued to promote and enforce a low interest rate environment for the past several years. The purpose of such a policy is to promote and incentivize consumers and small businesses to borrow. When these groups (2/3rds of the GDP) have cash, they spend or invest it in business expansion, homes, durable goods, […]
How June Jobs Numbers Will Impact Your Self Directed IRA
Well, the June 2012 jobs numbers are out and they are terrible, as expected. There were on;y 80,000 new jobs created. May was revised upwards to 77,000 from the initial 69,000. Overall, the unemployment rate is steady at 8.2%. The numbers are starting to reinforce the a pattern that will become statistically significant. The implications […]
May Housing Starts And Self Directed IRA Considerations
Housing Starts are a key economic indicator as to how well the housing market is performing. It is a indicator of building an the level of building in relation to consumer demand for homes. The May 2012 Housing Starts numbers remain 69% below the 2006 peak. The housing numbers clearly show that home starts, and […]
