06-04-2014, 12:10 AM
What people don't realize is the Dow is only up 88 points in the last six months. The Nasdaq is up 53 points and the S&P 500 is up 69 points. Sure, we had a phenomenal 2013 but this is 2014 and we are in the middle of a consolidation, not a bubble.
RealClearMarkets - Dow Is Up 68 Points in Six Months. You Call That a Bubble?
The GDP revision may cause some confusion. While the headline figure was weaker than expected, most of that was due to slower inventory growth -- which bodes well for future growth. Thus, while the 1Q14 growth estimate was revised down, the forecast for 2Q14 ought to be revised higher.
The story's title is, "Are We Underestimating America's Fracking Boom?" The byline reads, "Check Out Sasol's Energy Complex in Lake Charles, La." Having followed Sasol (NYSE:SSL) in a past life, I was intrigued. Sasol was formerly a South African state company that had developed the ability to "crack" natural gas into diesel fuel and other liquids. Now the company is going to build a plant in Louisiana to do the same thing. At $21 billion this would be the largest foreign investment project in US history.
Moscow is infamous for traffic jams which snake around its highways. Now, it has been named the world's worst city for car congestion. The Russian capital has an average congestion level of 74 percent, topping the global traffic index released by Dutch GPS manufacturer Tom-Tom.
And the world’s most congested city is …
While the VIX is sitting at a five-year low, outside the S&P 500 there is plenty of volatility a-roiling. Half of the stocks in the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI) are down at least 10% in 2014 with one-quarter of the portfolio showing negative returns of at least 20%. From early March through early May, momentum stocks, especially those of the small cap variety, had a sizable haircut
Correction Ahead: Focus On Low Volatility Stocks
The two themes of the lecture were that sustained growth needs a ‘learning society’, and that markets alone can’t create this.
Learning and economic development | The Enlightened Economist
The reason for the widespread, opposite view is that defense shocks have "contractionary" effects while civilian government spending shocks have "expansionary" effects. Existing EVARs and SVARs, however, include only total government spending.
Defense Government Spending Is Contractionary, Civilian Government Spending Is Expansionary
This is of course just another example of the establishment’s attempt to deny the evidence about austerity. It is particularly rich because the Treasury was also becoming increasingly worried that growth would not return before the election, which is why it eased off on austerity and brought in Help to Buy. Anyone who tells you they just knew the UK savings ratio would fall sharply in 2013 and so there was no need to worry is either lying or a fool.