View: Not much will happen in broad U.S. economy before housing picks up. That is why everybody is so anxious about the housing starts, building permits, new home sales, blah blah. Every tick pushes people to argue that house prices have finally bottomed/still falling/stabilized/politicians’ indecision has made them more volatile. My gut feeling for a major turn in housing is 3-5 years. Just because at that time, everybody in the market will know that housing sector is a dead horse and parents are teaching their kids never to get large mortgages.
$1B outside money, almost $24b of Soros family money.
Nice looking charts from 1995 to now showing how large margin debt and bull peaks go hand-in-hand.
NYSE Margin Debt and the S&P 500 – dshort.com
“ISDA is rapidly deteriorating to rating agency status when it comes to credibility”
ISDA, Which Refuses To Declare Greece In Default, Has Given The US A 3 Day Grace Period Before A CDS Trigger – Zero Hedge
Long and detailed look at the earnings cycle and where we are now. Bearish.
Converging On The Horizon – Crestmont Research via The Big Picture
Nice charts, quick read
Low yields push people to dubious investments.
The Law of Unintended Consequences, Part 657 – The Reformed Broker
DIVERSION
Recommended, some very pretty and effective tricks
Visualize This: How to Tell Stories with Data – Brain Pickings
Practicioners vs. academics connection has been lost, but will it be found?