One of the biggest ways to leak money is to spend your time in money-dense ways. The easiest way to explain it is to just show you a bunch of examples. Spending eight hours at Disney World with the requisite food, drink, and souvenir purchases costs about $200. The…
The June ISM Non-manufacturing index was at 53.8%, down from 55.4% in May – and below expectations of 55. The employment index showed contraction in June at 49.7%. Click on graph for larger image in new window. This graph shows the ISM non-manufacturing index (started in January 2008) and the…
Click on graph for larger image in new window. This graph shows the office vacancy rate starting 1991. Reis is reporting the vacancy rate rose to 17.4% in Q1 2010, up from a revised 17.3% in Q1 (revised up from 17.2%), and up from 16.0% in Q2 2009. The…
From Bloomberg: China Property Market Beginning Collapse That May Hit Banks, Rogoff Says (ht jb) “You’re starting to see that collapse in property and it’s going to hit the banking system,” [Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University professor and former chief economist of the IMF] said today [in an interview with Bloomberg…
Connie writes in with a great question whose answer got far too long for the Mailbag: My biggest problem with money is that I lie to myself. I keep telling myself everything is going good and at first it is. Then I start slowly falling back into old habits…
Just a follow up to the previous posts on oil prices and the 2nd half slowdown … From Bloomberg: China Car Sales Grow at Slower Pace; Services Index Slides to 15-Month Low (ht Paulo) China’s auto sales grew at a slower pace in June and a services-industry index slid to…
With the weakness in the US and European economies, and an apparent slowdown in China, it might be time to look at oil prices … Click on graph for larger image in new window. These are spot prices for Cushing WTI from the EIA ( source ). Back in the…
What’s inside? Here are the questions answered in today’s reader mailbag, boiled down to five word summaries. Click on the number to jump straight down to the question. 1. Help an unlucky friend? 2. Are rent-to-own homes worthwhile? 3. Maximizing value of college 4. Post-graduation options for teachers 5.…
A couple of quotes from the WSJ: Lagarde: Banks Will Pass Stress Tests “There is no choice between austerity and stimulus,” [Finance Minister Christine Lagarde] said at an economic conference in Aix-en-Provence. “Our policy is a subtle mix between growth-friendly spending cuts and letting play out the remainder of our…
Two earlier posts: Weekly Summary and a Look Ahead with 8 graphs from last week. Recession Dating and a “Double Dip”. A discussion of recession dating issues. The National Mall in D.C. July 4th, 2010. Best to all!
Read more here – Happy July 4th