ALWAYS CONSULT YOUR INVESTMENT PROFESSIONAL BEFORE MAKING ANY INVESTMENT DECISION
July 24, 2024 | Hoisington Q2 Review and Outlook
Hoisington’s Q2 Review and Outlook is now available; see Monetary and Fiscal Extremes. One of several standout charts shows the US Net National Savings Rate since 1929, negative in 2024 for only the second time ever, as the federal budget deficit (dissaving) exceeds the total of household, corporate and foreign savings. Hoisington notes that, as in […]
July 23, 2024 | Canada’s Economy Feels Like a Recession
Canada’s June unemployment rate of 6.4% was up 160 basis points from the cycle low of 4.8% in June 2022. Since the 1970s (as shown below courtesy of RBC), Canada has never had this trough-to-peak rise in the unemployment rate without the economy going through a recession (blue bars). The increase following the 2000-03 dotcom […]
July 22, 2024 | US Recession in Motion?
The US Conference Board of Leading Economic Indicators (LEI Index) declined for a 30th month in June (purple line below since 1959, courtesy of Advisor Perspectives) and is now -14.2% from the cycle peak in December 2021. As shown, since 1959, an LEI contraction of this magnitude has never happened outside of an officially declared recession […]
July 19, 2024 | Electricity Produced by Renewable Power Dramatically Lowers Energy Waste
Electricity generated by renewable power reduces energy waste significantly and, therefore, global power needs. This critical fact is key to understanding the energy evolution unfolding. Fossil fuels still supply 80% of our energy. And people point to this number to say it’s impossible to switch to renewables, especially if we want to do it quick […]
July 18, 2024 | Loan Defaults Confirm Faltering Consumers
In the second quarter of 2024, loan loss provisions at the six largest US banks increased the most since 2020 and car repossessions in June (drivers over 60 days late on payments) rose 23% year over year and were +14% compared to the pre-pandemic first half of 2019. See Car Repossessions Surge 23% as Americans Fall […]
July 16, 2024 | Beware the “Relative Value” Trap
Over the past 32 months, economically sensitive small and medium-cap stock indices have underperformed the largest-cap tech-heavy indices (price x shares outstanding) to a degree not seen since the last tech bubble in 1998 through March of 2000. Indeed, global fund flows (shown below since July 2023, courtesy of The Daily Shot) have concentrated in […]
July 15, 2024 | Struggling Consumers are a Tough Slog
Consumer spending drives just under 60% of Canadian GDP growth and consumer spending fell across all categories in June–discretionary and essential (shown below courtesy of RBC). Warm weather and declining interest rates did not entice spending as hoped. Overall, second-quarter retail sales were negative. Fewer Canadians have renovated their homes amid a sluggish housing sector, while […]
July 10, 2024 | Time Lags Have Magnified Risk Exposure and Complacency
In the second quarter of 2024, big tech companies drove the S&P 500 up 4.3%, while the Russell 2000 index of economically representative small and midsize stocks fell 3.6%. The five most expensive S&P 500 companies now make up a record 29% of the US market capitalization–the narrowest concentration since 1965 and more extreme than […]
July 8, 2024 | Ford CEO on the Rapid Evolution of Electric Vehicles
For those of us who’ve benefited from driving an EV for years already, it is a relief to hear mainstream leaders finally drop the opposition and misinformation to embrace the obvious. Ford CEO Farley does an excellent job of articulating facts in this segment. Ford CEO Jim Farley joins CNBC’s Julia Boorstin for a discussion […]
July 5, 2024 | Treasuries See Recession-Style Employment Trends, Stocks Should Too
The US unemployment rate in June ticked up to 4.1% (from 4% in May, red line below since 2021, and 70 basis points above the 3.4% cycle low in 2022). Full-time job creation fell to a 39-month low and part-time job creation reached a 33-month high while April and May job estimates were revised lower. […]
July 4, 2024 | Real Estate Bust Has Compound Impacts
The Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is home to approximately 8 million Canadians (about 20% of the country’s population) which account for some 20% of Canada’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). For context, the GTA is as important to Canada’s economy as the eight largest US cities are to the American economy. In terms of provincial per […]
July 1, 2024 | Hussman on Thoughtful Money
Happy Canada Day! Today’s guest is one of those who smartly navigated the past 2 great market corrections. He now thinks we stand at the precipice of a 3rd — and he’s ringing a bell for anyone who will listen. To hear why and what he advises we do about it, we have the great […]
June 26, 2024 | Easy Money Has Yielded a Vicious Payback Period
Interest rates and high debt levels are biting hard in Canada; the economy is weak, and layoffs are rising. Toronto’s new home sales were down 71% compared to May 2023, with new condo sales down 75% and new single-family home sales down 65%. The same period saw an increase of 20,427 new home listings in […]
June 25, 2024 | Lags Demand Respect
The US 10-2yr Treasury yield curve has been inverted (two-year yields higher than ten-year) for 23 months since July 2022. An inversion in this spread has preceded the onset of every recession in the last 50 years by an average of 10 months. Generally, longer-than-average inversion periods (11 months Sept 12, 1980 to Oct 23, […]
June 24, 2024 | Mindless Capital Allocation Leads to Bad Investment Outcomes
Mindless capital allocation leads to wasted resources and bad investment outcomes. We’ve just come through a decade of some of the dumbest financial choices in history–that’s been very expensive. In the midst of a housing supply crisis, thousands of condos in Canada’s largest cities are sitting empty. Most, experts say, are less than 500 square […]
June 22, 2024 | Recession Impacts on Employment and Financial Markets
Ted Oakley interviews Danielle DiMartino Booth on recession, interest rates, and markets.Here is a direct video link.
June 21, 2024 | Cost-Cutting in Focus
Some facts on the ground… Cutting Costs – Corporate Mentions of “Operational Efficiency” Spike — DiMartino Booth via Fox Business News. Here is a direct video link.
June 20, 2024 | A.I. Hype Has Magnified Market Downside
A worthwhile discussion in this segment… So far this year, the top 10 stocks in the S&P 500 have accounted for more than 76% of the index’s gain. This is the 2nd most concentrated reading for the S&P in the past 20 years. The highest percentage was 79%, achieved in 2007, right before the Global […]
June 19, 2024 | Canadian Financial Weakness Stands Out
The unemployment rate and bankruptcies are surging. Here is a direct video link. Canadian corporate bankruptcies are +93% year over year (shown below since 2014). While the Canadian stock market has gone nowhere since November 2021…
June 17, 2024 | Understanding the Risks of Artificial Intelligence
Geoffrey Hinton, a computer scientist and cognitive psychologist, has long been a leading thinker about artificial intelligence. In this segment with Jon Erlichman, he articulates complex issues clearly enough for a general audience. Worth the listen. Here is a direct video link to part one. And here is a direct video link to part two.
June 15, 2024 | Danielle on CBC Weekend Business Panel
Here is a direct video link.
June 13, 2024 | Tougher For Longer
Yesterday morning, a milder-than-expected US CPI number boosted hopes that the US Fed may soon start lowering its policy rate. Financial markets pooped on the headline, further loosening financial conditions for some publicly traded companies. Then, a more hawkish Fed announcement in the afternoon lowered 2024 cut expectations from 75 basis points (bps) in the […]
June 12, 2024 | Rosenberg Updates on Economic Cycle
This interview offers a lucid top-down review of economic trends and asset markets. Here is a direct video link. As I explained here, I do not share the faith that immigration should prevent Canadian home prices from declining by more than ten percent.
June 11, 2024 | Canadian Home Prices Moving Lower For Math Reasons
It is wildly unpopular to say this, but Canadian home prices need to move much lower. And yes, I, too, stand to lose net worth as they do. Immigration is unlikely to prevent mean reversion here. Immigrants need places to live, to be sure, but historically, it took an average of 7 years before immigrants […]
June 10, 2024 | Leveraged Gambling Ends Badly, as Usual
The lure of easy money delivers time-worn outcomes, once again. See how Real estate investors are wiped out in bets fuelled by Wall Street loans: Lynn Nathe was growing tired of the meager gains from her family’s retirement account. In late 2021, she invested $200,000 with a company that was making 30% returns by buying the […]