Stimulus Bill
Stocks jumped a small amount today, and bond interest rates went up too. It’s the interest rate increase that interests me most.
The Dollar gained significantly today after losing the same amount yesterday. Gold stood still, and oil/gasoline were level also, but at a high level.
In the news today……
Short Sales to Increase – Major banks including Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan and Citigroup are trying to offload souring mortgages from their books by turning to “short sales.” Short sales occur when homeowners settle debts by selling their properties for less than the mortgage value, and the number of short sales is expected to rise sharply this year as foreclosures climb.
IRS going after HSBC – after they went after UBS and Credit Suisse. A latest lawsuit implies that the IRS is now attacking HSBC in its quest for tax cheats. It is alleged that HSBC started to hide its US accounts after the IRS starting its attack on UBS.
Stimulus Bill – “staved off another Great Depression” and it “saved or created 2,000,000 jobs” are wonderful political banners; but have no meaning in the real world. From an economics point of view, it is impossible to prove or disprove these statements. You would hope that the 2,000,000 number could be substantiated, but it can’t. Ignore these statement because they could be detrimental to your wealth.
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 10,309 (up 40)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.74% (up 0.08%)
Euro – $1.3606
Gold – $1120 (up $1)
Oil – $77.39 (up $0.38)
Gasoline – $2.01 (up $0.02)
