The Economy Guy

Stocks were up again today based on the news of the leading indicators being so good (???).

Everything else went sideways.  Even stocks are in a sideways trend right now between 9150 and 9400.

In the news today…..

Unemployment Claims – jumped 15,000 over last week to 576,000.  This shows that companies are still laying off people, and this is a bad sign for the economy.

Mortgage Delinquencies – hit an ALL TIME HIGH, with 13% of all mortgages being either late in payments or in foreclosure.  As the housing collapse was the cause of the current recession, it’s recovery is the real measure of the recession’s recovery.  This is very bad news for the recovery, as it means more people will be foreclosed, and that means lower housing prices.

Leading Economic Indicators – rose in July.  This is a future predictor, and means that the recession has bottomed out if you are looking 6 months into the future.

Swiss Government Makes Profit – on the sale of a share ownership of UBS when they bailed that bank out by injecting $3B.  They just sold those shares, and make over a 50% profit in less than a year.  Now that’s good investing.  What’s wrong with the US Treasury??  Are they too close to Goldman Sachs and all the other Wall St cronies????

Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 9350 (up 71 points)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.44% (down 0.03%)
Euro – $1.4257
Gold – $941 (down $3)
Oil – $72.54 (up $0.12)
Gasoline $1.98 (down $0.05)