Economics Update

Will the last home builder please turn off the lights?

Because existing home sales fell 8.6% from October, new home sales fell 2.9%, home prices fell by 13.2%, and foreclosures and short sales were 45% of all sales.

Consumer sentiment improved more than forecast last month though, driven largely by the expectation of lower prices.

In currency, the dollar was largely mixed, though both the Yen and Pound were down.

It should be noted that the Yen is off a historic high, and the pound is near a historic low, it's about to reach parity with the Euro, so the dynamics are different.

As to why the Pound is falling, it might be that the U.K. economy is shrinking at a pace not seen in 17 years, 0.6%, which is worse than
the US figure of -0.5% for the quarter.

EVen more than the US, the UK bought into the idea of the finance industry as an engine for the economy, and they are reaping the whirlwind.

Oil is down again.

Also, here is a story that I think we will see more of in the next few months,^* there has been a default by Global Investment House (GIH) in Kuwait on a $200 million loan, one of the larger investment houses in the Arab world.

They aren't going under just yet, but I think that this is the first crack in the armor of the petro-Arab investment houses.

^*Because I am just so good at making predictions.^†
†Considering my record, this may actually be a sign to go the other way....Or not.^‡
‡Disclaimer: Matthew G. Saroff disclaims any responsibility for any actions taken as a result of the information displayed on any pages of this website.