Economic Overviews

The Eurozone economy (and currency) – which was once on the brink of complete and utter disaster – is finally on the road to recovery....[Here is] a safe way for skittish investors (i.e. – the non-contrarians) to take advantage of the opportunity in Europe before it disappears. Words: 503; Charts: 1

So much has been written about what various authors refer to as the economic (in alphabetical order) abyss, apocalypse, Armageddon, avalanche, catastrophe, chaos, cliff, collapse, crisis, disaster, downturn, endgame, meltdown, pain, reality, risks, situation, train wreck, tsunami, turmoil that faces the nations of the world I thought a source article of what has been said about the situation would be of interest. Have a look.

5 years into the official economic “recovery” the labor participation rate is still lower than when the recession was declared over in June 2009 by almost a percentage point. It is still over 4 percentage points lower than when the recession officially began. The Federal Reserve chart of employment as a percentage of working age adults proves the point that sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words - sometimes much more. Words: 388; Charts: 1

This summer we are nearing a possible inflection point in terms of Fed actions. The mere suggestion from the Fed that something is going to change is enough to supercharge markets, either up or down....Will markets go to 20,000 or to 5,000? That depends upon the Fed and how much they debauch the currency.......Stay tuned, this story has hardly begun.

If yields on U.S. Treasury bonds keep rising, things are going to get very messy. What we are ultimately looking at is a sell-off very similar to 2008, only this time we will have to deal with rising interest rates at the same time. The conditions for a "perfect storm" are rapidly developing, and if something is not done we could eventually have a credit crunch unlike anything that we have ever seen before in modern times. Let me explain.

Jim Sinclair is as good a source of the market fundamentals as anybody out there. Some of his comments can be a bit confusing, though, but that usually is the result of his attempt to economize words. I don’t intend to be negative, but sometimes Jim leaves things vague enough that it can be interpreted in more than one way. Let’s take a look at some important comments that Jim has made recently.

The annual survey American Community Survey by the Census Bureau collects much more detailed information than the decennial census, [and the data from the latest survey is depicted in maps, of which 5 are provided here on America's economic divide and] are relevant for thinking about communities most in need of investment.

[To repeat,] Canada's concentrated bet on real estate and construction, while creating jobs in the short term, is putting Canadian economy at greater risk in the future [and, with it unlikely that] Canadian households will significantly increase disposable income in the near future, any deleveraging could therefore prove to be quite painful.

The rich are getting richer and that’s good news for everyone. I’ll tell you why in a minute. First, let’s look at where the millionaires are — and where their number are growing the fastest.

France continues to pose the biggest near-term risk to the euro area's economic recovery. Why France some may ask? [Here's why.]