Articles About Economics

At a time when the CMBS market has contracted by 60 percent, a story that hasn’t gotten much attention is that fact that one slice of the securitized real estate market is doing phenomenally well. Ginnie Mae (the Government National Mortgage Association) has provided $124.18 billion of liquidity to the secondary mortgage-backed securities market during […]

$70 trillion dollars.  That’s all the money in the world, or to get technical, the subset of global savings known as fixed-income securities.  And it almost doubled from $36 trillion in just six years.  How did this happen? The Federal Reserve presided over the creation of what we have learned (the hard way) is a […]

Warren Buffett’s loyal followers are wondering what got into the Oracle of Omaha when he told CNBC  that this is “a great time to be in banking”, praised Wells Fargo’s massive earning power, and said that the government doesn’t need to provide capital to or nationalize banks. Although some critics dismissed Buffett’s statements as biased because […]

It’s been a long, strange ride, but the nation’s financial system is finally starting what is certain to be an extended healing process. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner believes that “the financial system is starting to heal” as he promised to move returned bail-out funds to community banks that need help. Improved lending circumstances are tempering […]

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) have been closely watching the credit crisis evolve, according to a Deloitte LLP report.  The good news is that they haven’t entirely lost their taste for American commercial real estate. Consider that two of 2008’s highest profile transactions were the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority’s $800 million acquisition of the iconic Chrysler […]

A significant measure of manufacturing activity rose for the fourth straight month in April. This could mean that the sector is starting to stabilize, even though the index has been at contraction level for 15 consecutive months. According to the Tempe, AZ-based Institute for Supply Management (ISM), its manufacturing index climbed to 40.1 in April, […]

Encouraging data on home and auto sales, homebuilding and consumer spending is seen by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as “tentative signs” that the recession may be moderating.  Still, he cautions that lasting recovery depends on the government’s success in stabilizing the reeling financial markets and unfreezing credit. In remarks to faculty and students at […]

Shipping activity has plunged as much as one-third at U.S. ports most heavily invested in the once red-hot but now declining Asia trade. Freight rates from South China to Europe have slid as much as 42 percent from some ports since November, leading shipping industry authority Drewry Container Freight Rate Insight Report to speculate that […]

The Obama administration has proposed the most comprehensive overhaul of the nation’s financial industry since the Great Depression.  The measures, as outlined by Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, will require regulation of hedge funds for the first time and give government wide-ranging powers to seize and take apart companies that are perceived as threats […]

The Wells Fargo wagon delivered good news to Wall Street when the San Francisco-based bank announced a record first-quarter profit of approximately $3 billion, or 55 percent per common share.  Contrast these numbers with the fourth quarter of 2008, when Wells Fargo reported a $2.6 billion loss. The news sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average […]