moneymcbags (< 20)

9/22/10 Midevening Report: Market down as Bernanke’s mixed signals cause it to question whether he “likes” or “like likes” it

September 22, 2010 – Comments (0) | RELATED TICKERS: HSTM , NFLX , ADBE

The market was up briefly in the morning before investors could pull themselves away from watching NSFW art films (and Money McBags does not know the plot of that film but believes it is about the unbelievably wonderful place people in heaven go to after they die in heaven) and realize that the emperor has no clothes (and unfortunately this is not the emperor).  With the Fed announcement from yesterday beginning to sink in that QE2 is most likely on the way (and it is not the kind of QE2 that comes with a full wet bar and toga night on the poop deck), investors once again must face the realization that growth is more likely to be L-shaped (or backslash-shaped) than the U-shape those on CNBC constantly shout about through their foaming mandibles.  So be careful out there as the market whipsaws around as it tries to comprehend where the economy goes from here.

 

In macro news, home prices fell by .5% from June and by 3.3% from last year and in the least surprising move since Kirsten Gillibrand was voted hottest Senator (though that's really only because since he turned 65, Joe Lieberman totally lost his bikini body), last month's numbers were revised down from a .3% decline to a 1.2% decline as the "hold the shock and hope for no awe" strategy once again rears its ugly head.  The new home price numbers were worse than analyst guesses and there is now 12.5 months of housing inventory on the market (which is a 10 year high) not including all of the shadow inventory, upside down mortgages, and places the Quaids are squatting.

 

And even with record low mortgage rates, home loan demand continues to fall as applications for purchase mortgages were down 3.3% last week and refis were down .9% as the housing market witnesses the demand curve shift left while the supply curve shifts right in the housing market's attempt to recreate the graph of Betamax purchases in the early 1990s or sales of Heidi Montag's debut album.  The housing market remains unhealthier than Ted Kennedy's liver (and not because he was a drunk, but because he's dead) and with people no longer able to lever up with HELOCs or even be in possession of the H to get their ELOC on, consumer spend will remain more stunted than Edward Nino Hernandez's growth.

 

Internationally, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Ramirez Gonzalez Quinones Zapatero dialed up a page from the NBER and claimed that the European debt crisis is over, whew, it's about time, Money McBags feels much better now.  Of course after claiming the end of the crisis, Mr. Rodríguez Ramirez Gonzalez Quinones Zapatero went on to claim that the rain in Spain does not stay mainly in the plain and the Sagrada Familia will be finished any day now.  Look, if Money McBags were the Prime Minister of Spain, the first thing he would do is hire Eva Gonzalez to take some hard dictation, the second thing he would do is order up a round of f*cking seafood paella, and the third thing he would do, especially if he were sinking in the popularity polls and dealing with 20%+ unemployment rates,...READ MUCH MORE...FIRST LOOK AT HSTM....