Steadfast Finances
A Personal Finance & Investing 101 blog that delves into current events, consumer education, and techniques to improve your bottom line.
Fake Prosperity: U.S. National Debt Growth vs. GDP Growth
If you’re a member of Gen X and Gen Y, this is probably the scariest chart you will see in 2011, and possibly, right up to the time you’re old and gray. As you can clearly see, the crony capitalism, fake prosperity, recycled Keynesianism memes et al., have been a great benefit to the U.S. economy… right [...]
The Hypocrisy of the Republican Debt Ceiling Debate
US Government Spending: Why the Republican Argument of “Obama is a Keynesian” Doesn’t Hold Water. ~ ~ ~ Being an idealist, I’m easily repulsed from any person/organization that I lose respect for. Case in point, the reason why I said goodbye to the Grand Old Party was because they’ve completely gone off the deep end [...]
Beware Those Who Say ‘This Market is Cheap’
Image Source: Chart of the Day If you’re an avid follower of the financial markets, no doubt you’ve heard a money manager make the claim that “this market is cheap” as a reason to get you, or keep you, invested in the stock market after it’s doubled from March 2009 to present. Truth is, that [...]
Delaying Foreclosure: 62 Years to Repossess New York Homes at Current Pace
More troubling data on real estate and foreclosures as a whole from the NYT: In New York State, it would take lenders 62 years at their current pace, the longest time frame in the nation, to repossess the 213,000 houses now in severe default or foreclosure, according to calculations by LPS Applied Analytics, a [...]
S&P 500 Earnings Back to Credit Bubble Highs
Two years after making the observation that terrible earnings news was the time to buy (see first chart), it looks as if the billions of taxpayer dollars (via future earnings) have gotten corporate earnings back to credit bubble highs (see second chart). From May 18, 2009: An Index Fund Investor’s Dream: S&P 500 Earnings Nearing [...]
Case Shiller: Confirmation of the Double-Dip in Home Prices
As if we had any real doubt that U.S. real estate was FUBAR, but the March Case Shiller Index numbers did us a favor and confirmed what the smart money already knew. Too bad the Case Shiller model doesn’t take condos, bank owned real estate, short term prices, etc. Wouldn’t want to show chartology for [...]
Chartporn: Number of Days Foreclosed Homeowners Not Paying Their Mortgage
Legendary chartporn of this quality would almost make me ill had I not been so prepared for the smell of Castor Oil. From the article: This chart is really astounding. It shows the average number of days that homeowners with defaulted loans (NOD) have not made a mortgage payment. For New York, one of the [...]
Median Home Prices and The ‘Double Dip’
Image via Chart of the Day A 20 second scan of the headlines for the real estate tab on this blog will show you I’ve been bearish on U.S. real estate since this blog began several years ago, but I’m thinking it might be time to go from ultra bearish to neutral on select markets based [...]
Most Bank Lobbyists are Former Government Employees
As a former federal government employee, I know all too well how in demand we were because we knew “the ropes”. Private sector human resources management often drool over certain governmental employees because we, generally, know how the system works from the inside, have solid rapports with high pay grade shot callers, and know who [...]
Real Estate vs. Gold Ratio: Getting Closer to 1980s Low
Image Credit: Chart of the Day Being a chartporn aficionado, it’s hard to not to look at such a chart and wonder if precious metals and real estate markets from the late 1970s/early 1980s will do an encore. Real estate still has a long way to fall, in my opinion as well as many others [...]
Consumers Focusing on Research, Not Marketing
This has to be a brand advertiser’s worst nightmare… “Be afraid … be very afraid.” AMP Agency, a Boston-based branding firm, has just completed a study of consumers, “Inside the Buy,” that suggests that actually very few consumers between the ages of 25 and 49 are moved to purchase by habit, or sentimental considerations for [...]
Just How Far In Debt is the USA?
Fairly sobering stuff when forced to visualize the amount of money we don’t have to cover the promises we’ve already made. Guess no one told the “fiscal conservatives” in Congress that it would take the entire world’s GDP plus a few trillion more to meet our total debt and unfunded obligations. (Might help to disengage [...]
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