Economic Edge » Economic Indicators

Foreclosures Rising—2006 Foreclosure Statistics

EconEdge — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:31:35 +0000

Nationally, foreclosures are on the rise. According to RealtyTrac, 1.2 million homes were foreclosed in 2006—up 42% from 2005. The cities with the highest foreclosure rates were:

Detroit
Sacramento
San Diego

Worst U.S. Cities—10 Real Estate Markets to Avoid

EconEdge — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:31:29 +0000

Planning to buy a home in the next 12 months? Well, if you live in one of the cities listed below, you may want to postpone buying a home.

According to CNN, these are the worst 10 cities to buy a home, over the next 12 months. The expected percentage decline is listed below.

Korea & Syria Diversify Away From U.S. Dollar

EconEdge — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 18:31:06 +0000

More dollar dumping —

According to The Financial Times, The Bank of Korea plans to diversify its foreign currency reserves to gain higher returns. Apparently the bank is not happy with the U.S. dollar (and who can blame them?). The Bank of Korea plans to invest part of the nation's huge international reserves ($240 billion—the world's fifth largest) in overseas stocks (notably the blue chips of advanced countries) in an effort to gain higher returns. Korea's move follows a policy switch in China which also wants to diversify its $1 trillion+ of foreign reserves (70 percent or more of China's reserves are held in dollar-denominated assets).

52% of West Coast Residents Fear Housing Price Collapse

EconEdge — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 22:22:24 +0000

West Coast residents lack confidence in the local real estate market, according to recently released survey data by The Experian-Gallup Personal Credit Survey. According to Experian, 52% of West Coast (U.S.) residents fear that house prices will severely decline.

Kuwait May Dump the Dollar to Protect Its Economy

EconEdge — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 01:58:39 +0000

In an earlier post, I wrote about how the euro is gaining popularity as countries begin to reduce their dependence on the U.S. dollar. Last Wednesday, Kuwait announced that it may abandon the dollar, in favor of a basket of currencies, to protect its economy. This decision is being studied by Kuwait's central bank.

Could the Euro Replace the Dollar as the World's Reserve Currency?

EconEdge — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 20:40:12 +0000

The U.S. dollar remains the world's reserve currency (for now), with central banks holding 2/3rds of their reserves in dollars. But, according to recent news, the dollar's status as the world's reserve currency is changing. The dollar is being challenged by the euro, which is now five years old.

Advisors expect double-digit growth in hedge funds & alternative assets

EconEdge — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 14:15:04 +0000

Morningstar polled 600 advisers in August and found that 65 percent of them expect more than double-digit growth in alternative investments, which include hedge funds.

"We were surprised to find that the majority of advisers expect double-digit growth in alternative assets under management every year for the next five years," said Steve Deutsch, director of separate accounts and managed investments at Morningstar.

U.S. Mint Forbids Melting Pennies & Nickels

EconEdge — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 13:42:43 +0000

Pennies and nickels are now worth more melted down than at face value.

In an earlier post, I wrote about how the government is losing money by minting pennies and nickels. It now costs 1.73 cents to create a penny, and 8.34 cents to create a nickel (6.99 cents for the metal, plus the cost of production).

Wal-Mart to Open Hundreds of Stores in India

EconEdge — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:29:01 +0000

Wal-Mart Expanding to India

Like many investors, Wal-Mart smells opportunity in India.

Yesterday Wal-Mart announced that it has formed an alliance with Bharti Enterprises Ltd. (India's leading telecommunications company) to open hundreds of stores in India over the next several years.

Business Owners Pay 54.3% Percent of all Income Taxes

EconEdge — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 01:31:37 +0000

The Washington-based Tax Foundation found that nationally most people in the top 1 percent of earners are business owners and entrepreneurs, and that in 2004, business owners paid 54.3 percent of all income taxes. Or, to put it differently, the top 1% are paying more than 54% of all income taxes.

Does Walmart—the World's Largest Private Employer—Deserve Its "Bad" Reputation?

EconEdge — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 05:20:02 +0000

According to a study released by UBS/Warburg, the world's largest private employer — Wal-Mart — can boost a marginal family's spending power by 10% or more.

Very impressive.

But, that's just the beginning. According to the study…

Top 10 Foreclosure Markets

EconEdge — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 01:56:44 +0000

According to CNN Money, the following cities are experiencing the highest number of foreclosures (Foreclosure data gathered from RealtyTrac)…

Greeley, CO
Detroit, MI
Miami, FL
Indianapolis, IN
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Denver, CO

Top 10 Best Cities (and Worst Cities) to Buy Real Estate

EconEdge — Sun, 29 Oct 2006 01:36:36 +0000

CNN Money recently published an interesting article on the best and worst cities for real estate investing. According to the article…

"The real estate slump could get worse before it gets better. But these 10 markets offer great opportunities for those who have the patience to buy and hold."

Japan's Money Management Industry Growing–Mutual Fund Assets on Verge of Boom

EconEdge — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 19:08:48 +0000

According to an article recently published by Investment News, Japan's money management industry (particularly its mutual fund sector) could be on the verge of a boom.

Economic Facts about Japan

Japan is the world's second-largest economy.

Congress Indirectly Bans Online Gambling By Targeting Payment Processors

EconEdge — Fri, 06 Oct 2006 20:27:07 +0000

Congress has voted against payment processors (credit card companies and banks) who handle transactions for online gambling sites. According to Reuters, "The House of Representatives and Senate unexpectedly approved a bill early [last] Saturday that would make it illegal for banks and credit-card companies to make payments to online gambling sites."

Internet Advertising Revenue Up 37%, Hits Record $8 Billion

EconEdge — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 02:15:31 +0000

According to a study released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC), internet advertising revenue (in the U.S.) rose 37 percent in the first six months of the year, hitting a record of nearly $8 billion. Search-related advertising rose 40 percent in the first half of the year, while classified advertising rose 20 percent.

Bilingual Babies: Mandarin Speaking Au Pairs from China in High Demand

EconEdge — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 01:49:11 +0000

Nannies and au pairs from China are in high demand lately, according to two articles published in The New York Times and Spiegel International. Wealthy and middle-class parents—seeking to give their children an economic edge—have hired live-in au pairs from China to teach their infant children Mandarin Chinese.

Americans spend more time online than in front of TV

EconEdge — Mon, 28 Aug 2006 02:31:03 +0000

According to CNN, 71 percent of American households have web access.

Further, Americans age 13 to 24 now spend more time online than they do in front of the TV. This is extremely significant, since most Americans are addicted to their television sets (a HUGE time-waster) and spend, on average, 4 hours a day watching TV. (Source: Nielsen Ratings) So, in a 65-year life, the average American will have spent 9 years glued to the tube.

Shortage of nickel due to surging demand from China

EconEdge — Sun, 20 Aug 2006 17:00:06 +0000

According to Bloomberg News, a shortage of nickel drove prices to the highest level since at least 1987, and forced the London Metal Exchange to impose trading restrictions for the first time in a year.

Morgan Stanley to invest one billion dollars in Indian real estate

EconEdge — Sat, 05 Aug 2006 15:23:45 +0000

I heard this from Azam Meo's weekly real estate videocast, and researched it online to make sure it was accurate.

Morgan Stanley's property fund has committed to invest $1 billion in Indian real estate. According to Zain Fancy, head of Morgan Stanley real estate in the Asia-Pacific region, "India is one of the most attractive markets." Rising wages—and a rising middle class—are fueling a property and development boom in India (which is currently Asia's fourth largest economy).

China’s energy consumption & peak oil

EconEdge — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:00:47 +0000

China's energy consumption is expected to be 69 percent higher in 2010 than in 2002, according to the Federal Energy Information Administration. That growth
rate is 5 times higher than the estimate for the United States and more
than 15 times higher than Europe.

China uses half the world’s cement and 40% of the world’s steel

EconEdge — Wed, 02 Aug 2006 20:57:59 +0000

No wonder homebuilders are struggling, and commodity prices are rising… China, in the midst of a massive infrastructure build-out, used half of the world's cement and 40 percent of the world's steel last year, according to government statistics. If the price of raw materials continues rising, homebuilders and developers will be hit even harder.

Chinese Economy Grew 11.3% last quarter

EconEdge — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 01:50:36 +0000

According to reports, the Chinese economy grew 11.3% last quarter, the fastest pace of growth in almost a dozen years. Interestingly, no major economy has grown faster than 5% a quarter over the past 30 years. China serves as an exception to this statistic (assuming China can sustain its rapid growth rate).

Atlanta is home to fastest growing millionaire population

EconEdge — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 02:44:04 +0000

Atlanta is home to the fastest growing millionaire population in the United States, according to research firm Claritas.

The number of households in Atlanta with $1 million or more in investable assets (not including primary residence and consumable goods) will increase 68.8% through 2011, to more than 102,000 households. Nationwide, the millionaire population grew by 6.8% in 2005, according to the World Wealth Report from Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.

Bit Torrent gets 35% of all internet traffic

EconEdge — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 20:01:16 +0000

According to a recent study by CacheLogic, Bit Torrent accounts for 35% of all traffic on the internet! For those who don't know, Bit Torrent is a protocol for peer-to-peer file distribution. According to the study, the most popular torrents on the web are new DVD releases.

No more pennies–or nickels?

EconEdge — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 16:58:29 +0000

According to a Yahoo news article, pennies may soon become a relic of the past. For the first time ever, the U.S. Mint says pennies are costing more than 1 cent to make this year, thanks to higher metal prices (witness the huge run-up in commodity prices). But it's not just pennies; the same problem exists with nickels. Nickels now cost more than $0.05 to make.

Hedge funds go mainstream – Morningstar puts hedge fund data online

EconEdge — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 02:55:37 +0000

Morningstar recently announced that it is expanding its hedge fund initiative by launching hedge fund data on Morningstar.com and on Morningstar Advisor Workstation Office Edition. During the past two years, Morningstar (which has historically tracked mutual fund data) has built a database of more than 3,000 hedge funds, and continues to add to that data. The newest edition of Morningstar Direct will include hedge fund research reports written by Morningstar's new hedge fund analysts.

IRS Will Refund $15 Billion to Taxpayers for Illegally Taxing Long Distance Services

EconEdge — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 16:30:56 +0000

Have you heard about this? The IRS is set to refund $15 billion (estimated) to taxpayers for illegally taxing long distance services. The "telegraph tax," an excise tax on long-distance services, was a "hold-over" from the Spanish-American War 108 years ago. Shortly after the Spanish-American War, the telegraph tax was extended to taxes on long distance services.

World millionaires hit 8.7 million, according to World Wealth Report

EconEdge — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 18:07:39 +0000

Every year, Merrill Lynch publishes its "World Wealth Report," which analyzes high net worth investors and their investing patterns. According to the wealth report, the number of people globally with more than 1 million dollars in net assets swelled by 6.5 percent in 2005 to a record 8.7 million.

Senate Votes Against Minimum Wage Increase

EconEdge — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 23:50:09 +0000

In my last entry, I wrote that the the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to raise the minimum wage. Today, however, the majority of the Senate voted against the minimum wage increase.

Minimum Wage Set to Increase in 2007

EconEdge — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 16:44:29 +0000

According to CNN Money, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to raise the minimum wage in periodic increments until it reaches $7.25 an hour by Jan. 1, 2009. The first minimum wage increase (if the legislation passes) is set for January 1, 2007.

China Won't Make Yuan Fully Convertible; Fears Hedge Funds

EconEdge — Tue, 13 Jun 2006 01:43:17 +0000

China won't make its currency fully convertible for at least five years because it worries hedge funds may force the yuan to plunge, much as happened to the Korean won and Thai baht during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, said Li Deshui, a member of the central bank's monetary committee.

Hedge Fund Law Changing? ECB says hedge funds are major risk

EconEdge — Mon, 05 Jun 2006 02:44:30 +0000

According to an article published in The Financial Times, the European Central Bank claims that hedge funds are a major risk to the stability of the financial markets. In a report published on Friday, the ECB said that the collapse of a single major fund or several smaller funds could trigger major disruptions in worldwide markets.

Simultaneous Action

EconEdge — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 03:38:18 +0000

Excellent email message from Dan Kennedy about the importance of multi-tasking and taking massive, simultaneous action, instead of trying to accomplish goals in a sequential fashion. However, I think there's a fine line. Sometimes, you can begin too many projects simultaneously, and end up overcommitting yourself (which leads to not meeting deadlines on time, or disappointing clients/vendors/family). So, I think simultaneous action combined with realistic expections (underpromise and overdeliver) is best. Article is excerpted below…

The Root Cause of Illegal Immigration: The Minimum Wage Law

EconEdge — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:42:31 +0000

Lately, there's been a lot of talk about strengthening the southern border between the U.S. and Mexico to prevent the continued mass influx of illegal immigrants. Proponents of "open borders" claim that…