The only thing mirroring the relentless outflow from stocks these days (now in their 23rd week) is the increase in the M2 money supply: the week ending October 4th was the 14th consecutive weekly increase in the broadest money aggregate compiled by the Fed which hit $8,752.4 billion, an increase of $20 billion from the $8,732.8 billion the week before. Curiously, the Fed decided to massively revise all previous numbers (as if the amount of money that goes in and out of a bank, and should be recorded electronically the second it happens is subject to change). Yet the strangest number to come out of the huge revision had to do with with the flow of money in and out of Small Denomination (under $100,000) time deposits, or in other words the place where the bulk of Main Street America parks their money for some pursuit of nominal yield. The kicker - since the beginning of the year there has not been one weekly inflow into small denomination time deposits! (go ahead and check it) It appears either the less than richest Americans need to constantly pull money out of the bank, as they give up yield (and in a Zero Interest Rate environment there is no yield to be given up) in order to pay their bills, or simply have decided to no longer keep their money with the big (and small) banks (as this includes both commercial banks and thrifts). Could the "starve the banks: campaign be working? If Americans succeed in pulling enough money from their banks via deposit redemption, coupled with the stock trading boycott, it will be the end of Wall Street post haste. (more)
A most fundamental and crucial debate is now in full swing.John Williams utters his most ruthless words of condemnation not only toward the Fed, but to everyone who is stupid enough to be chasing returns in the face of what is a hyperinflationary collapse.
Euphoric Inflation Insanity. Buying U.S. stocks because the Fed says it will proactively debase the U.S. dollar is like sitting on the beach in order to get a great view of an incoming tsunami. Any pleasure so derived should be short-lived, when the terror of underlying reality quickly takes hold.Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan said Sunday that a national freeze on foreclosures would "do far more harm than good," pushing back against those calling for a blanket moratorium following claims that lenders may have used faulty paperwork to evict homeowners.
Donovan called the alleged corner-cutting "shameful" in a column published Sunday, days after attorneys general in all 50 states opened probes into the matter. He backed banks that have imposed "voluntary moratoria" but stopped short of supporting a broader ban.
"A national, blanket moratorium on all foreclosure sales would do far more harm than good -- hurting homeowners and homebuyers alike at a time when foreclosed homes make up 25 percent of home sales," Donovan wrote in his Huffington Post column.
Donovan explained that a blanket freeze could block first-time homebuyers from entering the market while ensuring that foreclosed homes stay vacant and drag down home prices in surrounding neighborhoods.
"Right now, families who have watched their home values decline over the last few years want nothing more than homebuyers ... to buy the vacant homes in their neighborhoods," he wrote. (more)
