Comfortably green, the VIX-smashing algos have lifted US equities non-stop since the NYSE machines were unleashed. While the Dow is lagging a little, Nasdaq and S&P futures have now made it all the way back up to Kuroda's Kamikaze moment...
What happens next?
The Census Bureau released its quarterly update on residential vacancies and homeownership for Q1 which is closely watched for its update of how many Americans own versus rent. It shows that following a modest pickup in the homeownership rate in the prior two quarters, US homeowners once again posted a substantial decline, sliding from 63.8% to 63.5%, and just 0.1% higher than the 50 year low reported in Q2 2015.
The Sad Truth About the State of the Financial System Today
For seven years, the world has operated under a complete delusion that Central Banks somehow fixed the 2008 Crisis.
All of the arguments claiming this defied common sense. A 5th grader would tell you that you cannot solve a debt problem by issuing more debt. If the below chart was a problem BEFORE 2008… there is no way that things are better now. After all, we’ve just added another $20 trillion in debt to the US system.
As we approach the mid point of earnings season (this is the busiest week of the Q1 earnings season with 39% of companies having already reported in the US, 33% in Europe and 17% in Japan), here is a quick summary of where we stand.
Here is a quick rundown courtesy of JPM:
Submitted by Wall Street Examiner's Lee Adler via Contra Corner blog,
In March of 2005, 52,000 new homes were sold at prices of less than $200,000.
At the bottom of the crash in March 2009 that number had dropped to 14,000.
The Fed instituted ZIRP and QE around that time.
Sales of homes under $200,000 totaled 9,000 units in March.