Heating the Stove with Furniture

Posted on January 20, 2012 by MN Gordon

Several important economic data points from last month were revealed this week.  Industrial production and the producer price index were reported on Wednesday.  Then, yesterday, the consumer price index was reported.  Here are the particulars…

According to the Federal Reserve, manufacturing increased 0.9 percent in December…its biggest gain since December 2010.  Manufacturing’s still about 8 percent below its July 2007 pre-recession peak, but it has increased nearly 15 percent from its recession low.  Industrial output, on the other hand, is now less than 5 percent below its September 2007 pre-recession peak, and has increased more than 14 percent from its June 2009 recession low.

No doubt, it has been a long hard slog just to get back to within spitting distance of level ground.  Who knows if industrial production will continue charting its course back up and to the right?  Perhaps this is all just a big economic head fake before things roll down the mountain again.  No one knows for certain, at the moment.  But we’re confident we’ll all know in good time Continue reading →

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The Money Must Go Somewhere

Posted on January 17, 2012 by MN Gordon

In Friday’s issue of the Economic Prism we suggested that, despite all the financial uncertainty going on, the U.S. economy is strengthening.  By the response we received, this optimism astonished many of our readers.  Naturally, we thought that would be the case…and promised there’d be more to follow.  So allow us to explain…

To begin, we still believe things are going to hell in a hand bucket.  Government debt, which recently exceeded 100 percent of gross domestic product, is a ball and chain to economic growth and dynamite to monetary stability.  The debt problem isn’t going away.  It will ultimately restrain the economy and bring about government default or mass inflation as the Fed prints money to lighten the debt burden.

But neither economic progress nor ruin follow a straight line.  Countertrends and cyclical rallies play out making fools of believers and nonbelievers alike.  At the moment we think the economy’s taking a temporary detour from its eventual destination.

Remember, the financial and economic problems we face today didn’t begin in 2008; they began nearly a century ago with the creation of the Federal Reserve.  Moreover, they began in earnest in 1971 when Nixon severed the dollar’s last tie to gold Continue reading →

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Seeing the First Glimpse of Dawn

Posted on January 13, 2012 by MN Gordon

Here we are, just two weeks into the New Year, and things are looking up.  So far on the year, the S&P 500’s up 2.9 percent, the Nasdaq’s up 2.5 percent, and gold’s up 3.1 percent.  Even silver, if you can believe it, is up about 4.5 percent.

Good times are coming, you can almost touch it.  Moreover, there’s an excitement in the air that hasn’t been felt since before the housing market deflated.  It’s about time things picked up…right?

Particularly after the way things have gone the last several years… What’s not to love about rising asset prices?

They make a man feel wiser, richer, and better looking all at once.  Suddenly his bald spot’s no longer getting bigger…it’s getting smaller, along with his waste line.  Conversely, his 401k statement’s no longer getting smaller…it’s getting bigger.  Joyfully, upon opening his monthly statement, he’s greeted with the pleasing satisfaction of ballooning wealth.  He fancies his shrewd investing abilities to be equal to Warren Buffett – maybe even superior Continue reading →

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Kodak Moment for Uncle Sam

Posted on January 10, 2012 by MN Gordon

Dinosaurs must die.  It’s a fact of life.  Just ask Kodak. Last week, after 123-years in business, it was reported the dinosaur company is preparing to file for bankruptcy protection.  By market close on Friday, the former blue chip’s stock traded at $0.37 a share.

No doubt, Kodak’s demise resulted from many failings.  The most obvious being its failure to adapt to digital photography.  From what we gather, Kodak’s near monopoly on film, and exceptional profit margins, blinded the company to its pending death as digital photography came to dominate the market.

By the time Kodak realized their strategic error the world had changed.  Although they made hefty investments in digital camera products, it was much too late.  They could not catch their competitors.  Kodak was stuck in analog…their business model and products were obsolete.  The world had become digital.

In short, when film fell out of favor Kodak’s revenue stream disappeared.  Yet their legacy costs and benefit liabilities continued to increase until, ultimately, they could no longer turn a profit.  Over the last 10 years, Kodak has lost money nearly every year.  Their bankruptcy was just a matter of time Continue reading →

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