If you believe the official line about QE not having any potential inflationary repercussions, or that the mess in Europe should stay contained, I think it might be fair to say that one only has to watch where the Central Banks, themselves, are putting their own money!

CNBC
Gold Demand Up 6% in Third Quarter as Central Banks Buy

Demand for gold rose ( Read more... )

Paul Krugman
What A Drag

From Goldman Sachs, an estimate of the federal budget impact on growth. The gray line shows the direct impact, the blue line includes the induced “multiplier” effects. Notice that this shows the rate of change, not the level effects. I explained the difference a while back.

What you can see is that the unwinding of the ( Read more... )

Earlier today while catching a bit of Fast Money on CNBC, an observation was made that for "the rest of us" really comes as no big newsflash, but apparently is a shocker to many of those living in Wall Street (Said with regard to US retail sales):

"I think it's high-end or nowhere right now"

CNBC

Fears Grow Over Double-Dip RecessionOne fund ( Read more... )

NYT
As Economy Sputters, a Timid Fed

Whenever officials at the Federal Reserve confront a big decision, they have to weigh two competing risks. Are they doing too much to speed up economic growth and touching off inflation? Or are they doing too little and allowing unemployment to stay high?

It’s clear which way the Fed has erred recently. It has ( Read more... )

Given that the US economy is still not yet on firm footing, some now say that the price oil must reach this time around in order to trigger a new recession could be as low as around $120.

CNBC
$120 Oil: The Breaking Point for Consumers?

Some OPEC members may see oil prices [CLCV1  105.40 
( Read more... )

The Economist: Recovery, if it continues, won't feel like one

The lean year
The economic recovery hasn’t been derailed (yet).
Even so, for many people it is unlikely to feel very buoyant

AS THE coalition government drew up its detailed plans to cut public spending last autumn, in order to deal with Britain’s swollen budget deficit, the economic ( Read more... )

Business Insider
Jan 13, 2011

Why The Surge In Producer Prices Could Bring On The Next Recession Far Sooner Than People Realize

This morning's PPI number came in hot, at a 1.1% month-over-month increase. More alarming than that may be the rise in prices sans food and energy of 0.2%.
This matters because it shows a large portion of commodity prices ( Read more... )

Jeff Reeves, editor InvestorPlace.com, cites seven compelling reasons why $5 a gallon gas may indeed be on the way in the not too distant future. If he's right, the impact on the economy may be yet another oil price shock.

$5 Gas Prices Coming to a Pump Near You
7 reasons gasoline is on the rise

Crude oil prices are rising steadily, up about +22% ( Read more... )

Click to view

Someone 'splain why Treasury is going to give $600B to Goldman Sachs?

(ETA: we need a wtf? tag, it would be used all the damn time.)

From The New York Times

The Real Story
Next week, President Obama is scheduled to propose new measures to boost the economy. I hope they’re bold and substantive, since the Republicans will oppose him regardless - if he came out for motherhood, the G.O.P. would declare motherhood un-American. So he should put them on the spot for standing in the way ( Read more... )