This morning we got a triple header on the great website www.Calculatedriskblog.com. As the market soars higher day after day many things are surging. Here are three:
Unemployment claims surged this week and last week’s claims were adjusted upward. John Hussman predicted that employment would go back in the shitter in October and November. Here we go.
In the week ending Oct. 9, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 462,000, an increase of 13,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 449,000 [up from 445,000]. The 4-week moving average was 459,000, an increase of 2,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 456,750.
Foreclosures surged in September with repossessions topping 100,000 for the first time in history.
From RealtyTrac: Foreclosure Activity Increases 4 Percent in Third Quarter
Foreclosure filings were reported on 347,420 U.S. properties in September, an increase of nearly 3 percent from the previous month and an increase of 1 percent from September 2009. A record total of 102,134 bank repossessions were reported in September, the first time bank repossessions have surpassed the 100,000 mark in a single month.
“Lenders foreclosed on a record number of properties in September and in the third quarter, taking a bite out of the backlog of distressed properties where the foreclosure process was delayed by foreclosure prevention efforts over the past 20 months,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “We expect to see a dip in those bank repossessions — and possibly earlier stages of the foreclosure process — in the fourth quarter as several major lenders have halted foreclosure sales in some states while they review irregularities in foreclosure-processing documentation that has been called into question in recent weeks.”
The trade deficit surged in September. So much for a weak dollar spurring exports. You actually need a manufacturing base to export stuff. I don’t think the Chinese want to import CDOs, MBSs, and CDSs from Wall Street.
The Census Bureau reports:
[T]otal August exports of $153.9 billion and imports of $200.2 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $46.3 billion, up from $42.6 billion in July, revised. The increase in the deficit in August was due to both oil and China, although the bulk of the increase was because of trade with China. The trade deficit with China increased to $28.0 billion in August from $25.9 billion in July (NSA).
The imbalances have returned …
I wonder how high the market will go today on this great surging news.
Administrator says:
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of people who signed up for state unemployment benefits jumped 13,000 to 462,000 in the latest week, the federal government reported, signaling no improvement in a weak U.S. jobs market.
Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to fall to a seasonally adjusted 444,000 in the week ended Oct. 9. Claims for last week were revised up by 4,000 to 449,000, according to Labor Department data.
“This week’s jobless claims data is unquestionably a disappointment,” Dan Greenhaus, chief economist strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. said in an email.
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14th October 2010 at 10:28 am
Acatt says:
In a country full of ‘something for nothing’ entitled college graduates and boomers, I’m not surprised that so many people are without work.
College education is a joke in the sense that anyone who has a degree, “expects” that they should find work above and beyond cleaning someone’s shitter. It’s a similar attitude that people have had where they thought if they jumped through the minimal hoops to get a loan, they should be able to make a ton on their home.
Well, I have news for you; getting a degree is great, ya getta learn stuff, you get to challenge your thinking, it’s a chance to prove that you are responsible, but, it is in no way a free ticket to a job. I’ve seen men cry that they’ve lost it all and can’t find work. Tough shit. Get off your ass and do something.
Just this last week, I heard a 60 year old lady tell me that her son has been without work for a year! A fricking YEAR! What, are the guy’s arms and legs painted on? I’m just tired of hearing it.
Strangely, I don’t hear many of the biggots here in Idaho who bitch about immigrant farm workers taking their jobs, lining up to go pick onions…WTF?
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14th October 2010 at 10:39 am
NonAnonymous says:
“No improvement”? How about a complete and total disaster. $20T in the can, and the economy hasn’t budged, which proves the system has gotten so skewed that trickle down only goes into some very down pockets. Only by breaking the system can the real economy be restored.
The US outsourced jobs to jurisdictions that allow exploitation of the proletariat, and the US worker and our economy have been left holding the bag. After strip mining the US economy of jobs and raiding the national treasury, what is left besides record bonuses on wall street? I’m not so much interested in what is left, than what can be clawed back or otherwise reappropriated from these thieves.
The high crimes and treason couldn’t have been perpetrated without the collusion of the US Congress, and it may very well require an all out war to exact retribution. With no hope in sight, how long will it be before civil unrest becomes the order of the day. Let’s hope against hope the remedy isn’t a restriction of liberty, but a restoration of such as guaranteed by the US Constitution and a return to providing the common defense and promoting the general weal, instead of providing a safe harbor for terrorists and voting themselves raises and other perks and benefits every other day.
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14th October 2010 at 11:01 am
JIMSKI says:
At least if we ” throw out the volatile food and energy sectors” inflation was only .1 %
Now if I could run my car on cat piss and eat cat shit i would be fine.
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14th October 2010 at 12:46 pm
Dave says:
If they are paying these fucktard economists more than $5.00/hour to make these weekly wrong predictions, I hereby offer my services to do the same thing for half-price.
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14th October 2010 at 2:09 pm