CPI Numberwang Jumps Higher But Still Does Not Tell The Truth!

The latest CPI for Australia to December was much stronger than expected and puts more pressure on the RBA to react sooner. But as we examine the data we also update our shadow estimate of the TRUE rate of inflation which is much higher, and helps to explain the high levels of financial stress in the system.

FINAL REMINDER: DFA Live 8pm Tonight: Steve Keen And Victor Kline (TNL)

Join us for a live discussion as I explore the emerging policies of The New Liberals aka TNL with founder Victor Kline and Steve Keen, architect of their housing policy. Both are standing in the yet to be announced Federal election. You can ask a question live via the YouTube chat.

Markets Don’t Fall In Straight Lines!

As I suggested in recent posts, the markets are in a volatile frame of mind, and this won’t change quickly, as the fundamentals are shifting under us. I still hold the view that the stock market is vulnerable to a big selloff once liquidity is withdrawn and interest rates rise. Yet, despite some obvious wobbles, central banks have ensured money has stayed plentiful for the last decade, they cut interest rates rates have fallen, and as a result, anyone who did much to protect themselves against the risk of a decline would have done badly by it.

And on the other side, the bulls still argue that the environment remains set fair for stocks, and that even a fall in bonds would ram home the fact that there is no alternative to equities. And of course they’ve been right for the best part of a decade. And they will be, until they are not.

If you had looked at the US markets an hour or two before close, you would say the markets were continuing their linear falls. Yet, these kinds of sudden widespread losses day after day, week after week, are screaming for a bounce. And we got one.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.

Credit Booms: But What Does It Really Tell Us?

My first chat of 2022 with Steve Mickenbecker from Canstar. We discuss the latest credit stats, the property market, interest rates and how to save some money. And Steve’s New Year resolution is a doozy…

Steve Mickenbecker is in Canstar’s Group Executive Team, bringing more than 30 years of experience in the Australian financial services industry. As a financial commentator for Canstar, Steve enjoys sharing his expertise across topics such as home loans, superannuation, insurance, mortgages, banking, credit cards, investment, budgeting, money management and more.

https://www.canstar.com.au/team-members/steve-mickenbecker/

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Fear Grips The Market – So Where To Hide?

It’s been another doozy of a week on Wall Street. US stocks fell, capping the worst week since the outbreak of the pandemic roiled markets, with tech shares bearing the brunt of the sell-off amid shaky company earnings and prospects for higher US interest rates.

“This is the longest short week, I think, in history, right?” Jay Pelosky, founder and president of TPW Investment Management, said. “It’s only been a four-day week and it feels like it’s been two weeks rolled into one.”All the U.S. stock indexes closed lower Friday, capping another punishing week for growth and technology stocks as investors await a Federal Reserve update next week on how aggressively interest rates may rise and financial conditions tighten to tame inflation.

The NASDAQ Composite Index led the three stock benchmarks lower Friday, ending down 2.7%, but off 7.6% for the week, which was its worst weekly decline since March 2020, The NASDAQ also entered correction territory mid-week, commonly measured as at least a 10% decline from its recent record close, and recorded its worst start to a year through Friday since the 2008 global financial crisis. It ended at 13,769.

Rising 10-year Treasury yields, have also pressured speculative stocks and total returns of riskier assets. It rose 1.35% to 1.770, while the 2 year was up 2.3% to 1.0158.

The S&P 500 index tumbled 1.89% Friday and 5.7% for the week, and closed below its 200-day moving average, a key technical level, for the first time since 2020. It ended at 4397. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.3% for the session and 4.6% for the week, pulled lower in part by jitters about pinched margins as major banks kicked off fourth-quarter earnings. It ended at 34,265.

The latest edition of our finance and property news digest with a distinctively Australian flavour.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Is 2022 The Year When Stuff Starts To Break? – With Tarric Brooker

I am joined by Journalist Tarric Brooker for our afternoon chat in a week where so much looks close to breaking point. And once again he bring some chart gems to underscore what is going on. Tarric is on Twitter as @AvidCommentator.

The latest edition of our finance and property news digest with a distinctively Australian flavour.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Decoding Market Uncertainty

Wall Street’s main indexes fell on Thursday and a rally in U.S. stocks faded late in the session as investors debated whether equities were becoming bargains after a sell-off to start the year that has seen the NASDAQ fall into correction territory.

Major U.S. indexes had been up sharply for much of the day after a steep drop to start the week. The NASDAQ on Wednesday closed 10.7% below its November all-time high, confirming it was in a correction.

In a note posted Thursday, Grantham, the co-founder of Boston asset manager GMO, describes U.S. stocks as being in a “super bubble,” only the fourth of the past century. And just as they did in the crash of 1929, the dot-com bust of 2000 and the financial crisis of 2008, he’s certain this bubble will burst, sending indexes back to statistical norms and possibly further.

Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/

Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.

If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.

Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.

Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.

Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.

Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.