Why America’s Two Economies Continue to Drift Apart, and What Washington Isn’t Doing About It
by ilene - December 14th, 2010 8:00 pm
Courtesy of Robert Reich
America’s two economies are getting wider apart.
The Big Money economy is booming. According to a new Commerce Department report, third-quarter profits of American businesses rose at an annual record-breaking $1.659 trillion – besting even the boom year of 2006 (in nominal dollars). Profits have soared for seven consecutive quarters now, matching or beating their fastest pace in history.
Executive pay is linked to profits, so top pay is soaring as well.
Higher profits are also translating into the nice gains in the stock market, which is a boon to everyone with lots of financial assets.
And Wall Street is back. Bonuses on the Street are expected to rise about 5 percent this year, according to a survey by compensation consultants Johnson Associates Inc.
But nothing is trickling down to the Average Worker economy. Job growth is still anemic. At October’s rate of only 50,000 new private-sector jobs, unemployment won’t get down to pre-recession levels for twenty years. And almost half of October’s new jobs were in temporary help.
Meanwhile, the median wage is barely rising, adjusted for inflation. And the value of the major asset of most Americans – their homes – continues to drop.
Why are America’s two economies going in opposite directions? Two reasons.
First, big profits are coming from overseas sales of goods and services made abroad, not here. The world’s fastest-growing markets are China and India, whose inhabitants are eager to buy “American” products, and just as eager to work for the American companies that sell them. The U.S. market is barely moving.
Increasingly, American corporations are able to extract healthy gains from their global operations without adding much in the United States except executive talent.
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Second, American businesses are boosting productivity by having U.S. employees do more work for less pay. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, between the third quarter of 2009 and the third quarter of 2010, productivity rose 2.5 percent, output increased 4.1 percent, the number of hours worked was up 1.6 percent, and unit labor costs dropped by 1.9 percent.
In other words, American workers are losing even more bargaining power as a sizeable chunk of corporate profit goes into software and digital equipment that can do what people used to do – but more cheaply.
So what is Washington doing about all this?
Making the tax code more progressive so more Americans reap…
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THE BIG MONEY IS LOSING CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKET
by ilene - August 31st, 2010 5:02 pm
THE BIG MONEY IS LOSING CONFIDENCE IN THE MARKET
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
This morning’s State Street Investor Confidence survey showed a marked decline in confidence. Confidence was down across the board which shows increasing pessimism from institutional money managers. Ken Froot, co-founder of the index, commented on the deterioration:
“This month, the Global Investor Confidence Index gave back the modest gains recorded last month, providing evidence that institutional investors remain non-committal in the face of a weaker macroeconomic backdrop. August marks the fifth consecutive month that the Index has remained below the neutral level of 100. Despite the relative strength of corporate balance sheets, question marks remain over the slow pace of economic recovery and the relative efficacy of policy measures to spur that recovery.”
Source: State Street
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THE BIG MONEY IS BULLISH WHILE SMALL MONEY IS BEARISH
by ilene - December 17th, 2009 2:08 pm
THE BIG MONEY IS BULLISH WHILE SMALL MONEY IS BEARISH
Courtesy of The Pragmatic Capitalist
As a futures trader I routinely check the commitment of traders report released by the CFTC. For those who aren’t familiar with the report it is a breakdown provided by the CTFC of each Tuesday’s open interest for market positions in which 20 or more traders hold positions equal to or above the reporting levels established by the CFTC. It’s widely followed in trading circles and gives a glimpse into what the big money, commercial money and even the small money is doing with their positions.
What piqued my interest in this data were comments in Tuesday’s “Breakfast with Dave” by Gluskin Sheff’s David Rosenberg implying that the equity markets were overly bullish because the commitment of
I have found over the years that the commitment of traders report tends to be a fairly weak short-term indicator. In fact, the COT tends to be more useful in following the long-term trends of large institutions and where they are currently investing money. Mr. Rosenberg’s implication that the current net bullish position should be seen as a contrarian sign is not necessarily true. After all, big money moves prices and knowing where the big money is going is more often than not a good indicator of where to put your money as opposed to what to avoid. But let’s go even further.
One of my favorite indicators is actually the reporting of small speculators in the CFTC’s report. This shows us what the amateur and small-time futures traders are doing with their money. I have found over the years that this is a fairly reliable contrarian indicator. As you can see in the chart below these traders were net bullish in just 4 weeks over the last year. The last time small traders were substantially net bullish was just before the market crumbled at the beginning of 2009. But what is it telling us now? As of last week’s report it is showing the largest net short position since the week following the March 8th bottom. In other words, small speculators were this…
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Philip R. Davis is a founder Phil's Stock World, a stock and options trading site that teaches the art of options trading to newcomers and devises advanced strategies for expert traders...
Ilene is editor and affiliate program
coordinator for PSW. She manages the site