Shiller: Why Smart Money Can’t Stop a Housing Bubble At least according to economist (and Nobel Prize winner) Robert Shiller, housing is more prone to bubbles than stocks for two reasons: 1) housing supply eventually responds to higher prices, satisfying demand (and then some); and 2) unlike stocks, it’s not possible to short housing —...Read More
Did the Fed “Buy Itself a Landslide?” “Dear Jack: Don’t buy a single vote more than is necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.” —JFK quoting a made-up telegram from his father, Joseph Kennedy, after he first won election to Congress. As far as I’m concerned — and I know a lot of...Read More
Vertiginous Stocks “Dear Jack: Don’t buy a single vote more than is necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.” —JFK quoting a made-up telegram from his father, Joseph Kennedy, after he first won election to Congress. Here’s a thought: overdoing the stimulus — and rocketing stocks higher — can backfire, blunting (or worse)...Read More
Proof that Stocks Are “Bubble-icious” “The degree to which this market is dependent on continued Fed easing was demonstrated just last week when rumors of a Jon Hilsenrath article on the Fed’s exit strategy knocked the market down nearly 100 points in a matter of minutes Thursday afternoon. Hilsenrath is known — or at least...Read More
It’s Supposed to Work in the Midwest, at Least One of the all-time high school pranks growing up — at least according to urban legend — was going to the mall and acting like you lost a contact lens. Step 2: a couple confederates join your “search.” What’s supposed to happen next is, clueless passersby...Read More
