Note, I published this post way back in June. It relates to the post above that I put up this evening. It’s Friday night about 8:00 and I just returned from the IMN Distressed Real Estate Conference in Las Vegas. I want to give you some initial impressions this evening, basically just a skeleton outline […]
Archive for December 16th, 2008
Another Idea To Goose Homebuying
Posted by Tom Lindmark on December 16th, 2008
Here we go again. When in doubt pump up the housing sector. Will these guys ever figure this out? The latest proposal is for the Treasury to buy a big bond from the Federal Home Loan Banks (see link for an interesting Business Week article on the risks they entail) at a below market interest rate […]
Posted in Uncategorized 
Tags: federal home loan banks, interest rates, real estate, Tom Lindmark 
104 Comments »Best Buy Warns Of A Weak Environment For Some Time
Posted by Tom Lindmark on December 16th, 2008
Best Buy reported a steep drop in earnings but still beat analysts estimates. What was more important though was the company’s announcement that it was going to be buying out employees and reducing new store openings. It’s statement spoke volumes about the economy: “We anticipate that companies will be laying off more employees, which will […]
The Road To Economic Recovery?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on December 16th, 2008
You can bet that I am not going to be found in a camp opposing restraint on the part of the federal government when it comes to taming this recession. The authorities have one big, mean tiger by the tail and could well get mauled before this is over. I am, however, now and probably […]
Posted in Uncategorized Tags: Fed, fiscal policy, Japan, monetary policy, Tom Lindmark 93 Comments »The Great Monetary Experiment
Posted by Tom Lindmark on December 16th, 2008
Well you can kiss the Fed Funds rate goodbye as a tool of monetary policy. In case you haven’t heard, the Fed announced that its new target rate was 0% to 0.25%. Why they didn’t just say zero is beyond me but I’m sure there is an obscure reason. So now clear the boards for […]
Two Big Events Tomorrow
Posted by Tom Lindmark on December 16th, 2008
One more thought before I wander off to the land of Nod. Two big things come down tomorrow. One is pretty much baked in the cake and the other will tell quite a tale. The first is the Fed’s interest rate target announcement. We all know rates are going down the question is by how […]
