John Hussman: US Fiscal Position is Far Worse Than it Appears – Here’s Why

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Courtesy of John Hussman: The U.S. fiscal position is far worse than our present $1.3 trillion deficit and nearly 100% debt/GDP ratio would suggest. On the deficit side, there is certainly a “counter-cyclical” pattern to the U.S. federal deficit. As I noted a few weeks ago, every 1% shortfall of real GDP from potential (as […]

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Municipal bonds continue to get taken to the cleaners – here’s an ugly chart for ya: Muni bonds fall off a cliff. (Source: StockCharts.com) Ever since the Muni Bond Put known at the Build America Bonds fund was given an expiration date, investors have shown little appetite for tax-free municipal debt. Mish Shedlock explored the […]

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Check out the smack down investors laid on municipal bonds after Obama and Congress declined to extend the Build America Bonds program: Source: StockCharts.com The WSJ reports: If the BAB program is allowed to expire on Dec. 31, ending the sale of those federally subsidized, taxable securities, state and local governments would issue more tax-exempt […]

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Hey, have you noticed muni bonds lately?  They’re crashing! Muni bonds fall off a cliff (Source: StockCharts.com) We shall see where they go from here – but the recent rally sure looks like it your standard fare retracement/dead cat bounce – paving the way nicely for the next leg lower. DailyWealth’s Dan Ferris believes this […]

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According to Chris Whalen, it’s not a matter of IF the People’s Republic of California, it’s a matter of WHEN (and for the record, we agree 100%). There’s no way out of current debt and pension obligations, Whalen told Yahoo Tech Ticker (full interview and video here).  Something’s gotta give – and it’s likely to […]

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This may be an interesting time to go long a future “credit event” involving debt issued by the State of California.  Trading volume in Intrade’s Prediction Market is still light – but those 2011 contracts sure look potentially interesting: Source: Intrade.com California (as usual) bucked the national trend last night as a lone bright spot […]

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There’s been quite a bit of speculation that the November elections could be a bloodbath for incumbents, with a sweeping wave of austerity kicking ass and taking names. But the futures markets are currently showing that austerity votes are likely to disappoint in next month’s elections. Starting right here at the major nexus for irresponsible […]

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The City of Harrisburg is broke – but at least it’s not alone!  From The New York Times: Across the country, a growing number of towns, cities and other local governments are seeking refuge in similar havens that many states provide as alternatives to federal bankruptcy court. Pennsylvania will have 20 cities and smaller communities […]

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Last night I was reviewing the Congressional Budget Office’s recent outlook to get a handle on their assumptions (I know, an exciting Monday night!) One of our astute readers kicked off this exercise by taking a look at the government’s debt and interest rate projections out to 2015, concluding that the call by many that […]

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I say hilarious because the fine folks at Across the Street did a great job showing the increasing disparity between debt and income in the US: Source: Across the Street And here’s the full article: Understanding the National Debt (Sesame Street Edition) Hat tip Carson for sending this along.

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