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(Image:
source.)
If it looks
like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a
duck, right?
Then consider
the following [italics
mine]:
"U.S. Commercial Real Estate Prices Decline to Post-Crash Low,
Moody’s Says" (Bloomberg)
U.S. commercial
property prices fell to a post-recession low in March as sales of financially
distressed assets weighed on the market, according to Moody’s Investors
Service.
The
Moody’s/REAL Commercial Property Price Index dropped 4.2 percent from
February and is now 47 percent below the peak of October 2007, Moody’s
said in a statement today.
The national index has fallen for four straight months as sales of distressed
properties hurt real estate values. Investor demand is strongest for
well-leased buildings in such major markets as New York and Washington as
vacancy rates decline and the economy grows.
...
The overall
index shows “no
sign of recovery,” Moody’s said.
"Homebuilders See No
Recovery" (Associated
Press)
ECONOMY: The
recession may be over, but foreclosures and a credit squeeze are keeping
construction sluggish.
For
homebuilders, it hardly feels like an economic recovery.
Nearly two
years after the recession ended, the pace of construction is inching along at
less than half the level considered healthy. Single-family homebuilding, the
bulk of the market, has dropped 11 percent in that time. And there's no sign
it will improve soon.
Builders are
struggling to compete with waves of foreclosures that have forced down prices
for previously occupied homes. The weakness is weighing on the economy.
"Wal-Mart: Our Shoppers Are 'Running Out of Money'" (CNN
Money)
Wal-Mart's core
shoppers are running out of money much faster than a year ago due to rising
gasoline prices, and the retail giant is worried, CEO Mike Duke said
Wednesday.
"We're
seeing core consumers under a lot of pressure," Duke said at an event in
New York. "There's no doubt that rising fuel prices are having an
impact."
Wal-Mart
shoppers, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, typically shop in bulk at
the beginning of the month when their paychecks come in.
Lately, they're
"running out of money" at a faster clip, he said.
...
To that end,
Duke said he's not
seeing signs of a recovery yet.
"No Recovery Yet for US,
Europe - Reckitt CEO" (MarketWatch)
Global growth
in the consumer industry has slowed and talk of recovery in the U.S. and
Western Europe is premature, Reckitt Benckiser PLC (RB.LN ) Chief Executive
Bart Becht told Dow Jones Newswires.
"Where Are the Jobs, Mr. President? The Jobless Obama Recovery
Continues" (Fox
News)
There has been no recovery in the
job market during the Obama recovery. Despite all the cheerleading by the
Obama administration and the media, job creation has been horribly sluggish.
The jobs created recently are noteworthy only in comparison to the lack of
jobs created during the rest of the “recovery.” In contrast to
other recoveries over at least the last half century, job creation has never
been more anemic.
There you have
it: it's a duck -- er, a non-recovery.
(Looks like
even stock traders are beginning to take notice.)
Michael J. Panzner
Editor, Financialarmageddon.com
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