Talk Back

It has become a pair of powerful headlights on the highway that blind you to everything else.

Currency markets are so focused on the possibility of further quantitative easing from the U.S. Federal Reserve that other market drivers have receded into the background.

They are still there, but only dimly visible at best.

But once the Fed unveils its stimulus plan Wednesday–and the market absorbs its impact–those other themes could resurface with a vengeance.

“I would say [the market] has had collective myopia vis-a-vis QE,” said Jeremy Stretch, foreign-exchange strategist at CIBC World Markets in London.

Continue reading…

MARK TO MARKET: Cash For Clunkers Nightmare Is Nothing New

By Jim Murphy
A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)–A sage – me – once observed that some things make sense until you think about them.

Thursday, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood surprised most of us with the news that the wildly successful “cash for clunkers” program would end at 8 p.m. EDT on Monday, Aug. 24.

When I say the program was wildly successful, I mean that the Obama administration characterized it as such, and the people who were able to get a $3,500 or $4,500 rake-off on a new car by turning in their gas-guzzling jalopies were not unhappy, either.

Car dealers, whom the bloated Beltway bureaucrats have taken their own sweet time in repaying for cash advances made under the “clunkers” program, have spent, in the words of the Freddy Fender song, “wasted days and wasted nights.” Continue reading…

Jim Falanga, an information technology consultant in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., has been named the Editor’s Choice for June for his comments in response to a Dow Jones column, “HEARD ON THE STREET: Nourishment For Packaged Food Margins,” by John Jannarone.

For his insightful comments, Falanga wins a Garmin Nuvi navigator.

We are looking forward to hearing from you. Keep your comments coming. Please share your own views. Email us at TalkBackAmericas@dowjones.com.

Read his comments:

TALK BACK: Stop Looking For Short-Term Profits

I own General Mills stock so I guess more earnings would benefit me in the short term. However, we have to stop thinking short term.

GIS margins are already ridiculously high. It is foolish to keep expecting companies to increase margins and for them to continue to be as high as they are. I.e., the high cost of cereal and many other items is breaking the back of most consumers. The margins come at the price of layoffs, reduced costs (less revenue for other companies), poorer quality, and eventually reduced sales volume. Continue reading…

Tuesday, the Conference Board reported a sharp improvement in consumer confidence – the index scored 54.9 in May, up from 40.8 the prior month. The stock market celebrated with a strong rally.

The Conference Board report was in line with improvements in other measures of household and investor attitudes; however, the hard data on the economy – housing starts and prices, industrial production, private sector employment and new unemployment insurance claims -remain disappointing.

Thursday, the Commerce Department reports durable goods orders for April. These were down 0.8% in March, and the consensus forecast calls for another 0.3% drop.

Unless the economists are wrong, this key forward-looking indicator of economic health would likely indicate that the recession has some time to run. Until consumers have the confidence to purchase big ticket items and businesses put cash into new technology, the economic recovery is not at hand. Continue reading…