debt

In 2006, the underpinnings of the American financial system began to crack from a speculative bubble in the country’s housing market.  Fueled by irrational exuberance in which homeowners believed their home prices would rise forever, this was made worse by Main Street and Wall Street,...

It's no secret that housing has problems. I am reminded of the old Pogo cartoon, "We have found the enemy and he is us!" Solutions remain elusive. One of the reasons for this is that the “housing market problem” is really a host of problems.   A partial list includes home prices which continue to...

By Todd Gibson Occupy Wall Street turned 1 month old recently. What a difference a month makes. The movement went global this past weekend with OWS protests in many cities here in the US as well as abroad. What is the big deal? I'll try to answer that. The movement, recently, is being courted by...

CANADA.COM -- "With the recent spotlight on the debt crisis in Greece and other European nations, we take a look at the countries that are most in debt, calculated by the World Bank's data on gross external debt as a percentage of the GDP. The top ranking nations may surprise you."  HT: Che is Dead...

Some not so surprising news in an era of a poor economy, dearth of jobs, and stratospheric college costs.  Recent students are showing an increasing propensity to default.  The figures here are deceiving as these are the default rates WITHIN 2 years of when the loan should be paid back.  According...

If you wondered what that 10 point S&P rally off of 1036 is, the Financial Times is reporting talks of China buying Italian debt.  Just another day in Rumorville as computers scanning headlines buy before you can put down your glass of water.  (psst - China was buying Greek bonds a year ago -...

It's been hard to escape the talk of downgraded U.S. debt, though if you have any interest in the country as a whole it's hard to imagine why you'd intentionally avoid it. That is not to say, however, that I'm taking a hard-lined doomsayer view; rather it's simply too novel of an event to ignore–...

Been a while since we have had one of these - a nice change to see stocks moving on their merits rather than the macro.  Most of this week's economic reports are inflation or housing related - neither of which is going to move markets much as inflation is not a concern of Bernanke as he has...

The turmoil surrounding Standard & Poor's decision Friday to downgrade the U.S. government's debt rating to AA+ from AAA weighed on global markets Monday, with equities around the world tumbling. Asian markets closed much lower of the session, with Japan's Nikkei index falling 2.18% and China'...

There has been a lot of talk recently regarding a possible bubble in higher education. With increasing tuition costs for students and a dire job market after graduation, more are beginning to ask whether getting a college education is really worth it. Given the prevalent use of student loans to...

China's currency regulator urged the United States Wednesday to take "responsible" action to strengthen market confidence in the dollar and its debt, adding further heat to the fiscal battle in Washington. In a statement on its website, China's State Administration of Foreign Exchange made clear...

Brian Sozzi of Wall Street Strategies is out with a research note this morning on the potential economic fallout of a Greece default on the U.S. consumer, as well as the parallels of the situation in Greece to a couple of U.S.-based retailers. Sozzi says that enormous amounts of debt are prevalent...

Stocks across Europe and Asia are down significantly Thursday, as European officials fumble to establish a solution to Greece's ongoing sovereign debt woes. London's FTSE is down 1.2% today, with Germany's DAX index 0.9%. Asian shares were hit harder Thursday, with Japan's Nikkei index down 1.7%...

If you were in the same financial mess as the United States government is, you might consider dropping $1500 on a bankruptcy attorney and exchanging a low credit score for the peace of mind that comes with flipping creditors the bird. It certainly is a tempting possibility. The United States...