The housing bubble was one for the ages. We’ve all heard stories of one kind or another… There was the glass cutter who earned $5,000 per month, pretax. WaMu gave him a $615,000 home loan with payments of $3,600 per month.
The tough thing about buying stocks is, you never know when they’ll appreciate in price (and you’ll make a profit). The other tough thing is, no matter how much homework you’ve done, there’s always a risk that something will go terribly wrong (fraud, accident, etc.) and your position will be wiped out. There are no guarantees when it comes to buying equity.
U.S. home prices suffered their worst decline on record, skidding 1.7% in the first quarter, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO) announced today (Thursday).
In the currency market, the dollar slipped some more against the euro. Late Tuesday, the euro was trading at $1.5525 vs. $1.5491 on Monday.
The ongoing credit crisis could trigger losses of $1 trillion, according to an assessment by the International Monetary Fund.
In its twice-yearly review of the global financial markets, the UN agency also warned that there is a “collective failure” to grasp the extent of leverage in the financial system that could further damage the health of the US economy.
On March 31, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson announced the laying of the government’s foundation stone for the next big financial bubble, heralding an era of hyperinflation and probable further runs on the U.S. dollar. Of course, like most politics, there is usually a good reason and a real reason for actions.