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HomeOrin Kramer Provides More ‘Sense on Cents’
Posted by Larry Doyle on February 22nd, 2010 10:10 AM |
I first introduced Orin Kramer, chairman of the council overseeing the New Jersey State Pension, to readers of Sense on Cents on January 5th. On that date I wrote “Public Pension ‘Smoothies’ Will Cost $2 Trillion”, highlighting the massive gap in the funding of our public pension system.
Last evening on my radio show, my guest Ronald Holland addressed how we should ultimately expect our retirement funds to be taken over by the government partially for the purpose of funding these pensions. You can listen to the entire interview with Mr. Holland here.
We wake up this morning and are revisited by none other than Orin Kramer, who provides a succinct but enlightening View From the Top interview to the Financial Times: (more…)
Is The Economy Turning The Corner?
Posted by Larry Doyle on April 21st, 2009 7:05 AM |
Markets correct by price (both up and down) and time (extended). Despite the 3+% price declines in equity markets yesterday, the markets are up approximately 20% since the market lows seen on March 6th. Some analysts believe this upward move signals an improvement in the economy largely due to the fiscal and monetary stimulus provided by Uncle Sam. I am not in that camp.
A few emerging economies, specifically China, have improved. Can the rest of the world, including the U.S., expect those economies to be the engine for a global turnaround at this juncture? I do not think so. I still see the following issues on our domestic horizon:
1. continued deterioration in loan performance on bank books
2. a banking system woefully capital deficient
3. an automotive industry which must downsize
4. municipalities which are faced with the predicamant of capital shortfalls and underfunded pensions
5. commercial real estate just starting to experience real defaults
6. a housing market with increased foreclosures pressuring prices
7. an unemployment rate clearly headed toward double digits
Earnings reports for the first quarter have been mixed. I view the recently reported bank earnings as largely “managed” via accounting gimmicks. Meredith Whitney believes the earnings for major money center banks will turn negative in the 2nd quarter. The regional banks, without the benefit of large capital market activities but facing credit writedowns, report earnings today. Key Corp just reported a loss of $1.09 eps (earnings per share) versus an estimate of -.21. I suspect we will see losses from other regional banks of a similar magnitude. (more…)
