Economic Recovery
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Gold Prices Soar to 18-Month High on Dollar Weakness, Inflation Fears
Gold bugs pushed the gold prices to an18-month high today (Wednesday), as rattled investors focused on renewed weakness in the U.S. dollar and the looming potential for runaway inflation. Those factors combined to push gold as high as $1,023.30 an ounce, the loftiest level since late March 2008. The case for inflation was bolstered by [...] -
Bank Failures Could Surge as Commercial Real Estate Losses Continue to Mount
The dark cloud of commercial real estate loan defaults is inching closer, threatening to shutter more banks, even as the U.S. Federal Reserve declares the recession to be over. Commercial property values in the U.S. have plummeted 36% since peaking in 2007, and the commercial real estate market is unlikely to recover before 2012, according [...]
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Fed: Recession "Very Likely Over," but Threats Remain
U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said yesterday (Tuesday) that the worst recession since the Great Depression is "very likely over." However, Bernanke also said that unemployment would remain high and keep the recovery from accelerating. "Even though, from a technical perspective, the recession is very likely over at this point," Bernanke said, "it's [...]
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U.S. Stocks: Winning Streak is Over, But Bull Market Continues
The winning streak is over. But the outlook for stocks remains upbeat. U.S. stocks on Friday suffered their first setback after six straight days of gains, but the damage wasn't severe. No news appeared to precipitate the decline, so chalk it up to light profit-taking. In the Friday session, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost [...]
