Skip to main content

A roundup of what The Globe and Mail's market strategist Scott Barlow is reading this morning on the World Wide Web.

U.S. asset manager David Merkel's popular Aleph blog describes a vital point for equity investors in "Buy Stocks When Credit Spreads are High, Sell When They are Low." I'm clearly biased here, having just written an extended column on the "lunacy" of current tight credit spreads. But spreads widening out and causing significant credit problems is my primary market worry at the moment.

The money quote from Mr. Merkel: "When I see articles like Trends Point to Growth & Stability, I shake my head and say, 'Driving by looking through the rear-view mirror.' "

"Buy Stocks When Credit Spreads are High, Sell When They are Low" – Aleph blog

A terrific presentation from Macromavens founder Stephanie Pomboy attempts to get into the mind of former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and even speculates on why he left the central bank. The main focus of the talk was the failure of the Fed's strategy to create a wealth and asset bubble that flowed through to the general economy.

There are a number of interesting slides, but the one that caught my attention was a comparison of U.S. mortgage originations to total home sales. The slide makes it pretty obvious that the resurgence in U.S. housing, now flagging, was caused largely by financial firms buying homes with cash in order to rent them out.

"Stephanie Pomboy Wine Country Conference 2014: Confessions of Ben Bernanke" – youtube

Reuters' "Basel III is dead" report just came over the wires. Global banks have been restructuring their businesses for years in order to comply with new regulations so the Fed abandoning the new standards in favour of their own rules is a huge, huge deal that Canada will have to reckon with also.

"Fed may shun global risk rules banks spent billions to meet" – Reuters

U.S. auto sales surged last month in a positive sign for U.S. consumption and the broader economy. The 1.3 million vehicles sold represents an 11 per cent year-over-year improvement.

"U.S. May car sales jump to 1.6 million, beating expectations" – Reuters

See also: "Cars on the road in the U.S. are still pretty old" – FT Alphaville

Business Insider provided a list of stunning statistics showing just how far China's economy has come in the past thirty years. This includes the fact that, in a two year period, China produced more cement than the United States did in the entire 20th century.

"16 Facts About China That Will Blow Your Mind" – Business Insider

Diversion: Marginal Revolution

Follow Scott Barlow on Twitter at @SBarlow_ROB.

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe