Succinct summation of weeks events:

Positives:

1) EU steps up with more help for Greece, Portugal and Ireland as EFSF becomes super TARP and Greek bond holders finally take a hit, but will it be enough?

2) July Philly mfrg bounces back into positive land but still weak at 3.2 (was 43 in March)

3) MBA said refis bounce 23.1% off 10 week low, finally responding to low rates

4) Single and multi family housing starts bounce, multi we need more of, single we dont right now

5) NAHB home builder index bounces 2 pts to 15 but off very depressed level

6) Corporate earnings so far, so good but guidance mixed

Negatives:

1) Preliminary HSBC mfrg index in China falls below 50 for 1st time in a yr

2) Euro zone mfrg and services composite index falls to lowest since Aug

3) German IFO business confidence drops to lowest since Oct

4) French business confidence down to 7 month low

5) US initial jobless claims rise more than expected, now above 400k for 15th straight week

6) Existing home sales fall to lowest since Nov and months supply rose to 9.5, most since Nov

7) Still no US debt/deficit deal

After falling from $3.98 to $3.56 per gallon of gasoline May thru early July, its back to $3.70.

Minutes of the Bank of England’s July 6-7 meeting have been released today and have revealed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) again voted 7-2 to lift interest rates and 8-1 to restart the Bank’s quantitative easing (QE) scheme.

Adam Posen, again, called for an injection of £50 billion via the QE scheme to boost the economy.

Martin Weale and Spencer Dale were, once again, lone voices on the Committee and have, for several months now, voted to lift rates to combat stubbornly high inflation.

However, recent figures show the economy appears to be faltering so it was thought that the central bank may be reluctant at this stage to lift interest rates as the recovery is losing momentum.

However, inflation is currently running at more than double the 2% target and it was thought the central Bank may lift rates to bring inflation down – as many central Banks are doing throughout the world.

The bank has, however, hinted that it will keep rates low for the medium-term because it believes that the economy is too fragile to handle higher rates at this time, despite higher inflation.

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A Hawaiian man, whose love for motorcycles was temporarily halted after an accident in 1982 left him a quadriplegic and no longer able to ride his bikes.

In the years since, hes remained a motorhead and continued to tinker and tweak various vehicles, including a scooter made from a mo-ped. But according to the Honolulu Advertiser, All of his efforts — and his passion for the road — are now being channeled into his new business, Hawaiian Chariot Wheelchair Motorbikes LLC, which builds and sells customized three-wheeled vehicles — all street legal. Daniel Ward will unveil his first models from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Rehabilitation Center of the Pacific.

According to his website, if you travel to Hawaii and test drive a Hawaiian Chariot wheelchair motorcar and decide to purchase one, they will reimburse you fully for your airfare and hotel accommodations.

Dealer inquiries are welcome. Conta Read full post…

Its summer and a ton of my friends are getting married.  Most are still relatively young ranging from ages 20 to 25 but I guess its that time time of life for us now. Im in the same boat and will be asking my girlfriend of nine months to marry me soon. While it is exciting, we must remember to ask ourselves whether or not were financially ready for marriage. Its a necessary question too many couples ignore choosing instead to rush in unprepared only to find their lack of financial preparation usually leads to marital money problems.

There are basic principles young people should follow but in the end it comes down to marrying the right person. Wise financial management is important and you should look for the similar habits in a potential spouse.

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Craven politicos and clueless Federal Reserve economists are always bleating about how they want to fix the U.S. economy and restore aggregate demand. OK, heres how to start:

1. Force all banks to mark all their assets to market at the end of each trading day, including all derivatives of all types, including over-the-counter instruments.

2. Allow citizens to discharge all mortgage and student loan debt in bankruptcy court, just like any other debt.

3. Banks must mark all their real estate to market weekly as defined by last sales of nearby properties adjusted for square footage and other quantifiable measures (i.e. like Zillow.com).

4. Require mortgage servicers and all owners of mortgage-backed securities to mark every asset within each pool to market weekly.

5.

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Some interesting reading material for your afternoon pleasure:

• Wall Street’s Euthanasia of Industry (Michael Hudson) • Mastering the Hedge Fund Machine (New Yorker) • BofA Mortgage Settlements Magnify Capital Strain as $50 Billion Gap Looms (Bloomberg) • The U.S. Is Not Drowning In Debt (Moneyland) Wall Street’s Shocking Debt Denial (The Daily Beast) • Dearth of Demand Seen Behind Weak Hiring (WSJ) • Four things Republicans used to believe (Market Watch) • As ethanols ravages grow, phony reform emerges (Examiner) • Murdochs Empire Has Troubles That Money Can’t Dispel (NYT)How We Broke the Murdoch Scandal (News Week) • 3-D Printing: A Game-Changing Technology? (Washingtons Blog) • Harnessing the Power of Feedback Loops (Wired)

What are you reading?

Property website, Rightmove, has today reported a drop in asking prices for the month of July – the first fall this year.

According to Rightmove, asking prices for residential property in England and Wales fell by 1.6% in July.

The property website, which claims to advertise 90% of the properties on the market, said the latest asking price rise takes the average price of a home listed on Rightmove to £236,597.

However, the average UK selling price, as reported by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), stands at £203,528.

The figures suggest estate agents or vendors continue to be unrealistic with prices over-valued by 16%.

Meanwhile, the depressed housing market means that 70% of homes put up for sale this year remain unsold, according to the website.

This is primarily due to buyers’ uncertainty surrounding the economy and the ongoing lack of mortgage availability.

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