Trillions of Dollars in New Money Later, U.S. Real Disposable Income Falls Again in August
After rigorous attempts by the Federal Reserve to boost the U.S. economy, the only after-effect of quantitative easing I’ve seen has been a ballooning of the stock market—another bubble created. Wherever I look, I can’t help but be skeptical about the current state of the economy.
Back when the financial crisis began, the Federal Reserve’s main goal should have been to bring consumer confidence into the economy and promote lending. Why? So consumer spending could increase and from there businesses could start growing again. After all, consumer spending accounts for 70% of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Sounds like a perfect plan, but unfortunately it has turned into a perfect storm. If the Federal Reserve’s plan of flooding the system with money to get the U.S. economy going were working, we would be seeing consumer spending and lending pick up—not in just one sector or city, but across the board.
The after-shocks of the financial crisis have left consumer spending and lending depressed and there are no signs of them improving.
Real disposable income in the U.S., income after inflation, decreased 0.3% in August. (Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, September 28, 2012.) “Economics 101” suggests that, when there is more disposable income, spending increases. Similarly, less disposable income means lower consumer spending, which is the current case in the U.S. economy.
In 2011, U.S. consumer lending was down 40% compared to the lending in 2006. (Source: Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2012.) Lending has picked up in some smaller cities, but remains under pressure in bigger cities.
As I have been writing in these pages, consumer spending has to increase for the U.S. economy to see any economic growth. And the only way consumer spending can increase is if people have increasing income—something eluding Americans in 2012.
The U.S. economy is still in the mess that was created by the financial crisis. Sure, the worst is over when compared to some scary days that the stock market and world economy experienced back in 2008.
But today we have other serious problems: unsustainable U.S. government debt; an unprecedented increase in the money supply, which could lead to rapid inflation; many municipalities under pressure to declare bankruptcy; decreasing personal disposable income; a slowing world economy; and U.S. consumer spending growth that’s almost non-existent.
To date, I can’t see how the Federal Reserve’s attempts to boost the U.S. economy with QE1, QE2, and QE3 have been helpful to the average Joe American. The most basic ingredients for economic growth—consumer spending and lending—are just not there.
Where the Market Stands; Where It’s Headed:
Some insightful comments on the stock market from my esteemed colleague Anthony Jasansky, P. Eng., I want to share with my readers:
“After weeks of comments about unsatisfactory growth in the economy and employment, on September 13, 2012, the Fed finally announced the much-anticipated QE3. Quoting its ‘mandate of fostering maximum employment and price stability,’ the Fed will purchase additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40.0 billion/month. No time limit has been set for the program. QE3 essentially mutated into ‘QE Unlimited.’
“Following the typical pattern of buying on rumors and selling on news, the advance in stocks, bonds and commodities from their June 2012 lows came to an end the next day, September 14. The question now is: how large will the post September 13 correction be?
“Significantly, many other central banks, including the ECB and the China Bank, are also hell-bent on flooding their struggling economies with more money. The experience of the last three years shows that, while the massive money printing by the Fed has done wonders for financial and commodity markets it has been far less effective in stimulating sustainable economic growth and employment. Perhaps the third time around the Fed will be more successful living up to its true mandate. After all, the mandate does not mention gunning up the market.
“Having received what the market had eagerly anticipated, I assume the focus will shift back to the long-running euro drama. Spain and Italy are now upstaging Greece, and will likely be the news-makers providing the media with brilliant explanations for every swing and gyration the financial markets experience. These market swings may be of little use to investors with time frames measured in months or years, but present a bonanza for flash traders exploiting minute fluctuations and relative mispricing of various classes of securities.
“I expect further market weakness in the coming weeks.”
What He Said:
“The conversation at parties is no longer about the stock market, it’s about real estate. ‘Our home has gone up this much,’ or ‘Our country home has doubled in price.’ Looking around today, it would be very difficult to find people who believe that one day it could be out of vogue to own real estate, because properties would be such a bad investment. Those investors who believe a dark day will never come for the property market are just fooling themselves.” Michael Lombardi in Profit Confidential, June 6, 2005. Michael started warning about the crisis coming in the U.S. real estate market right at the peak of the boom, now widely believed to be 2005.
About the Author | Browse Michael Lombardi's Articles
Michael Lombardi founded investor research firm Lombardi Publishing Corporation in 1986. Michael is also the founder of the popular daily e-letter, Profit Confidential, where readers get the benefit of Michael’s years of experience with the stock market, real estate, economic forecasting, precious metals, and various businesses. Michael believes in successful stock picking as an important wealth accumulation tool. Michael has authored more than thousands of articles on investment and money management and is the author of several successful investing publications,... Read Full Bio »
Forecasts Aug. 28, 2015
Immediate term outlook:
The bear market rally in stocks that started in March 2009, extended because of unprecedented central bank money printing, is coming to an end. Gold bullion is up $1,000 an ounce since we first recommended it in 2002 and we are still bullish on the physical metal.
Short-to-medium term outlook:
World economies are entering their slowest growth period since 2009. The Chinese economy grew last year at its slowest pace in 24 years. Japan is in recession. The eurozone is in depression. With almost half the S&P 500 companies deriving revenue outside the U.S., slower world economic growth will negatively impact revenue and earnings growth of American companies. Domestically, America’s gross domestic product grew by only a meager 2.3% in the second quarter, which will negatively impact an already overpriced equity market.
Estimates Aug. 28, 2015
|Trailing 12-month EPS for Dow Jones companies (Most Recent Quarter)||$1014.15|
|Trailing 12-month Price/earnings multiple (Most Recent Quarter)|
|Dow Jones Industrial Average Dividend Yield||2.71%|
|10-year U.S. Treasury Yield||2.14%|