Global systemic crisis - April 2007: Inflexion point of the phase of impact / US economy enters recession


- Public announcement GEAB N°12 (February 16, 2007) -



As anticipated last January in GEAB N°11, the « fog of statistics » is now clearing and US economic trends appear clearly (retail sales at a standstill in January 2007, record high trade deficit in 2006, downward revision of US growth for 2006, Fed’s confirmation of economic slowdown, serial defaults among mortgage lending organisations, continued collapse of US housing market,...). Therefore, according to LEAP/E2020, and contingent on the specific evolution of each component of the US economy, the month of April will account for the inflexion point of the impact phase of the global systemic crisis, that is to say the moment when all negative consequences of the crisis pile up exponentially. More precisely, April will be the time when negative trends will converge, transforming many « sectorial crises » into a generalised crisis, a « very great depression », involving all economic, financial, commercial and political players.

In April 2007, nine practical consequences of the unfolding crisis will converge:

1. Acceleration of the pace and size of bankruptcies among US financial organisations: from one per week today to one per day in April
2. Spectacular rise of US home foreclosures: 10 million Americans out on the street
3. Accelerating collapse of housing prices in the US: - 25%
4. Entry into recession of the US economy in April 2007
5. Precipitous rate cut by the US Federal Reserve
6. Growing importance of China-USA trade conflicts
7. China’s shift out of US dollars / Yen carry trade reversal
8. Sudden drop of US dollar value against Euro, Yuan and Yen
9. Tumble of Sterling Pound

In this February issue of the GlobalEurope Anticipation Bulletin (on subscription, LEAP/E2020 details the nature and sequence of these developments meant for all concerned players (currency or financial market operators, investors, international traders, political and economic decisions-makers or analysts) to better anticipation events. Strategy is time mastery! In the present issue of GEAB, our teams endeavoured to build a device to overcome this quarter’s accelerating developments.

In this public announcement, LEAP/E2020 describes one of these nine direct consequences otherwise detailed in GEAB N°12 (on subscription, i.e.:

Spectacular rise of US home foreclosures: 10 million Americans out on the street

In 2006, US foreclosures increased by 42% , directly affecting an average of 1 US household out of 92. In states such as Colorado, California, Ohio, or Texas, 1 household on 35 or 40 falls victim of foreclosure. In October through December 2006 in Ohio, 3.3% of homes and apartments were filed in foreclosure . The pace of foreclosures accelerates as the number of insolvent US households increases (cf. GEAB N°10 on the issue of insolvency): in 2006, over 1.2 million foreclosures affected 4 to 5 million US citizens (counting between 3 and 4 persons per household).

Level of foreclosures in the US in December 2006
Level of foreclosures in the US in December 2006
According to LEAP/E2020, the year 2007 will register at least a doubling in the number of foreclosures (3) due to the surge of record high numbers of mortgage loan refinancing on the market (close to 2,000 billion USD). 2 to 3 million homes will probably be filed in foreclosure and about 10 million US citizens thrown out of their homes in the course of this year. All those who doubt whether the US actually entered a “very great depression” should pay a visit to field reality and observe the devastating effect of the housing and financial crisis for millions of Americans (4). Scores of blogs appeared on the web trying to review the on-going housing disaster and the stream of human tragedies (5). Taking into account that a US citizen has three months between initial default on interest repayment and actual foreclosure, LEAP/E2020 estimates that it is indeed in April that the second wave of foreclosures will hit the US market.

GEAB N°12 (on subscription

_______

Notes:

(1) “Home foreclosures surge 42% in 2006”, CNN Money, 25/01/2007
(2) “Home foreclosures are highest in Ohio”, Beacon Journal, 11/01/2007
(3) “Foreclosures increase 19% in January”, United Business Media, 12/02/2007
(4) "Texas riddled by foreclosures", Austin Business Journal, 26/01/2007
(5) For instance, My Real Estate Money or Foreclosure Pulse.

Vendredi 16 Février 2007

GEAB N°61 - Contents

- Published on January 16, 2012 -

Global systemic crisis - 2012: The year of the world’s great geopolitical swing
This GEAB issue makes it six years that the LEAP/ E2020 team have shared their anticipations with their subscribers and readers of their public briefing on the development of the global systemic crisis each month. And, for the first time, in the January issue which presents a summary of our anticipations for the year to come, our team anticipates a year which will not result solely in a worsening of the world crisis but which will also be characterized by the emergence of the first constructive elements of the “world after the crisis”… (page 2)
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USA 2012: on the way towards the tragedy of QE3
Today, US financial policy is confronted by the sovereign debt crisis of which it will be the ultimate victim in 2012. As LEAP/E2020 anticipated, the 2011 European debt detonator has truly ignited the 2012 American sovereign debt bomb, even if the media coverage desperately tries to make us believe the opposite. The massive sale of US Treasury Bills by the planet’s major central banks in the second half-year 2011 perfectly illustrates this situation incidentally… (page 7)
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ANTICIPATIONS 2012 - ‘20-UP AND 15-DOWN’, THIRTY FIVE KEY TRENDS FOR 2012
Up or Down? The United States' political paralysis; The City and Wall Street ; The rise in interest rates; The forfeiting of value to Wall Street and the City; The value of Chinese reserves; The Pound Sterling (and Gilts); Euroland as new European sovereign; The USA-China “little cold war”; Italy; The importance of the US Dollar in world trade transactions; Rating agencies; The “great European public borrowing” (GEPB); MerkHollMont; Ron Paul; The number, size and influence of Western banks; The continuation of gold’s return in the international monetary system; Recessflation; Sarkozy, Cameron, Netanyahu and Medvedev; The BRICS maturing as a pro-active world player; Turkey’s exit from the Western camp; The Tobin Eurotax; Secular and pro-Western forces in the Muslim world; Growth; The usefulness of the G20; Lawsuits against those managing banks and hedge funds; The splitting of the world monetary system into three zones: Dollar, Euro, Yuan; The widespread downgrade of Western public debt; Peoples' anger; The Euro crisis; The EU as the principal incarnation of Europe; QE3 as the ultimate weapon for saving the US economy; The US’ capacity for military intervention; The West as a community of relevance and values; Scottish independence; Le détroit d'Ormuz et un nouveau contexte de crise au Moyen-Orient ; L'indépendance de l'Ecosse; The Straits of Hormuz and a new context of the Middle East crisis (page 19) (page 19)
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The GlobalEurometre - Results & Analyses
We are seeing a strengthening in the majority considering that common European solutions to the crisis are more effective than national ones (80% in January versus 77% in December)… (page 33)
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