
Note: Your consideration would be greatly appreciated; the approval part, however, should not be interpreted merely as a request.
An undertaking of great advantage, but nobody to know what it is.
personal saving rate — saving as a percentage of disposable personal incomeNext, we'll consider the following definitions that appear in the BEA glossary (just the good parts appear below):
Disposable personal income. Total after-tax income received by persons; it is the income available to persons for spending or saving.Both the income and saving figures used in the savings rate calculation include retirement account contributions. So by implication, the personal savings rate does too (if you dig a bit deeper you find that neither personal outlays nor personal current taxes contain retirement contributions, so these can just be dropped from the personal saving equation).
Personal saving. Personal income less the sum of personal outlays and personal current taxes.
Personal income. Income received by persons from all sources. It includes... compensation of employees (received)...
Compensation of employees (received). Wage and salary disbursements and supplements to wages...
Wage and salary accruals and disbursements. The monetary remuneration of employees, including... voluntary employee contributions to certain deferred compensation plans, such as 401(k) plans...
Q.E.D.
Afterward: In defense of the naysayers, some more digging around reveals that there are potential flaws in the current personal savings rate calculation -- apparently, capital gains are not counted in the personal savings rate (likewise, losses aren't deducted). This may be a significant omission, but ultimately it has little to do with the issue of retirement contributions (which prompted the original discussion).Investors might not realize it, but private equity's public-company pig fest is leaving them with fewer choices when it comes to U.S. stocks..."Buy now or get priced out forever!"
Meanwhile, 107 U.S.-based companies have issued stock in initial public offerings. That leaves the market with a net loss of 110 stocks, Capital IQ says.
The shrinkage is noticeable. There aren't 5,000 stocks anymore in the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000...
And it's not just small companies going away. This year, 12 members of the S&P 500, a benchmark index of large-company stocks, have been taken out by private buyouts and acquisitions, says Howard Silverblatt of S&P. An additional 17, including Bausch & Lomb, will disappear once their buyouts are completed, he says.
U.S. home prices tumbled to a two-year low in the first quarter, with declines in almost half of U.S. cities, the National Association of Realtors said.The recent action in the U.S. stock market smells suspiciously like (yet) another buying panic.
The median price for houses and condominiums slid 1.8 percent to $212,300 in the first three months of this year, the lowest since the first quarter of 2005 when it was $199,700, the Chicago- based real estate trade group said.
Initial public offerings in the United States turned in the strongest first quarter in seven years, according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers. In the three months ended March 31, 64 IPOs raised $12.1 billion, up from 54 IPOs that raised $11.6 billion in the year-ago period. Scott Gehsmann, a capital markets partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Transaction Services group, cited strength in financial services and technology sectors, with financial sponsors continuing "to be a major factor in the market, backing 40% of all IPOs and raising 55% of proceeds.""Stock prices never go down! (Well, OK they do, but they always come right back up.)"
On Wall St: Something's Gotta Give waiting for last reel to unwind
May 11, 2007
If you are a film fan you could probably call it Apocalypse Later, while literary types might prefer Chronicle of a Crisis Foretold...
Investor gurus, banking chiefs, regulators and even private equity moguls are lining up to spread the word that the end is (almost) nigh.
The latest member of the furrowed-brow brigade is Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America. On Wednesday, Mr Lewis provided a much-needed jolt of excitement at a meeting of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce with a call for "more sanity".
"We are close to a time when we'll look back and say we did some stupid things," he warned the Zurich-based great and good. He is, of course, absolutely right. As are KKR's Henry Kravis and Carlyle's David Rubenstein, the private equity titans who argue that their industry will not continue to have it so good forever. Familiar gloomy tones from legendary Cassandras such as Warren Buffett and Wilbur Ross only add to the general sense of unease.
These heady times of rocketing stock markets, gargantuan takeovers and supersized leverage just do not feel right...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18614260/
Amid this frenzy for all markets foreign, some not surprisingly have become very expense. Based on their equity risk premium -- stocks' earnings yield relative to risk-free bond yields...
China's 2.8% earnings yield compares with a 3.6% bond yield, for a negative equity risk premium of minus 0.8%...
Service Industries (Non-Manufacturing)
80% of the US EconomyManufacturing Industries
- Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting
- Mining
- Utilities
- Construction
- Wholesale Trade
- Retail Trade
- Transportation & Warehousing
- Information
- Finance & Insurance
- Real Estate, Rental & Leasing
- Professional, Scientific & Technical Services
- Management of Companies & Support Services
- Educational Services
- Health Care & Social Assistance
- Arts, Entertainment & Recreation
- Accommodation & Food Services
- Public Administration
12% of the US EconomyPrivate Sector
- Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products
- Textile Mills
- Apparel, Leather & Allied Products
- Wood Products
- Paper Products
- Printing & Related Support Activities
- Petroleum & Coal Products
- Chemical Products
- Plastics & Rubber Products
- Nonmetallic Mineral Products
- Primary Metals
- Fabricated Metal Products
- Machinery
- Computer & Electronic Products
- Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components
- Transportation Equipment
- Furniture & Related Products
- Miscellaneous Manufacturing (medical equipment and supplies, jewelry, sporting goods, toys and office supplies)
64% of the US Economy
Government Sector
36% of the US Economy
Consumer Spending
71% of the US Economy