Submitted by
Wall St.
Daily
as part of our
contributors program
.
It's Friday in the
Wall Street Daily Nation
. That means I'm ditching our regular routine of commentary-based
articles and, instead, using charts to present some important
investment and economic insights.
This week, I'm dishing on jobs, since it was a prime focus
during Wednesday's first Presidential debate.
I'm addressing that pesky little rebound in real estate. (It's
gaining momentum.)
And finally, I'm sharing one of the most interesting gold charts
I've ever seen. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether or not
it's relevant as gold prices creep closer to $2,000 per ounce.
So let's get to it…
A Bad Hand in Misery Poker
Both President Obama and Governor Mitt Romney made job creation
a centerpiece in Wednesday's Presidential debate. At least both
candidates got the message that jobs - and by extension, the
economy - are the most important issues to Americans.
I've brought attention to the anemic employment recovery by
sharing "
The Scariest Jobs Chart Ever
" on multiple occasions. Today, I'd like to share another equally
depressing chart. It chronicles job losses during other financial
crises - in different countries, too.
The pace of the recovery might be painfully slow. But as you can
see, if we were playing a game of misery poker, we'd have the worst
hand at the table. (Nothing like a little relativism to lessen the
sting, eh?)
In other words, it could be
way
worse. Nevertheless, we still need
way
more jobs.
Put LL Cool J on Speed Dial
I've been ridiculed ever since I suggested back in February that
residential real estate was poised for a rebound. Thankfully, only
sticks and stones - not name-calling - can hurt me.
The truth is, the recovery is gaining steam. Prices increased
for the fourth month in a row, based on the latest
S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index readings. The rebound is even
showing up on the Federal Reserve's radar.
The latest household net worth data shows an $800 billion
increase in the value of real estate through the second quarter of
2012. The uptick reverses the trend of more than five years of
declining values. (Can I get a Hallelujah up in here?)
I think it's safe to go ahead and call it a comeback. No
offense, Mr. Cool J.
The Most Interesting Gold Chart in the World
Thanks to the Fed's recent commitment to keep printing money,
gold's setting new highs for the year. And the newfound love for
the yellow metal reminded me of this statement from Warren
Buffett's 2011 letter to investors:
"Today the world's gold stock is about 170,000 metric tons.
If all of this gold were melded together, it would form a cube
of about 68 feet per side. (Picture it fitting comfortably
within a baseball infield.) At $1,750 per ounce - gold's price
as I write this - its value would be $9.6 trillion… You can
fondle the cube, but it will not respond."
If you can't picture the baseball field, Duetsche Bank's Daniel
Brebner and Xiao Fu put together this handy dandy pictorial. It
even breaks out gold holdings by type.
Interesting? Absolutely. Thanks to the popularity of the Jersey
Shore and hip hop, it's clear that jewelry still accounts for the
largest portion of gold holdings.
Relevant? Perhaps, since investment demand still only accounts
for about 20% of the gold market. I'll let you make the final
determination, though.
That's it for this week. Before you go, let us know what you
think of this weekly column - or any of our recent work at
Wall Street Daily
- by sending an email to
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