Marc Faber, aka Dr. Doom, says there’s nowhere to hide from Bubblegeddon, not even gold

The world is filling up with bubbles, and there’s nowhere to hide, not even in gold, said high-profile market bear Marc Faber, editor and publisher of The Gloom, Boom and Doom Report, on Bloomberg “Surveillance” on Wednesday. The latest bubble is U.S. stocks, which have been testing record highs lately.

“I was relatively positive about U.S. stocks since March 2009,” Faber said. “I haven’t any short positions. I haven’t been shorting any stocks since 2009. But the U.S. marches up , consumer confidence marches down, and emerging markets are performing badly relative to the U.S. The dollar is strong indicating a tightening of international liquidity. And so I don’t think that the U.S. market will go up a lot from here I rather think that there’s now considerable downside risk.”

But what about gold? Why isn’t that holding up as a safe haven? Faber was asked.  He argued that the money central banks are printing  isn’t flowing evenly into the economies they are trying to help. Instead, it’s  just causing more bubbles like the tech bubble in 2000, housing prices up to 2007, commodities in 2008, and most recently select emerging market stocks indexes and the U.S. Read more >>

China Gold Imports From Hong Kong Climb to Record on Wealth

Gold imports into mainland China from Hong Kong surged 94 percent to an all-time high last year as rising incomes in the world’s second-largest economy underpinned increased demand and helped the metal to post a 12th annual gain.

Mainland China imported 834,502 kilograms (834.5 metric tons), including scrap and coins, compared with about 431,215 kilograms in 2011, according to Bloomberg calculations based on data from Hong Kong’s Census and Statistics Department. Imports in December rose to a monthly record of 114,405 kilograms, according to data from the department yesterday.

China was expected to displace India as the world’s biggest gold consumer last year, according to a forecast in November from the producer-funded World Gold Council. Rising consumption in the country may help to offset concern that the metal’s bull run may be coming to an end as the global economy recovers. Spot gold is little changed so far this year, while the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of raw materials has risen 4.4 percent. Read more >>

Consumer Spending in U.S. Declines - blamed on Sandy [wink, wink]

Spending by U.S. consumers unexpectedly declined and incomes stagnated in October as superstorm Sandy kept some in the Northeast from getting to work or from shopping at malls and car dealerships.

Purchases decreased 0.2 percent, the weakest reading since May, after a 0.8 percent gain in the prior month, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. The median estimate of 79 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for no change in so-called nominal sales. Incomes were unchanged, held down by a drop in wages caused by Sandy, Commerce said.

The storm shuttered hundreds of retailers when it made landfall on Oct. 29, temporarily countering the benefit from rising consumer sentiment that has brightened the holiday- shopping outlook. Faster job and wage gains would help stoke household spending after a third-quarter slowdown, helping explain why the Federal Reserve is pursuing policy aimed at spurring employment. Read more >>

Faber: Own Gold – “Don’t Store It In The U.S., The Fed Will Take It Away"

Marc Faber, one of the few analysts, to have predicted the current crisis correctly and to have protected his clients in the process, remains very bullish on gold. In another excellent Bloomberg interview, Faber said that “the trend for gold prices will be steady but the trend for the dollar and other currencies will be down. So in other words gold in dollar terms will trend higher.”

“How high it will go, you will have to call Mr Bernanke and at the Fed there are other people who actually make Mr Bernanke look like a hawk and so they are going to print money.” Faber is on record as to the importance of owning physical gold and he again warned about the importance of owning gold but not storing it in the U.S.

“You ought to own some gold but don’t store it in the U.S., the Fed will take it away from you one day,” Faber astutely noted. Read more >>

Swedish Manufacturing Orders Plunge

Sweden’s manufacturing unexpectedly shrank in August at the fastest pace since May 2009 as the krona’s appreciation sent export orders plunging amid sagging demand from debt-stricken Europe.

The purchasing managers’ index fell to a seasonally adjusted 45.1 from 50.6 in July, Stockholm-based Swedbank AB (SWEDA), which compiles the gauge, said today. A reading below 50 signals a contraction. The index was seen falling to 50.1, according to the average estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

“Sweden won’t go unscathed through this period of an international slowdown,” said Roger Josefsson, chief economist at Danske Bank A/S in Stockholm. “In contrast to data that’s been published earlier, this is data that’s come in after the still recent strengthening of the krona.”

Sweden’s central bank, which is set to announce its next interest rate decision on Sept. 6, in July kept its key rate unchanged and pushed back tightening plans because of turmoil in Europe. The Nordic country relies on sales abroad for about half of its output and sends 70 percent of its exports to Europe where economies are contracting amid austerity measures. Read more >>

New Home Sales Collapse 8.4%

New home sales declined 8.4 percent sequentially in June, missing expectations and falling to the lowest level since January. Sales fell to an annual rate of 350,000, according to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast a 0.7 percent increase, to 372,000 units. Median home prices also declined during the month, falling roughly $5,000 to $232,600. Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna noted that part of the problem stems from the drop in housing starts since the financial crisis began in 2007.

"The lack of building means it is doubtful we can see a sustained rise in home sales even toward the higher end of their range," he says. "However, based on the National Association of Homebuilders’ housing market index, we expect this situation to change over the next couple of years." Read more >>

US Manufacturing Falls To Second Lowest Level Since The Crisis

U.S. manufacturing grew at the slowest pace since the economy emerged from the financial crisis in 2009 this July, new data out of MarkitEconomics shows. The headline manufacturing index declined 80 basis points during the month to 51.8. Economists polled by Bloomberg had forecast a narrower fall to 52.0. New orders and output both expanded in July, but did so at lower rates that recorded at the start of the summer. Read more >>

Consumer Sentiment in U.S. Drops to Lowest This Year

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment dropped to 72 this month from June’s 73.2 reading. The gauge was projected to rise to 73.5, according to a median forecast of 69 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The weakest quarter of hiring by companies in two years along with stock market volatility tied to Europe’s debt crisis threaten to hold back the household spending that accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. Sales at retailers such as Hhgregg Inc. (HGG) may struggle as fewer consumers expect their incomes to increase.

“The labor market has been pretty slow to recover, house prices are still low and there’s a lot of nervousness about what’s going on in Europe” and Washington, said Michael Hanson, a senior U.S. economist at Bank of America in New York, who correctly forecast the July reading. “The economy looks like it’s slowing.” Estimates for the Michigan confidence measure ranged from 71.5 to 76.5, according to the Bloomberg survey. The index averaged 64.2 during the last recession and 89 in the five years before the 18-month economic slump that ended in June 2009.

Elsewhere, China’s growth slowed for a sixth straight quarter. Gross domestic product expanded 7.6 percent in the second quarter from the same three months last year, the weakest in three years, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing.  Read more >>

95 Percent Of The Jobs Lost During The Recession Were Middle Class Jobs

Who is the biggest loser in the ongoing decline of the U.S. economy?  Is it the wealthy?  No, the stock market has been soaring lately and their incomes are actually going up.  Is it the poor?  Well, the poor are definitely hurting very badly, but when you don't have much to begin with you don't have much to lose. 

Unfortunately, it is the middle class that has lost the most during this economic downturn.  According to Bloomberg, 95 percent of the jobs lost during the recession were middle class jobs.  That is an absolutely astounding figure.  Yes, some executives lost their jobs during the last recession as did some minimum-wage workers.  But overwhelmingly the jobs that were lost were middle income jobs. 

Sadly, the limited number of jobs that have been added since the end of the last recession have mostly been low income jobs.  A higher percentage of Americans are working low income jobs than ever before, and the cost of living continues to rise at a very brisk pace. This is causing an erosion of the middle class unlike anything we have ever seen in American history. More...

Expected June payrolls down by almost 50,000

Companies in the U.S. expanded payrolls by 13,000 in June, according to figures from ADP Employer Services. The ADP figures were forecast to show a gain of 60,000 jobs, according to the median estimate of 36 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Projections ranged from 23,000 to 100,000.

ZeroHedge says "the number was so bad it even has Goldman's Jan Hatzius scratching his head. As the firm has lately been horrendous in predicting the NFP, we anticipate that Goldman will likely downward revise its +150,000 gains in payrolls ex-census over the next 48 hours."

India, China, Russia, EU Central Banks Buying Gold

Washington's Blog

India's central bank is buying 200 metric tons of gold from the IMF.

China, Russia and some EU central banks have also expressed interest in buying gold from the IMF or elsewhere. Therefore, Bloomberg's article of today saying that "Central Banks Will Become Net Buyers of Gold, WGC CEO Says" is not controversial.

Given that the IMF has only authorized the sale of 403.3 metric tons of gold at this time, the IMFs sales won't drive gold prices down. Indeed, the other 203.3 metric tons should go pretty quickly, and there will almost certainly be left over demand from the world's central banks. Remember, China itself previously considered purchasing the entire 403.3 metric tons.