THE MARKETS
The U.S. became a member last August and, now, so has most of
the eurozone. Unfortunately, it's not a club you want to join.
Late last week, Standard and Poor's (S&P) announced it was
downgrading the credit rating of nine of the eurozone's 16 members
including behemoths France and Spain. In addition, 14 of the 16
members have "negative outlooks" which means S&P believes,
"that there is at least a one-in-three chance that the rating will
be lowered in 2012 or 2013." The only two countries with stable
credit outlooks are Germany (no surprise) and Slovakia, a former
Communist country that became an independent state in 1993 after
the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.
What does this mean for the future of Europe and the
economy?
The New York Times called it, "A move that may have
more symbolic than fundamental financial impact, but served as a
reminder that Europe's economic woes were far from over."
Underscoring that, the U.S. downgrade, has - so far - not caused
much of a problem. The 10-year U.S. Treasury bond yielded a slim
1.85 percent last Friday, an indication that investors still view
the U.S. as a safe haven. The bottom line is everybody knows Europe
has problems and the downgrade, while not helpful, simply puts an
exclamation point on the obvious.
Back in the U.S., investors seemed more interested last week in
tracking our economic momentum which included an eight-month high
in consumer sentiment and an improved assessment of the economy
from the Fed's Beige Book. Econoday summed it up nicely when they
wrote, "Traders and investors have been moving toward the position
that European problems deserve less weight than they have been
given in recent months." That may be true in the short term, but if
Europe craters because of their sovereign debt problems, it's
unlikely the U.S. will escape unscathed.
Unlike Las Vegas, what happens in Europe may not stay in
Europe.
|
Data as of 1/13/12
|
1-Week
|
Y-T-D
|
1-Year
|
3-Year
|
5-Year
|
10-Year
|
|
Standard & Poor's 500
(Domestic Stocks)
|
0.9%
|
2.5%
|
-0.3%
|
13.9%
|
-2.1%
|
1.3%
|
|
DJ Global ex US
(Foreign Stocks)
|
1.3
|
1.5
|
-16.7
|
10.6
|
-4.9
|
4.8
|
|
10-year Treasury Note
(Yield Only)
|
1.9
|
N/A
|
3.3
|
2.3
|
4.8
|
4.9
|
|
Gold
(per ounce)
|
1.2
|
3.9
|
18.4
|
25.5
|
21.1
|
19.0
|
|
DJ-UBS Commodity Index
|
-1.4
|
-0.1
|
-13.2
|
7.4
|
-2.4
|
4.5
|
|
DJ Equity All REIT TR Index
|
1.4
|
1.2
|
8.6
|
26.8
|
-2.0
|
10.2
|
| Notes: S&P 500, DJ Global ex US, Gold, DJ-UBS
Commodity Index returns exclude reinvested dividends (gold does not
pay a dividend) and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are
annualized; the DJ Equity All REIT TR Index does include reinvested
dividends and the three-, five-, and 10-year returns are
annualized; and the 10-year Treasury Note is simply the yield at
the close of the day on each of the historical time
periods.Sources: Yahoo! Finance, Barron's, djindexes.com, London
Bullion Market Association.Past performance is no guarantee of
future results. Indices are unmanaged and cannot be invested into
directly. N/A means not applicable or not available. |
THE ANNUAL CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW (CES) just
wrapped up in Las Vegas and, as usual, it featured a dazzling array
of must-have new gizmos and gadgets that will likely show up in
your hand or in your family room sometime down the road. With 2,700
exhibitors and 150,000 total attendees, it's the showcase event for
everything electronic.
We thought it'd be fun to take a look at some of today's
commonplace gadgets that were introduced at CES and have you guess
the year of their debut. So, here goes…
What year did these devices debut at CES?
- Digital video discs (DVDs)
- Satellite radio
- Videocassette recorder (VCR)
- CD player
- Blu-ray disc
- High-definition television
- Camcorder
It's not all fun and games at a show like CES. As you can see
from the list above, these devices have spawned major industries
that generated tremendous economic activity. Innovation is vital
for economic growth, and a show like CES helps spotlight the latest
electronic advances and, perhaps, the next driver of the
economy.
One of the big highlights at the just concluded show was the
unveiling of LG's 55-inch OLED TV packed with 3D bells and smart TV
whistles. So, what in the world is an OLED TV? It's a TV that uses
a new display technology called OLED (Organic Light Emitting
Diodes). OLED televisions are brighter, more efficient, thinner,
and feature better refresh rates and contrast than either LCD or
Plasma TVs. And boy is it thin. The LG 55-inch OLED TV is only 0.2
inches deep at its thinnest point and weighs a measly 16.5 pounds.
If you're an early adopter, you'll want one of these beauties in
your home theater later this year.
Okay, here are the answers to the "device debut" question,
according to CNBC.
Digital video discs (1996), Satellite radio (2000),
Videocassette recorder (1970), CD player (1981), Blu-ray disc
(2003), High-definition television (1998), and Camcorder
(1981).
How many did you correctly answer?
WEEKLY FOCUS
It's easy to come up with new ideas; the hard part is letting go
of what worked for you two years ago, but will soon be out of
date.
--Roger von Oech, author, inventor, consultant
For your convenience the sources have
been listed below:
http://www.standardandpoors.com/ratings/articles/en/us/...
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/business/global/euro...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/consumer-sentiment-h...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-beige-book-mor...
http://barrons.econoday.com/reports/rc/2012/Resource_C...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45900987?slide=1
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/09/lg-oled-tv-55-in...
http://www.leadershipnow.com/creativityquotes.html
