CONSENSUS PLAYING CATCH-UP (TO US!)

We’re not sure whether to be happy or sad over the fact that some of our long- standing views — once viewed as controversial — are now making the headlines in the popular press.  Do we rejoice over the acceptance, or do we start to fade the trade?

Frugality has been a key theme of ours, and now we see How to Be Frugal and Still Be Asked on Dates on page B1 of the Saturday NYT. 
Gold as a currency play as opposed to being strictly a commodity — have a look at Rethinking Gold: What If It Isn’t a Commodity After All on page B7 of the weekend WSJ.

Housing is now a ball and chain to the baby boomer population as opposed to a viable retirement asset has been a critical theme of ours for the past several years.  Sure enough, what do we see on the front page of today’s NYT?  A column supporting this view titled Your Home as Sure Nest Egg? That Era is Over, Analysts Say.

Finally, this deliberate asset-allocation shift out of equities and into bonds by the general public (as opposed to being a classic “contrarian” move) — see In Striking Shift, Investors Flee Stock Market on the front page of the Sunday NYT.

Also In this issue of Breakfast with Dave – read it all HERE

• While you were sleeping: sparse economic data releases today, but PMI indices in Euroland softened; there are now 118 failed banks in the U.S.

• It’s earnings estimates that matter most

• U.S. economy is contracting: the growth rate in the ECRI leading index has now been -10% or worst in the past five weeks

• Is it Japan all over again?

• In the U.S., demographics still matter

• No bubble in bonds

…..read it all HERE