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I scanned the news to try and figure
out what got equity traders so excited today and here's what I came up with:
Bull point #1: Rising
revenue for financial firms that process food stamps and other government
assistance payments; expanding niche market for canned pet food products
"One in Six Seniors Lives in Poverty,
New Analysis Finds" (National Council on Aging)
Washington, DC – One in six older
Americans lives below the federal poverty line, according to a new government
analysis which almost doubles the number of very poor seniors compared to the
standard estimate.
At 16%, the proportion of seniors
living in poverty is also higher than the proportion of all Americans in
poverty. The plight of poor women is particularly striking: 43% of Hispanic
women who live alone, and 34% of black women who live alone, live in poverty,
according to Supplemental Poverty Measure Research, an alternative
calculation from the U.S. Census Bureau. The Supplemental Poverty Measure is
a U.S. Census research tool that considers previously overlooked costs like
out-of-pocket medical expenses and taxes that can create economic stress for
seniors on fixed incomes.
Bull point #2:
Heightened demand for refrigeration equipment and cold storage facilities
"Even in Death, Budget Cuts Take a
Toll" (Wall Street Journal)
Squeezed Governments Look at Cremation,
Other Ways to Trim Cost of Simple Burials for the Indigent and Unidentified.
DETROIT—Government budget cuts
have reached the potter's field.
Communities have long provided simple
burials for the indigent or unidentified, but cash-strapped jurisdictions
from North Dakota to Arizona are trimming subsidies, raising fees or
switching to cremation. The deliberations over such changes underscore that
in an era of austerity, governments have to face issues that touch on both
the economic and the moral.
"Do we continue this benefit for
those who are deceased, or do we divert [resources] to those who are
living?" said Robert Lamkey, director of public safety for Sedgwick
County, Kan., which is paying for such burials out of its general fund after
the state ended its support.
...
In Wayne County, Mich., which includes
Detroit, state budget cuts have allowed the medical examiner's office to bury
only half the number of bodies that need to be buried each year, according to
Albert Samuels, chief investigator for the office. Mr. Samuels said he has
about 185 bodies in storage.
Once Mr. Samuels uses up his annual
budget of $30,000, he has to stop burials. "Bodies are still coming
in," he said. "I get into a hole after a while."
Bull point #3: Expanding
market for pharmaceuticals and mental health services
"Recession Begets Kids' Depression" (The News-Press)
Mental health pro see more juveniles in
need of treatment
Adults aren't the only ones feeling
emotionally wounded by the economy.
Last week, the David Lawrence Center in
Naples added another outpatient group for youth ages 12 to 17. Called
"Tough Times," it's another way the mental health and substance
abuse center is trying to meet an increasing need for help among Southwest
Florida adolescents.
"The trend now, as it has been in
the last several years, is for us to see co-occurring things." said
Bonnie Fredeen, the center's chief operating officer. With the economy, we
see things such as adjustment disorders, some anger issues, and kids may be
dabbling with substances," "We're seeing so many teens with anxiety
and depression."
Bull point #4: Growing
demand for snack food products and institutional catering services
"New School Data Reveal Worrisome
Trends" (Chicago Tribune)
Poverty rises among Illinois public
school children as overall enrollment dips for third straight year
As a group, Illinois' public school
children are fewer in number, increasingly poor, more diverse and more likely
than in recent years to spend the entire school year at the same building,
according to new data.
Nearly half of the state's 2.1 million
public school children came from families who were considered low-income
during the last school year, as the recession nudged more families toward
poverty. About 45.4 percent qualified for a free or discounted school meal,
the highest rate in decades.
"It's a trend I am worried
about," said state schools Superintendent Christopher Koch. "We are
seeing additional stress on families ... and we know this impacts
students."
Bull point #5:
Prospect of additional bank bailouts, quantitative easing, and federal home
buying assistance programs
A new report today from Campbell/Inside
Mortgage Finance shows distressed sales, that is bank-owned properties
(REO's) and short sales, where the home is sold for less than the value of
the mortgage, made up 47 percent of all home sales in December. That's up
from 44.5 percent in November.
The National Association of Realtors
put out a lower percentage last week (36 percent), but after speaking with
the number crunchers at Campbell, I'm thinking the higher share is more
accurate. We also just got numbers from DataQuick out West, showing 38
percent of California sales in December were REOs, and that doesn't include
short sales, so you see the evidence.
Michael
J. Panzner
Editor, Financialarmageddon.com
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