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Today’s TIC data … Posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 By bsetser John Jansen is right; today’s TIC January data was a disaster. $150 billion in (net) capital outflows (-148.9 billion to be precise) cannot sustain even a $40 billion trade deficit. I also though have learned that the TIC data doesn’t necessarily match the trade deficit on a monthly basis — and on occasion it moves in ways that seem inconsistent with the market. If the big outflow had come in December (a month when the dollar slid) rather than January, the flow data and the market move would...

Economy Strains Under Weight of Unsold Items By Annys Shin Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 17, 2009; A01 The unsold cars and trucks piling up at dealerships and assembly lines as consumers cut back and auto companies scramble for federal aid are just one sign of a major problem hurting the economy and only likely to get worse. The world is suddenly awash in almost everything: flat-panel televisions, bulldozers, Barbie dolls, strip malls, Burberry stores. Japan yesterday said its economy shrank at an 12.7 percent annual pace in the last three months of 2008 as global demand evaporated for...

The Problem With Deleveraging By John Mauldin - November 8th, 2008, 8:03AM November 7, 2008 By John Mauldin In general, we consider it a good thing to save money and to “owe no man anything save love.” But what happens when a debt-happy society wakes up and decides that saving is a good thing for everybody? What happens when banks and hedge funds decide (or are forced) to reduce their debt? What happens when businesses of all sizes find it harder to get loans to operate? In this week’s letter we discuss “The Great Unwind,” that process of deleveraging that...