BB Fran wrote:

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Is there any more reliable contra-indicator of what the economy is doing or is going to do than Lamont's dullard analysis?

The word dullard is a noun, not an adjective, moron. And just what is it about the data I posted in this thread you take issue with? the answer is nothing, of course, as there is nothing to dispute.

"Foodstamps Soar By Most In 16 Months: Over 1 Million Americans Enter Poverty In Last Two Months"

"And we thought last month's delayed foodstamp data was bad. The just reported foodstamp number for September was a doozy, with 607,544 new Americans becoming eligible for foodstamps, as a record 47.7 million Americans are now living in poverty at least according to the USDA. The monthly increase was the highest since May 2011, and with August's 421K new impoverished America, over 1 million Americans made the EBT card their new best friend. It is unclear just which atmospheric phenomenon will get the blame for this unprecedented surge in poverty, which comes at a time when the pre-election economic data euphoria was adamant that the US economy was on an escape velocity to utopia. Instead what we do know is that in August and September, over three times as many foodstamp recipients were add to the economy as jobs (324,000). We also know that with the imminent impact of Sandy, which will send foodstamp recipients soaring, it is now looking quite possible that the US may end 2012 with just over a mindboggling 50 million Americans living in absolute poverty and collecting the $134.29 average monthly benefit per person, instead of working. Welcome to the recovery indeed."

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-09/foodstamps-soar-most-16-months-over-1-million-americans-enter-poverty-last-two-month

This is the "Obama recovery".

http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/12/Foodstamp%20Households%20Oct.jpg


What's even worse about this recovery, the worst one since the 1930s and even worse than that one in many respects, is that Bernanke has been loosening monetary policy the entire time. This has been unprecedented. There was QE2 in the fall of 2010, Operation Twist in the fall of 2011, and now QE3 in the fall of 2012 (and some smaller actions in between). Right before these QE announcements, it appeared the economy was about to fall off a cliff each time, and then the Fed came in with the QE stick save. Just to compare this cycle with past ones, back in the Bush boom from early 2003 thru December 2007 the Fed tightened from mid-2004 onward. So make no mistake about it folks, the economy is far weaker than the weak economic data over the past three years had led you to believe. And make no mistake Obama supporters, the main reason Obama won reelection is because Bernanke has supported this economy the entire time. Bernanke even pushed up the economic numbers and investor confidence from late summer onward because of QE rumors and ultimately massive QE. Had the economy been allowed to run its course without additional stimulus, we would have seen some extremely poor economic numbers in the fall and Obama would have sunk.

Myles Long wrote:

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LamontS1 wrote:

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From today:



"October US Exports Plunge By Most Since January 2009 As Trade Deficit With China Hits Record"



http://www.zerohedge.com/sites/default/files/images/user5/imageroot/2012/12/20121211_Exprts.png





The reality is that exports didn't suddenly plunge off a cliff a month after a big random surge. Rather, last month was a statistical outlier and the trend of declining exports which has been ongoing since March is continuing.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-11/october-us-exports-plunge-most-january-2009-trade-deficit-china-hits-record





Also, the trade deficit with China hit a new record.



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2012-12-11/chart-day-us-china-trade-deficit-hits-record

It's been 15 months since you predicted hyper-inflation.  When is it coming Einstein?

I never said hyperinflation was coming anytime soon, as you and everyone else knows. I said we are on a path to hyperinflation and we (well, the federal reserve) is continuing down that path faster than ever.