"The most worrying component of the report was the stunning drop in hiring plans:
Despite the stronger than expected employment report for October, both hiring indices fell to multi-year lows. The hiring index dropped 10 points to 44%, low since December 2009, and the hiring plans index sunk 13 points to 44%, low since August 2009. To put this into perspective, in August 2009 the unemployment rate was at 9.6%, still on its way to maxing out at 10% two months later. By that December, it had only recovered 0.1% to 9.9%. Given the volatility of the component indices, it’s too early to make a strong call, but these indices warrant close attention in the coming months.
Meanwhile, we learned today that the NAHB homebuilder index climbed to a six-year high. According to Deutsche Bank's Joe LaVorgna, this means housing starts could double within just six months. This could be bullish for the U.S. consumer."
More pressure for a "Grand Bargain".
Now that Obama has found his balls and his brain again, we can expect Romney to steadily fall behind and not recover. He's done. The question is how big Obama's win will be. If it is a blow-out and a big down-ticket win, this will be the most likely circumstance for a "Grand Bargain" in my mind. Obama will have both the political capital and the demonstrated willingness to sell out his base for the beat-up Republicans to resist a shot at clipping Social Security and Medicare benefits. – Wes
