Emerging Stocks Fall, Erasing 2010 Gains, as Asset Bubble Concern Grows.

We said the Emerging market in Asia was peaking last August and was flat the rest of the year. Only now do the news media report that investors were returning to American stocks just as the American markets begin to decline. The news remains 50% wrong in calling turning points, which is the equivalent of flipping a coin.

For the last quarter of 2009 prices increased 2.3% or at an annual rate of 9.2%.

World Outlook
Brazil’s Finance Ministry joins China in considering anti-inflationary measures O Estado de S. Paulo reported, citing unnamed government officials. China's real estate prices were rising at 20% per year in recent reports. That resembles the Japanese bubble in 1990 just as Japan's bubble burst.

Market Week Reports:

Housing Market Index: Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes declined another point to 15 in January on continuing concerns about the poor job market and large number of foreclosed homes for sale, according to the latest National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI).

Citigroup Inc. posted a $7.6 billion net loss in the fourth quarter as its investment bank missed out on the deluge of virtually free money the socialists have been throwing away.
The euro hit five-month lows against both the dollar and sterling on Wednesday as the European currency broke decisively below a key support level.

Yesterday
New Housing Starts fell in December, government data showed Wednesday, to an annual rate of 557,000 during the month, down 4% from the downward revised November rate of 580,000, the Commerce Department said.

The Producer Price Index for Finished Goods moved up 0.2 percent in December, seasonally adjusted, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. This rise followed a 1.8-percent advance in November and a 0.3-percent increase in October. Prices for finished goods advanced 4.4 percent in 2009, after falling 0.9 percent in 2008. For the last quarter of 2009 prices increased 2.3% or at an annual rate of 9.2%.

Thursday, Jan. 21:
The number of Americans filing first-time claims for unemployment insurance surged to a 2-month high last week. There were 482,000 initial job claims filed in the week ended Jan. 16, up 36,000 from an upward revised 446,000 the previous week, the Labor Department said in its weekly report.

Leading Economic Indicators

Friday, Jan. 22:
No reports

Market forces January 21, 2010

We remain 90% out of the market.

Asian markets were down sharply again over night; Shanghai down -2%, Hong Kong down -2%, India down -2.4%, and Japan up 1.2%.

European markets are flat with the average in a range from 0.3% to-0.6% this morning about half way through their day.

US pre-market futures are up at about 0.3% today at 9:00 AM EST. American morning futures are not too reliable.