[FoRK] MS issues full US recession alert

[Eugen Leitl]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=A1YourView&xml=/money/2007/12/11/cnusa111.xml

Morgan Stanley issues full US recession alert

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, International Business Editor

Last Updated: 7:28am GMT 11/12/2007

Morgan Stanley has issued a full recession alert for the US economy, warning
of a sharp slowdown in business investment and a "perfect storm" for
consumers as the housing slump spreads.
 	
Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke Fed chairman Ben Bernanke will be
hoping he can keep the US economy from recession

In a report "Recession Coming" released today, the bank's US team said the
credit crunch had started to inflict serious damage on US companies.

"Slipping sales and tightening credit are pushing companies into liquidation
mode, especially in motor vehicles," it said.

"Three-month dollar Libor spreads have jumped by 60 to 80 basis points over
the last month. High yield spreads have widened even more significantly. The
absolute cost of borrowing is higher than in June."

"As delinquencies and defaults soar, lenders are tightening credit for
commercial, credit card and auto lending, as well as for all mortgage
borrowers," said the report, written by the bank's chief US economist Dick
Berner. He said the foreclosure rate on residential mortgages had reached a
19-year high of 5.59pc in the third quarter while the glut of unsold
properties would lead to a 40pc crash in housing construction.

"We think overall housing starts will run below one million units in each of
the next two years -- a level not seen in the history of the modern data
since 1959," he said.

Although the US job market has apparently held up well, an average monthly
fall of 138,000 in the number of self-employed workers over the last quarter
suggests it may now be buckling. "Consumers face what could be a perfect
storm," said Mr Berner.
 	
Bank of America closes fund

The partial freeze on subprime mortgage rates announced last week by US
treasury secretary Hank Paulson may help cushion the blow for some banks, but
it could equally backfire by adding a "risk premium" that drives even more
lenders out of the mortgage market.

Like Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers, the bank no longer believes Asia and
Europe will come to the rescue as America slows.

It has slashed its 2008 growth forecast for Japan from 1.9pc to 0.9pc, and
warned that credit stress will weigh heavily on the eurozone.

Mr Berner said US demand is likely to contract by 1pc each quarter for the
first nine months of 2008, but the picture could be far worse if the Federal
Reserve fails to slash rates fast enough. It is betting on a quarter point
cut this week, with three more cuts by the middle of next year. "We expect
the Fed to insure against the worst outcome," he said.  advertisement

Morgan Stanley is the first major Wall Street bank to warn that it is may now
be too late to stop a recession, though most have shifted to an
ultra-cautious stance in recent weeks.

The bank at first treated the August crunch as a "mid-cycle correction", much
like the financial storm after Russia's default in 1998. But the collapse of
the US commercial paper market has now continued for seventeen weeks,
suggesting a "fundamental deleveraging of the banking system."

Mr Berner - known at Morgan Stanley as the "resident bull"- is one of the
most closely watched analysts on Wall Street. While he began to turn bearish
last April as the credit markets turned nasty, the latest report is written
in tones that may is rattle the fast-diminishing band of optimists.

-- 
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