Wall Street Journal – The Virtual-Currency War That Threatens to Tear Bitcoin Apart Battling camps at odds over digital currency’s purpose—commodity or quick way to settle transactions? A calcifying rift in the bitcoin world is pitting two camps with competing visions for what the virtual currency should be against each other, accentuating the volatility that… Continue reading Bitcoin Rift Contributing to Volatility
Bloomberg Business – Mnuchin Says Ultra-Long Bond Program Wouldn’t Be a One-Off Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the U.S. government only intends to introduce ultra-long bonds if there’s an audience for regular issuances of the debt. “We’re reaching out to the borrowing community and investors to see what the demand is,” Mnuchin said in an interview… Continue reading Mnuchin Discusses Ultra-Long Bonds
CNBC – Fed’s Evans says may be worth waiting to year-end to assess next rate hike Chicago Fed President Charles Evans thinks the central bank should slowly raise interest rates. Evans believes the Fed achieved its goal of full employment. But the Fed had a “serious policy outcome miss” on its other goal of 2… Continue reading When Will The Fed Hike Again?
MarketWatch.com – How S&P 500 options may be used to manipulate VIX ‘fear gauge’ Are traders manipulating options tied to the Standard and Poor’s 500 to inflate the settlement value of a popular volatility index known as the VIX—and skimming profits? No, says the Chicago Board Options Exchange, which recently reported a fourth consecutive year of… Continue reading Is The VIX Being Manipulated?
The Financial Times – How did Argentina pull off a 100-year bond sale? Despite past defaults, the Latin American country has sold debt maturing in a century Little more than a year since Argentina’s return to the capital markets with a record-breaking $16bn issue, it pushed the boundaries even further on Monday by selling a 100-year… Continue reading More On Argentina’s 100-Year Bond
Adweek – E*Trade Stokes Rage Against the 1% in Remarkable Ads From MullenLowe What’s a non-trust fund baby to do? The “Don’t Get Mad” campaign uses “truth bombs” to shake prospects out of financial passivity … though if passivity is your thing (and you still don’t want to die poor), a new spate of robo advisers might… Continue reading E*Trade Goes Back To 1999
Council on Foreign Relations – China Isn’t Going to Run Out of Reserves Anytime Soon There is no real evidence that China’s current policy mix of controls and a fairly stable exchange rate (whether against the dollar or against the basket) is under pressure, at least so long as China is willing to keep its interest… Continue reading All About China
Bloomberg.com – Robots Are Eating Money Managers’ Lunch Obscure assets may be the human investor’s last refuge. It’s not unusual to hear hedge fund managers argue that investors need to go off the beaten path to boost returns. What Ganti is saying is that money managers need to go there to save their own careers. He… Continue reading Robots Taking Over
Bloomberg.com – Carney Ends Silence With Brexit Warning to Rebuff Rate-Hike Call BOE governor delivers first comments in more than a month Says it’s ‘not yet the time’ to raise interest rates Mark Carney ended more than a month of silence with a major speech that pushed back against rate hawks in the Bank of England… Continue reading Carney Stays Dovish
Comment On Friday Jim guest hosted the first hour of Bloomberg Day Break: Americas. The following topics were discussed: Tax reform and the pace of regulation affecting the financial markets (starting around 4:30) Brexit and the French elections (starting around 15:00) Greece’s latest bailout (starting around 21:00) Global central bank policies and Yellen’s potential replacements (starting around… Continue reading Talking Markets And More
The Wall Street Journal – Market Volatility Has Vanished Around the World As Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ nears all-time lows, one commonly used measure shows Asian equities near their least volatile this century Investors will likely continue to watch China closely, analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note last week. Policy makers there have recently… Continue reading Bond Market’s Conviction in Low Growth Outlook at Extreme