The Financial Times – China clamps down on banks moving currency overseas Regulators bar bankers from making net renminbi outflows as part of capital controls regime Chinese regulators are stamping out moves by banks to shift renminbi out of the country as they attack one of the few loopholes remaining in the country’s strict new… Continue reading Chinese Capital Flows
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Trump Era May Mean Fireworks on Fed Days Despite Better Guidance U.S. Federal Reserve officials were on a roll communicating their intentions to financial markets until December, when even a well-advertised interest-rate hike triggered a big sell-off in the bond market. As Fed policy makers gather this… Continue reading Market Moves On Fed Meeting Days
The Financial Times – Bonds start year at breakneck pace, but higher rates loom Sustainability questioned in face of potential fiscal and monetary policy changes A breakneck start to the year for borrowing by companies and governments across the globe has left bankers and investors questioning its sustainability. Bond sales have started the year at… Continue reading Bond Offerings Off To Fast Start In 2017
ValueWalk – James Grant – A Different Investment World Grant is a financial historian and prolific author. His most recent book is “The Forgotten Depression: 1921: The Crash that Cured Itself.” Grant is a vocal critic of the unprecedented stimulus policies implemented by central banks all over the world, particularly by the Fed and is… Continue reading Jim Grant Looks For Rising Rates
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – Financial markets diverge as central banks start to turn off the taps As monetary policy tightens, markets are learning to let go of Daddy’s hand INVESTORS are learning to let go of Daddy’s hand. Monetary policy has been very supportive of asset markets over the past eight… Continue reading Correlations Fall As Central Banks Exit Markets
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Financial Times – Americans are making more money from renting out homes than ever before, sort of As recently as 1990, Americans earned only 0.5 per cent of their personal income from rents. Now they earn 4.5 per cent of their income from this source. Since February 2007, more… Continue reading Rental Income
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Ghost of 1990s Is Haunting Dollar and Slowing Further Gains Investors waiting to see if Trump team will jawbone greenback … The underlying concern is that President Donald Trump’s protectionist moves will be accompanied by a preference for a weaker dollar, hurting foreigners’ desire for American assets.… Continue reading Will Trump Prefer A Weaker Dollar?
Politico – Polls show Trump with historically low approval ratings Majorities of Americans view Trump unfavorably — and also disapprove of the way in which Trump has built his incoming administration. And despite Trump’s poor numbers, some Americans are still hopeful his administration will be successful. Half of Americans surveyed by Monmouth University said they are… Continue reading Trump’s Approval Start
The Financial Times – Markets need to find vigilance in era of Trump populism The seductive ‘sugar high’ for markets will collide with Trump’s economic populism Beneath the surface, however, the country’s economic potential is deteriorating. Predictable bottlenecks start to appear. Rather than make the hard choice of returning to principled economic oversight, the populist leader… Continue reading Doubting The Trump Rally
Bloomberg.com – Mnuchin Dims Banks’ Hopes He Will Allow a Prop-Trading Revival Steven Mnuchin made clear he doesn’t want Wall Street banks getting back into the business of making risky market bets with their own capital, after Senate Democrats pushed him to clarify his responses to questions they asked during his confirmation process to be… Continue reading Mnuchin Clarifies His Thoughts On The Volcker Rule
The Wall Street Journal – U.S. GDP Grew 1.9% in Fourth Quarter Slowdown from the third quarter’s 3.5% growth rate The U.S. economy decelerated in the final three months of 2016, returning to the familiar pace of growth that has marked the long but lackluster postrecession expansion. Gross domestic product, a broad measure of the… Continue reading Market Capitalization As A Percentage Of GDP
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