<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – Italy presents the European Union’s new bank-rescue rules with their first big test For Italian banks to turn a page, Monte dei Paschi di Siena must be sorted out Next month Monte dei Paschi’s chief executive, Marco Morelli, will present a new business plan. On January… Continue reading Italian Banks
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Janet Yellen Sticks to Steady Outlook on Rates Fed leader says the economy remains constrained by multiple long-term forces Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said Thursday she doesn’t see the U.S. economy at risk of overheating and doesn’t expect growth to pick up much soon,… Continue reading Yellen vs. Trump
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – How 2017 could be the year of the stockpicker’s comeback Active investing has had a hard time since the crisis — that could be about to change The post-financial crisis environment has been unkind to active investing, especially in equities, with most portfolio managers unable to… Continue reading The Year Of The Stockpicker
<Click on graphics for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – The Mortgage Market’s $1 Trillion Pocket of Worry Nonbanking firms take on bigger share of FHA-backed mortgages Bonds backed by certain risky single-family mortgages topped $1 trillion for the first time in November, crossing that threshold amid rising warnings for one corner of the… Continue reading Shades of 2006
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Financial Times – Debunking the NAIRU myth That chart above shows the link between two real variables that have a logical connection to each other. The question for NAIRU believers is: why should a purely real variable (unemployment) have any bearing on a purely nominal one (inflation)?In particular, is… Continue reading Why NAIRU Is A Useless Concept
None Today
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Fed officials prepare ground to cut bank’s $4.5tn balance sheet Having taken two tentative steps towards more normal levels of interest rates, Federal Reserve policymakers are preparing to debate an even more fraught undertaking: paring back the vast holdings of securities they amassed when battling… Continue reading Reducing The Fed’s Balance Sheet & Normalizing Rates
Reuters –Bitcoin exchange BTCC: China hasn’t said margin trading illegal The head of Chinese bitcoin exchange BTCC on Thursday denied media reports that the central bank had ruled it was offering margin loans illegally, and he said the platform is operating normally.However, Chief Executive Bobby Lee told Reuters the company had stopped offering margin loans… Continue reading More on China’s Heavy Handed Government
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Wall Street Gets Back Its Groove Goldman Sachs, Citigroup cap off strongest fourth quarter for big-bank trading results in years The historic U.S. election jolted Wall Street trading desks, buoying investor confidence and sparking activity that pushed the five biggest U.S. investment banks to… Continue reading Good Earnings Results For Big Banks
<Click on chart for larger image> MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – It’s Historically Quiet Out There in the Stock Market There’s an uneasy calm hanging over the stock market, but it may be coming to an end. The S&P 500 index has gone 66 trading days without a decline of 1% or more as investors wait… Continue reading Where’s The Volatility?
Bloomberg.com – Davos Elite Seeks Fixes to Defend the System From Populists IMF’s Lagarde speaks at Davos panel on middle-class crisis Bridgewater’s Ray Dalio says globalization might be ending The great and the good of Davos agree they have a problem with populism. Finding a solution is the hard part. On the second day of the… Continue reading Davos
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – China’s Holdings of U.S. Treasuries Drop by Most Since 2011 China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries declined in November for a sixth straight month, as the world’s second-largest economy uses its foreign-exchange reserves to support the yuan. Japan’s holdings also dropped but the country kept its spot as… Continue reading China Sheds U.S. Treasuries