Bloomberg.com – Bond Traders Trap Fed in No-Win Situation as Rate Decision Looms Northern Trust, Western Asset doubt the Fed will act this year Fed ‘beholden to what market participants say,’ Robertson says For all the talk that central banks have taken over financial markets, the paralysis gripping the Federal Reserve over upsetting bond traders sure… Continue reading Wednesday’s FOMC Meeting
Bloomberg.com – Yuan Interbank Rate Surges in Hong Kong in Sign of Intervention Overnight Hibor increases 15.7 percentage points on Monday Central bank seen shoring up currency before SDR inclusion The overnight interbank yuan rate surged the most since January in Hong Kong amid speculation China’s central bank is intervening to fend off bearish bets on… Continue reading More Trouble In China
Barrons – CPI Comes in High; Fed Can’t Ignore 2.3% Annual Rate The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for August was stronger than expected. Headline CPI rose 0.2% month-over-month, a tenth of a percent higher than economists were forecasting. The core CPI, which excludes the impact of energy and food, was up 0.3%, also a tenth of a… Continue reading Diving Into Last Week’s Inflation Number
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Funds Dump Gold at Fastest Pace Since May as Fed View Shifts Money managers cut bets on bullion rally by most since May Fed officials to release policy statement on Sept. 21 Speculation is mounting that Fed officials, in a statement scheduled for release on Sept. 21, will signal… Continue reading Are Precious Metal ETF Flows Reversing?
Bloomberg.com – One of the Largest Electronic Traders Won’t Touch Some Bond ETFs One of the world’s largest electronic market makers won’t touch increasingly popular exchange-traded funds tied to bonds because the underlying securities are too hard to trade. Although New York-based Virtu Financial Inc. buys and sells everything from stocks to government bonds and… Continue reading Virtu Won’t Trade Certain Bond ETFs
The Wall Street Journal – Markets Have Become More Dependent on Central Banks, Says BIS Central banks have been overburdened for too long, says BIS chief economist Claudio Borio Recent developments in financial markets underscore how dependent they have become on central banks, the chief economist of the Bank for International Settlements said Sunday. “It is… Continue reading Central Bank Dependence
About 80,000 people turned out in Berlin alone BBC NEws – Protests in Germany against transatlantic TTIP and CETA trade deals Tens of thousands of people have protested in cities across Germany against a proposed transatlantic trade deal between the EU and the US. Protesters say the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will lower European… Continue reading Protesting The TTIP
Barron’s – Active Management Could Be Ready to Shine Again The recent volatility roiling global markets could create an environment in which active fund managers have more of a chance to shine. Opsal looked at all of the quarters in which active managers beat the index, on average, over the past 25 years. In 85% of… Continue reading Outperforming The Market
Barron’s – Jump in Bond Yields, Chance of Trump Win Hammer Stocks Shares stumble as polls indicate that presidential race is tightening. So, what’s behind the sudden turbulence in stocks? It’s the equally unanticipated bounce in yields—which has little or nothing to do with the Fed. Expected policy actions by other central banks have been much… Continue reading The Markets And Politics
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Fed Hits Crossroads on Inflation Policy Most Federal Reserve officials agree the economy is at or getting very close to what economists consider full employment, the rate below which inflation starts to rise. What they can’t agree on is what should happen next. As… Continue reading The Fed’s Dual Mandate
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – China’s Holdings of U.S. Treasuries Fall to Lowest Since ’13 China’s holdings of U.S. Treasuries fell in July to the lowest level in more than three years, as the world’s second-largest economy pares its foreign-exchange reserves to support the yuan. The biggest foreign holder of U.S. government debt… Continue reading Chinese Holdings Of U.S. Treasuries Falls
The Wall Street Journal – October Surprise? U.S. Economic Growth May Accelerate Just Before Election Day Some forecasters see U.S. GDP growth on track for a 3% pace in the third quarter, to be announced in a late-October report Less than two weeks before Election Day, American voters could learn that economic growth has suddenly accelerated… Continue reading An October Election Surprise?