Bloomberg Business – `Helicopter Money’ Is Coming to the U.S. Since the beginning of their quantitative-easing activities, the Federal Reserve has returned $596 billion to the U.S. Treasury and the Bank of England has given back $47 billion. This cozy relationship between central banks and their governments resembles “helicopter money,” the unconventional form of stimulus that… Continue reading Helicopter Money And The Fed
Real Clear Markets – Why Election Year Fed Bashing Sometimes Has Merit Election year often means it is time to bash the Federal Reserve. After all, Congress created an independent central bank in order to allow it to make politically unpopular — but economically prudent — decisions. Because the Fed becomes a convenient political punching… Continue reading Fed Hatred During Election Years
The Financial Times – I’m from the central bank and I’m here to help Quantitative easing has prevented deflation and the policy is now ordinary Large holdings of sovereign debt within central banks has prompted consideration of the nature of money, and what it means for the part of government which provides goods and services… Continue reading Percent Of Government Debt Held By Central Banks Continues To Rise
<Click on chart for larger image> Winnipeg Free Press – Crude-by-rail shipments on steady decline month-over-month in 2016: StatsCan Shipments of crude-by-rail have shown a steady decline this year and railway executives see little hope of a quick turnaround. The latest data from Statistics Canada, released Wednesday, reveal shipments of railcars filled with fuel and… Continue reading A Look At Railcar Loadings
<Click on graphic for larger image> Zero Hedge – Factory Orders Plunge For 20th Month In A Row – Longest Streak In US History Despite a small beat in MoM data (-1.5% vs -1.9% exp), US factory orders plunged 5.6% YoY – the worst drop since September 2015. This extends the period of annual contraction… Continue reading Factory Orders Fall
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Crude Slump Sees Oil Majors’ Debt Burden Double to $138 Billion Net debt for top five oil firms has risen tenfold since 2008 When commodity prices crashed in late 2014, oil executives could look at their mining counterparts with a sense of superiority. Back then, the… Continue reading Oil Companies’ Debt Rises
The Wall Street Journal – New Tool for Central Banks: Buying Corporate Bonds Bank of England to purchase up to £10 billion in corporate loans Central banks have a new favorite tool for boosting lackluster growth: corporate-debt purchases. Two months after the European Central Bank started buying corporate bonds, the Bank of England said Thursday… Continue reading Central Banks Now Buying Corporate Bonds
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Goldman Warns ‘Supply Storm’ to Engulf Global Copper Market A storm’s about to hit the global copper market, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which forecasts that the price may slump to $4,000 a metric ton over 12 months as mine supply picks up, producers enjoy… Continue reading Goldman Sachs: Copper Set To Fall
CNBC – Investors to central banks: We aren’t listening anymore The Fed now finds itself with a credibility problem in which investors not only doubt its ability to goose the economy; there are also questions about the veracity of policy statements and forecasting acumen, as well as doubts about whether the central bank will be… Continue reading Fed Credibility
Bloomberg.com – Evans Says One Fed Rate Hike This Year ‘Perhaps’ Appropriate Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Charles Evans said an interest-rate increase could be warranted this year as the economy picks up steam, even though he’s still worried that inflation is too low. “I do think that perhaps one rate increase could be… Continue reading Charles Evans Looking For Inflation Before Hike
Watch the latest video at video.foxbusiness.com Comment Jim Bianco was on Fox Business yesterday discussing the upcoming payroll report. To view the interview, click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews, click here. The two charts below were referenced in the interview. <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart… Continue reading Previewing Tomorrow’s Payroll Report