Bloomberg.com – Fed Officials Are Getting Real About the Limits of Their Power The Federal Reserve can’t do it alone. For eight years it’s pressed the gas pedal — lowering rates, buying bonds and declaring their absolute resolve to revive moribund growth. This has helped heal scars from the Great Recession, namely reducing unemployment to… Continue reading The Fed Needs Politicians’ Help
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Gold’s Relationship With the Dollar: It’s Getting Complicated As gold continues to climb higher this year, the precious metal is leaving its long-established relationship with the U.S. dollar behind. Traditionally, gold trades inversely with the U.S. dollar, since the precious metal is priced in dollars and becomes more expensive to foreign… Continue reading The Dollar vs. Gold
The Wall Street Journal – ‘Direct’ Repo Loans Gaining Traction as Banks Step Back Money-market funds are increasingly entering into repurchase loans directly with large investors and insurers, the latest sign that participants in short-term lending markets are sidestepping “repo” deals involving big banks. New data released Wednesday from the Office of Financial Research, an… Continue reading Banks Step Away From Repos
The Wall Street Journal – Greg Ip: The Rise of Zero-Sum Economics Five words in this year’s Republican Party platform speak volumes about today’s political climate. After calling trade “crucial for all sectors of America’s economy,” it goes on to declare: “Massive trade deficits are not.” Trade deficits were actually larger in 2008 and 2012,… Continue reading Winner-Take-All Politics
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Debt Issuance Can’t Keep Up With the ECB’s Hunger for Bonds As worries that the European Central Bank will soon run out of sovereign debt to buy for its quantitative-easing program persist, Europe’s over-leveraged governments are declining to lend a hand. According to a study by JPMorgan… Continue reading The ECB Is Running Out Of Bonds To Buy
Bloomberg.com – Kuroda Says No Need and No Possibility for Helicopter Money Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda rejected the idea of helicopter money, dousing speculation that this could be the next policy step as prices fall and growth wanes in the world’s third-largest economy. Given the current institutional setting, at this stage there is… Continue reading Just Say No To Helicopter Money
Bloomberg Business – Analyst Upgrades Papa John’s Because Growing Civil Unrest Means More Pizza Deliveries Papa John’s International Inc. is poised to perform well as civil and political disruptions ahead of a contentious U.S. election prompt Americans to stay in rather than eat out, according to KeyBanc Analyst Chris O’Cull. The analyst upgraded the stock… Continue reading Political Unrest = Pizza Delivery?
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Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/072116.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] Topics Covered This Week Include: Hikes Are Gone Easiest “Post Crisis” Period Ever? Central Bank Balance Sheets Still Going Up A New High In Money Printing All Made Record Lows Week Of July 6 Latest Probabilities What Will The Fed Do? The Market’s Track Record… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
Comment On July 21, 2016 at 9 AM CT (10 AM ET, 7 AM PT and 15:00 BST) Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Central banks responded to the Brexit vote with stimulus in the hopes of avoiding a serious crisis. In the… Continue reading Have Central Banks Created The Perfect Scenario For Risk Markets?
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Financial Times – Outflows accelerate from US active funds $21.7bn flowing out in June marks worst month since October 2008 The shift of assets from actively managed investment funds to low-cost index trackers accelerated last month, as US stockpicking funds suffered their worst outflows since the financial crisis.… Continue reading Active vs Passive Fund Flows
<Click on chart for larger image> The New York Times – Foreign Ownership of US Debt Slips Again in May Foreign holdings of U.S. Treasury securities fell for the second straight month in May. The Treasury Department said Monday that total foreign holdings dropped 0.5 percent to $6.21 trillion after slipping 0.8 percent to $6.24… Continue reading China Increases Its Holdings Of US Treasuries Slightly