Bloomberg.com – Payrolls in U.S. Rose 287,000 in June, Most in Eight Months America’s job market stirred to life in June as payroll growth accelerated by the most since October after a two-month lull, assuaging fears of broader cutbacks by companies. Payrolls climbed by 287,000 last month, exceeding the highest estimate in a Bloomberg survey,… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – U.S. Treasury Sees Bond Market Liquidity, But Not as We Know It Debt investors can breathe a sigh of relief and stop fretting about liquidity in the market, according to the U.S. Treasury. Measures of corporate-bond liquidity — typically defined as the ability to trade an… Continue reading The Treasury Sees No Liquidity Issues
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Economist – The Italian job Italy is Europe’s fourth-biggest economy and one of its weakest. Public debt stands at 135% of GDP; the adult employment rate is lower than in any EU country bar Greece. The economy has been moribund for years, suffocated by over-regulation and feeble productivity.… Continue reading All Eyes On Italy
The Financial Times – Investors shift into corporate bonds with eye on higher returns Investors poured money into corporate bond funds over the past week, as demand for fixed rate returns accelerated against the backdrop of global government debt yields hitting record lows. Bond funds had inflows of $14.4bn, with the US receiving the lion’s… Continue reading Corporate Bond Flows
The Wall Street Journal – Coming to Terms with Low Bond Yields What has happened to the bond market has far more to do with global risk than it does with anything happening in the U.S. The result: long-term interest rates that increasingly seem out of step with the economy. The 10-year Treasury yield has… Continue reading Low Yields & Term Premium
The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: Election 2016 Is Propelled by the American Economy’s Failed Promises When U.S. economic leaders in April 2000 gathered in the White House to mark a decadelong expansion, the consensus was clear. Trade, technology and a wise central bank had helped fuel an era of rising prosperity. Stick to… Continue reading Politics & The Economy
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Pound Overtakes Argentine Peso to Become 2016’s Worst Performer The pound headed for a third week of declines spurred by the Brexit vote, winning itself the title of 2016’s worst performer among major currencies. Sterling’s rally Friday barely dented its 2.7 percent slide versus the dollar in the… Continue reading Currency Wars
The Wall Street Journal – Bankruptcy Legislation for Big Banks Gains Steam Legislation to make the bankruptcy of a big bank more feasible is gaining steam on Capitol Hill, a development that could help the largest U.S. financial firms counter criticism that they remain “too big to fail” without a taxpayer bailout. Changes to the… Continue reading Too Big To Fail
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Goldman Stock Picker’s Case Run Over by S&P 500 Correlations “The markets were getting rich for bottom-up stock pickers and unfortunately Brexit kind of puts that on hold for a quarter or two,” Krishna Memani, chief investment officer at New York-based Oppenheimer Funds Inc., said by… Continue reading Stock Correlations On The Rise Once Again
Bloomberg.com – Legendary Hedge Fund Wants to Use Atomic Clocks to Beat High-Speed Traders Patent application no. 14/451,356 has one goal: to outrun the speed demons of Wall Street. The 16-page document was quietly published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in February. Replete with schematic drawings, the filing describes a novel way for… Continue reading The Quest To Beat High Frequency Traders
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<Click on chart for larger image> The Washington Post – Lawrence H. Summers: Interest rates are at inconceivable levels, and we must confront what that means The U.S. 10- and 30-year interest rates on Wednesday reached all-time lows of 1.32 percent and 2.10 percent. Record-low 10-year interest rates were also registered in Germany, France, Switzerland and… Continue reading Interest Rates Continue Their March Lower