Business Insider – GUNDLACH: Negative interest rates ‘are the stupidest idea I have ever experienced’ Europe and Japan’s central bank policies of negative interest rates are a “horror” and will run counter to the desired effect, Jeffrey Gundlach, the widely followed investor who runs DoubleLine Capital, said in an interview with a Swiss newspaper. Gundlach,… Continue reading Gundlach Speaks
The Wall Street Journal – S&P Strips Exxon of Triple-A Credit Rating Exxon Mobil Corp. was stripped Tuesday of the perfect triple-A credit rating it has held for more than six decades by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, a sign that the oil bust is hurting even the strongest players in the energy industry. The… Continue reading Exxon Loses Its AAA Credit Rating
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Comment On April 28, 2016 at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 BST), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. In the post-crisis period, active management has underperformed terribly. As a result, investors have withdrawn money from active open-ended… Continue reading Is Too Much Index Investing A Bad Thing?
<Click on graphic to view video> CNBC Pro – Santelli: Can betting markets predict election? Rick Santelli talks with Jim Bianco of Bianco Research about whether the real money in betting markets will predict the presidential election before polls do. “The last 30 primaries — whether it’s Republican or Democrat going back to March 15… Continue reading Election Betting – Northeast Primaries Update
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – The Fed Is Meeting in April to Talk About June Keeping a first-half hike on the table. The Fed will stand pat this week. We know it, they know it. So what then will the Fed talk about for two days? The April meeting of the… Continue reading More On The Fed Meeting
The Wall Street Journal – Is ‘Secular Stagnation’ Too Pessimistic? The U.S. economic equation has been marked by cheap labor, high saving rates, paltry investment and slow growth since the recession. Is that dynamic shifting, perhaps slowly? Economists have argued for years over the root causes of weak, uneven economic gains. One theory: secular stagnation.… Continue reading Secular Stagnation
Project Syndicate – Howard Davies: Why Are Central Banks on Trial Again? Central banks have been on a roller-coaster ride in the last decade, from heroes to zeroes and back again. Is another downswing in their fortunes and reputations now starting? In 2006, when Alan Greenspan retired after his 18-year reign as Chair of the… Continue reading No Love For Central Banks
CNBC – Wall Street now expects rate hike much later this year: Survey The latest CNBC Fed Survey shows Wall Street anticipating a more dovish Fed in April than it did back in March, with the next rate hike not expected until much later this year. Fully 100 percent of the 48 respondents to the… Continue reading What Wall Street Is Expecting For Rates And The Presidency
The Wall Street Journal – As Bond Yields Rise, Some Investors Fear Another False Dawn A drop in government-debt prices often signals improving economic sentiment, but such moves in recent years have been short-lived As the Federal Reserve’s policy-setting committee prepares to meet on Tuesday, one signal suggests that investors believe the economy, and financial… Continue reading Why Rising Yields Scare Bond Investors
<Click on graphic for larger image> Zero Hedge – “China Is Hoarding Crude At The Fastest Pace On Record” However, while China is importing at a near record pace, is there also an offsetting increase demand? There was early in the year as shown in the chart below, but as of March the answer appears… Continue reading China And Crude Oil Imports
American Prospect – What Good Are Hedge Funds? Hedge funds make big returns by manipulating markets in ways that are illegal for small investors. Remind us: Why are they permitted? HEDGE FUNDS HAVE PUSHED INTO so many aspects of American life that solutions for minimizing their risk have proliferated in parallel. Dodd-Frank forced hedge funds… Continue reading Hedge Funds