<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – China’s Economy Provides Brief Relief to Global Worries The Chinese economy remains brittle, but signs of late show a less dire picture At least for now, China is safely sliding down the list of the world’s most urgent economic worries. The Chinese economy remains… Continue reading China
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Corporate winners and losers amid the oil price crash Airlines are beneficiaries of cheap fuel, but consumer goods groups are not getting a big boost Oil price crashes have profound consequences. The fall in crude after the 1997 Asian financial crisis ushered in today’s oil… Continue reading Who Is Benefiting From Cheap Gas?
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – OPEC Warns of Deeper Cuts to Oil Demand Forecast on Slowdown Group trims 2016 demand growth estimate by 50,000 barrels/day OPEC said it may deepen cuts to its forecast for global oil demand growth due to slowing economic expansion in emerging markets, warmer weather and the… Continue reading Crude Oil Production
The Financial Times – Fighting the Fed Ignoring the US central bank’s guidance has paid off for investors but that may not last Oil has been a huge swing factor for markets in recent months and China will determine the fate of us all. But if there is one thing that emerging markets investors need… Continue reading Ignoring Fedspeak
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CNBC – IMF slashes world growth forecast again The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded its world economic growth forecast yet again and warned of a backlash against cross-border economic integration in richer countries. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the organization said Tuesday that it now saw the global economy growing by only 3.2… Continue reading The IMF’s Less Than Stellar Forecasting Record
<Click on graphic for larger image> <Click on graphic for larger image> Brookings.edu – Independence and accountability: Congress and the Fed in a polarized era Bill sponsorship: We start by examining trends in bill sponsorship. Figure 1 shows the number of bills introduced each year. We overlay a smoothed “misery index” on the data to… Continue reading Congress And The Fed
The Wall Street Journal – Justin Lahart: Earnings Season: Time to Tweak Warren Buffett’s Maxim Amid an overall earnings slowdown, investors need to be sure companies aren’t stepping out of bounds to prop up results For a recent project, Patricia Dechow, an accounting professor at the University of California, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and… Continue reading Gaming Earnings
Bloomberg.com – Goldman Has Three Reasons to Be Worried About Stocks This Earnings Season Where are all of the bulls? “Near-term risk is skewed to the downside,” the team, led by Chief U.S. Equity Strategist David Kostin, said in their weekly kickstart note. There are three reasons Goldman is using a glass half empty approach. 1. Energy… Continue reading An Earnings Update
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg.com – U.S. Oil-Shale Output Seen Reaching Two-Year Low as Prices Sink Oil output from U.S. shale regions is headed for the lowest level in almost two years with prices at less than half 2014 levels. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts oil output from major U.S. shale regions… Continue reading Oil Production
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Financial Times – Why do investors buy negative yield bonds? Negative yielding debt is the most striking consequence of aggressive central bank policy. The amount of bonds with negative market interest rates is near $7tn and appears set to grow. Buying a bond with a negative yield, and… Continue reading Negative Yields
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Banks Face Massive New Headache on Oil Loans Banks start announcing earnings on Wednesday, and a big focus will be on little-known but massive unfunded loans The $147 billion question for banks: Will energy companies max out their credit lines? When big banks announce… Continue reading Energy Loans