<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – The Problem With the World’s Most Obvious Trade This week should provide the perfect opportunity for betting on a stronger dollar, but not so fast Sometimes a bet is so obvious that it is hard to believe it isn’t working out. The so-called divergence… Continue reading Betting On The Dollar
The Wall Street Journal – The ECB’s Mario Draghi to the Eurozone’s Rescue Again The pressure is on Draghi to prove the European Central Bank has tools left to fight deflationary forces, Simon Nixon writes Mario Draghi already has saved the eurozone twice. Now the European Central Bank president must do so a third time.… Continue reading Will Mario Save The Day Again?
Bloomberg – Michael R. Bloomberg: The Risk I Will Not Take But when I look at the data, it’s clear to me that if I entered the race, I could not win. I believe I could win a number of diverse states — but not enough to win the 270 Electoral College votes necessary to… Continue reading Bloomberg Is Not Running
None Today
Factset – Earnings Insight: Largest Drop in S&P 500 EPS Estimate Over First Two Months of a Quarter since Q1 2009 During the first two months of Q1 2016, analysts lowered earnings estimates for companies in the S&P 500 for the quarter. The Q1 bottom-up EPS estimate (which is an aggregation of the estimates for… Continue reading An Earnings Update
<Click on graphic for larger image> MarketWatch – This bull market gets no respect The current bull market — barring some sudden market catastrophe — is looking to celebrate its seventh birthday on Wednesday. But what it has in longevity, it lacks in love. So far, the current bull market has lasted 1,762 trading days.… Continue reading Comparing Bull Markets
<Click on graphic for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – This Is the Largest Job-Growth Streak Ever—Kind Of We did it! This is the biggest streak of job creation in recorded history. As long as you don’t think about it too hard. February’s numbers make it official: This is now the largest sustained… Continue reading Longest Job Growth Streak On Record
Comment Eight political contests were held this weekend, four Democrat races and four Republican. The betting markets correctly predicted 7 of 8 of these races, only missing on the Maine Republican caucus where Ted Cruz beat Donald Trump. While the results may not appear interesting to a consensus that largely expected Trump victories, the nomination… Continue reading An Election Betting Update
The Financial Times – China defends veracity of foreign exchange reserves data China’s official foreign exchange reserves only include highly liquid assets, a top central banker said on Sunday, seeking to reassure investors that authorities have enough ammunition to prevent a sharp fall in the renminbi. Investor sentiment towards China’s currency has turned sharply negative… Continue reading More On China’s Foreign Exchange Reserves
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Financial Times – Bank for International Settlements warns of negative rates risk Negative interest rates risk backfiring the longer and more deeply central banks in Europe and Japan venture into this unconventional monetary policy, economists from the Bank for International Settlements have warned. The caution over one of… Continue reading So What Did The BIS Say About Negative Rates?
Kiplinger – Jeremy J. Siegel: Can the Fed Save The Stock Market? In retrospect, it was ill-timed for the Federal Reserve to start hiking short-term interest rates. But that can easily be fixed. The good news is that central banks are not powerless to counteract these deflationary pressures. In retrospect, it was ill-timed for the… Continue reading The Fed & Stocks
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Washington Post – Strikes and workers’ protests multiply in China, testing party authority In the Chinese region nicknamed “the world’s factory,” many workers are angry and disillusioned. Strikes and other labor protests have spiked across the country as manufacturing plants lay off workers and reduce wages in the… Continue reading Unrest In China