<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Iran defends right to raise oil output Ministers arrive in Tehran to persuade country to back production freeze Iran said it will defend its right to raise oil production to pre-sanctions levels, ahead of a meeting with other Opec members, hoping to convince the country… Continue reading Iran And Crude Oil Production
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg Business – There’s One Place Where OPEC Can’t Broker an Oil Deal: Texas As Saudis and Russia freeze output, U.S shale can pounce Shale output could grow if oil prices rise to $50 a barrel Saudi Arabia and Russia have taken the first step to stem the slide… Continue reading Texas And Crude Oil Production
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Yellen Heads for March Crossroads as Market Urges Policy Detour Investors discount rate hike as turmoil damps economic outlook Fed chair reiterates policy decisions are data dependent Janet Yellen has her eyes on the road. After the Federal Reserve chair assured U.S. lawmakers that the U.S.… Continue reading The Data Dependent Fed And Rate Hikes
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia – Patrick T. Harker: An Economic Outlook My approach to policy is to conduct it in ways that will best serve our dual mandate of maximum employment and price stability. Given the behavior of oil prices, inflation is likely to be quite low in the first quarter of the year,… Continue reading Fed President Harker Speaks On The Economy
<Click on graphic for larger image> Arbor Quantitative Analytics – Munis – Out-performance at Extremes Munis (+1.6% YOY) have continued onward and upward as USTs produce one of their best starts to a year (US Agg +1.8% YOY). In response, money has flowed into muni funds for the 18th consecutive week through the beginning of… Continue reading A Look At Munis
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – US money market funds reinstate fees Money market funds have begun reinstating fees for investors, after the end of zero interest rate policy in the US has led to rising yields and improving returns. As interest rates sank to near zero in the US, money… Continue reading Money Market Funds
Economics 21 – Caroline Baum: Central Bankers Confront a Strange New World Every generation passes along its experiences, and the lessons learned from them, to the next. For example, Americans who lived through the Great Depression teach their children about the importance of saving. The same is true for central bankers. Today’s Federal Reserve, aware… Continue reading The Fed’s Role In The New World
The Wall Street Journal – Investors Brace for a Financial Crisis Repeat Heavyweight investors and economists have this week postulated that a recent selloff in global stock and bond markets may have been overdone. But there are still plenty of individuals out there who have yet to see the light at the end of the… Continue reading Investors Prepare For The Next Crisis
Bloomberg Business – Summers Calls for G-20 Pact on Banknote Limit as Low as $50 Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers urged countries around the world to agree to stop issuing high-denomination banknotes, adding his voice to intensifying criticism of a practice alleged by police to abet crime and corruption. Summers’s call coincides with a… Continue reading The End Of Paper Currencies
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Why China’s Credit Boom Might Not Pack a Punch The real economy hasn’t benefited much from the surge in credit China’s credit monster roared to life in January, but there are reasons this isn’t the powerful force it seems. Total financing in the economy… Continue reading China
The Wall Street Journal – Fed’s Neel Kashkari: Break Up the Big Banks The Federal Reserve’s newest bank president, a Republican who served as a top Treasury Department official during the financial crisis, called Tuesday for policy makers to consider breaking up big banks to prevent future government bailouts. In his first public remarks since… Continue reading Fed President Wants To Break Up The Banks
The Financial Times – John Authers: Rising interest rates are bad for stocks New research shows policy tightening correlates with weaker equities For years, the markets section has been crammed with speculation attempting to predict when central banks will move target interest rates. This long predates the era of zero rates. The run-up to the… Continue reading Why Rising Rates Are Bad For Stocks