<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Oil Bettors Seek Safety in Proxies Investors fearing direct oil bet wager on Norwegian krone and Petrobras bonds instead Some traders anticipating a rebound in oil are making an indirect bet: wagering on energy companies and the currencies of oil-producing nations instead of the… Continue reading How Traders Are Cautiously Betting On Oil
<Click on graphic for larger iamge> MarketWatch.com – Caroline Baum: How the bond market could upend the Fed’s best-laid plans If 10-year yields don’t rise, the Fed won’t be able to raise the fed funds rate either Unless long-term interest rates start to rise, the Federal Reserve’s prescribed path for the federal funds rate over… Continue reading The Bond Market And The Fed’s Plan
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Year in Review: No Breakout for Economy, but Jobs, Earnings Grow The U.S. economy didn’t notch a breakout year, but it posted strong enough gains to convince the Federal Reserve it was fit enough to handle higher rates The U.S. economy didn’t notch a… Continue reading Where Is The Economic Growth?
The Financial Times – Martin Wolf: Hope and fear in the endless Greek crisis There is a slim chance that economic recovery will take hold in 2016 The Greek economic crisis has blighted the country and the eurozone for six years. The election last January, which brought Alexis Tsipras and his leftwing Syriza party to… Continue reading Greece
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – The Trouble With Sovereign-Wealth Funds Government funds proliferated with oil’s rise. Now some are troubled Adnan Mazarei, deputy director of the International Monetary Fund’s Middle East and Central Asia Department, says the worry is sovereign-wealth funds will be forced to sell during a period… Continue reading Sovereign-Wealth Funds
<Click on graphic for larger image> <Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg View – Justin Fox: Where America Is Moving What is one to make of these population shifts? I see three main causes: -Aging baby boomers — the generation’s leading edge will begin turning 70 next month — are moving to where it’s… Continue reading What States Are Americans Moving To?
The New York Times – Bernie Sanders: To Rein In Wall Street, Fix the Fed WALL STREET is still out of control. Seven years ago, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department bailed out the largest financial institutions in this country because they were considered too big to fail. But almost every one is bigger… Continue reading Bernie Sanders Speaks About Wall Street
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Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Money Yield Rising The Mechanics Of Hiking Rates The Market Versus The Fed, Four Rate Hikes Credit Spreads High Yield Since The Trough Junk Bond Outflows At A New Record Calls For A Global Recession In 2016 Hedge Funds Continue To Lose Money S&P 500 and… Continue reading Charts of the Week
Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV this morning discussing yesterday’s comment that 2015 might have been the worst year ever. To view the interview, click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews, click here. From our comment yesterday: With less than two weeks left this year, how are market returns… Continue reading Talking About Why 2015 Is The Worst Year Ever?
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Commodity industry wrongfooted by slump The decline in oil that set in last year has gone further than many expected with Brent plumbing its lowest price in 11 years just before Christmas. That slide has hurt commodities across the board as investors have rushed to… Continue reading Commodities Continue To Fall
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – A Little More Inflation Would Be Good for Everyone Inflation in G-7 won’t top 2% for first time since 1932 U.S., Sweden, euro area, U.K., Japan, New Zealand miss goals The Fed has missed its goal for more than three-and-a-half years, and it doesn’t expect the… Continue reading Where Is The Inflation?