<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Business – Oil Speculators Make `Easy’ Bearish Call at 85-Year Supply High Hedge funds placed the most bets on falling oil prices since July as rising piles of crude dashed hopes of a near-term recovery. Money managers’ short position in West Texas Intermediate crude jumped by 18 percent… Continue reading Oil Speculation
<Click on graphic for larger image> McKinsey & Company – Are share buybacks jeopardizing future growth? Fears that US companies underinvest by paying too much back to shareholders are unfounded. Rather, the rise in buybacks reflects changes in the economy. Returning cash to shareholders is on the rise for large US-based companies. By McKinsey’s calculations,… Continue reading Different Views On Buybacks
The Rev. Emmanuel Lemelson Photo: Shiho Fukada for The Wall Street Journal <Click on picture for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Hedge-Fund Priest: Thou Shalt Make Money Greek Orthodox priest boasts of ability to ‘crash’ stocks The Rev. Emmanuel Lemelson says his life changed forever when he discovered the good book. That would… Continue reading God’s Hedge Fund Manager
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<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Arbor Quantitative Analytics – CFNAI Suggests Rate Hike 12+ Mths Away We have converted the CFNAI into likelihood of rate hikes going forward. Movements in the index from similar levels are used to generate percentages of achieving +0.3, which have marked rate hikes.… Continue reading Timing The Rate Hike
Bloomberg.com – Bonds of the Corporations, by the Corporations, and for the Corporations It’s corporates all the way down, according to new Barclays data. With a deluge of debt sold by investment-grade companies now flooding the market, Barclays analysts led by Shobhit Gupta stop to ask the question: just who’s been buying all this stuff?… Continue reading Who Owns Corporate Bonds?
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Hedge Funds Are Getting Their Gold Bets Wrong Gold prices are befuddling hedge funds, which are posting a track record no better than a coin flip when it comes to betting on the metal. The funds and other money managers have placed wrong-way wagers on gold in… Continue reading Betting On Gold
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – China’s Leaders to Approve Economic Blueprint China’s Communist Party this week is expected to approve an economic blueprint for scaling back the role of the state over the next five years, while offering clues about the leadership’s appetite for bold change in the face… Continue reading China’s Economy
<Click on graphic for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Treasuries Epicenter Tilts Toward Chicago With High-Speed Firms Chicago is challenging New York’s long-held position at the center of what’s been called the world’s most important financial market. When it comes to the $12.9 trillion of U.S. Treasuries outstanding, Windy City firms such as Jump Trading LLC,… Continue reading More On Chicago’s Status As Bond Central
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Census Restarts Stalled Survey that Feeds into GDP Report The Census Bureau resumed work today on a survey that feeds into the nation’s reports on gross domestic product, corporate profits and the flow of funds, after congressional delay imperiled a quarter’s worth of data. The White House announced Thursday… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling Battle May Affect GDP
The Wall Street Journal – Sam Zell Edges Out of Apartments Equity Residential agrees to sell some apartments for $5.4 billion to Starwood Capital Sam Zell has agreed to sell more than 23,000 apartments controlled by his real-estate company, Equity Residential, for $5.4 billion to Starwood Capital Group, the companies said. The transaction, announced Monday,… Continue reading Is Sam Zell Creating Another High?
The Financial Times – Wolfgang Munchau: Draghi must be more unconventional Mario Draghi last week opened the door for some lateral thinking on eurozone monetary policy. At the meeting of the governing council of the European Central Bank, the bank’s president hinted they would have to take a deep look at all the monetary policy… Continue reading The ECB