Barron’s – Time to Buy Commodities It’s time to consider commodities. While the Standard & Poor’s 500, Nasdaq Composite, and other key equity indexes are near record levels, commodity stocks, including energy shares, are way below their peaks. Commodities are probably the most out-of-favor industry group in the stock market… OIL HAS TUMBLED 25% since… Continue reading Barron’s Hypes Commodities…Again
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – So the Job Market Is Strong, But There’s Still Plenty of Slack Friday’s jobs report revealed that the unrounded overall unemployment rate, at 5.26%, has finally dropped below its prerecession average, a point underscored in a blog post by Jason Furman, chairman of the White House Council of Economic… Continue reading Labor Market Slack
Project Syndicate – The Promise and Peril of Macroprudential Policy Unfortunately, the development and use of macroprudential tools faces considerable economic and political obstacles. The Bank of Spain’s attempt to implement adjustable capital requirements for banks, through its system of “dynamic provisioning,” did little to deter aggressive lending during the country’s property boom. Once a… Continue reading Macroprudential Policy
Bloomberg.com – Another Investor Calls Illiquidity a Myth to Repeal Rules Warnings of a liquidity crisis in the bond market are a myth created by Wall Street in hopes of repealing regulation, said Krishna Memani, the chief investment officer of OppenheimerFunds. Bond buyers, who currently have no incentive to buy, will eventually step up when… Continue reading Speaking Out Against The Idea Regulation Is Hurting Bond Market Liquidity
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Greed Makes a Comeback in China as Hot New Trade Sparks 5% Rally Greed is once again trumping fear in the Chinese stock market. The Shanghai Composite Index surged 4.9 percent on Monday, posting the broadest rally in at least 17 years on speculation that China will… Continue reading The Roller Coaster Continues In Chinese Stocks
None Today
The Wall Street Journal – Jobs Report: U.S. Businesses Add 215,000 Jobs U.S. employers added jobs at a steady pace and wages rose slightly in July, but millions of Americans stayed on the sidelines in the latest sign of lingering slack in the labor market. Nonfarm payrolls rose a seasonally adjusted 215,000 in July, the… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: A Bad Jobs Report Still Might Not Shake Fed’s View Federal Reserve officials lately have been pretty upbeat about the economic outlook, a key reason they are talking about raising short-term interest rates as soon as September. Economists surveyed ahead of Friday’s jobs report expected the Labor Department… Continue reading The Jobs Report Will Not Sway The Fed One Way Or Another
<Click on chart for larger image> MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Inflation Expectations Fall, Making Rate Hike ‘More Difficult to Justify’ A measure of U.S. inflation expectation in the bond market tumbled Thursday to the lowest level in nearly five months as U.S. crude oil prices fell to near the lowest level of 2015, potentially complicating… Continue reading Inflation Expectations & A Fed Hike
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Why the Euro’s Correlation With Stocks Has Changed In recent months, when global stocks have fallen, the euro has usually gained against other major currencies. Until last year, the pattern was the other way around. “It’s quite clear the correlation has changed,” said Andreas Koenig, head of foreign exchange for Europe… Continue reading The Relationship Between Stocks & The Euro
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Despite Glut of Oil, Energy Firms Struggle to Turn Off the Tap Despite all their spending cutbacks and idle drilling rigs, American energy producers are finding it hard to turn off the taps that have helped lead to a global glut of oil. Rising… Continue reading Crude Oil Supply & Demand
Bloomberg.com – Hedge Fund Losses From Commodity Slump Sparking Investor Exodus Hedge funds focused on raw materials lost money on average in the first half, the Newedge Commodity Trading Index shows. Diminishing investor demand spurred Cargill’s Black River Asset Management unit to shut its commodities fund last month. Others enduring redemptions include Armajaro Asset Management… Continue reading Commodities Hedge Funds