The Wall Street Journal – China Central Bank May Take Cue From Europe PBOC cuts banks’ reserve ratio by one percentage point China’s central bank is considering taking a page from Europe’s financial-crisis handbook to free up more credit as growth in the world’s second-largest economy slows. The proposed strategy would allow Chinese banks to… Continue reading China Eases Again
The Christian Science Monitor – Whatever happened to the big, bad federal deficit? Spending is up in Congress and only one likely GOP presidential candidate has mentioned the ‘d’ word. What happened to the red ink menace? Whatever happened to the big, bad federal deficit? You know, the red ink menace that was supposed to… Continue reading Capital Gains Drive The Federal Deficit
<Click on graphic for larger image> Barron’s – Jonathan R. Laing: Nearing Peak, U.S. Home Price Gains to Slow The three-year rally in housing prices is losing a little steam but should continue for another year or two. o figure. Just as several measures of U.S. economic growth appear poised to accelerate, the three-year residential… Continue reading Home Prices
Bloomberg.com – Fed’s Cold-Case Files: Many Leaks But Nobody Caught Since 1980s Inside the regal board room of the New York Fed in lower Manhattan, a director quietly telephoned a brokerage with inside information on interest-rate policy. It was 1984, and the director, Robert Rough, had been tipping off the New Jersey brokerage for more… Continue reading Leaking Confidential FOMC Info
The Financial Times – Wolfgang Munchau: Greek default necessary but Grexit is not Until last week, discussions with Greece did not go well. That changed when the circus of international financial diplomacy moved to Washington for the spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Then it became worse. My hunch is… Continue reading Grexit
Bloomberg.com – World Braces for Taper Tantrum II Even as Yellen Soothes Nerves The test now is whether developing nations have done enough to insulate their economies from the threats of a higher U.S. dollar and capital flight once the Fed boosts borrowing costs for the first time since 2006. How successful they are will… Continue reading Taper Tantrum II?
The Wall Street Journal – Jon Corzine Considers Launching Hedge Fund Jon S. Corzine, the embattled former MF Global Holdings Ltd. chief executive and ex-chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has discussed plans to start his own hedge fund in recent months, according to people familiar with the matter. The fund would start with cash… Continue reading Jon Corzine Wants To Start A Hedge Fund
Barron’s – Randall W. Forsyth: Low Interest Rates: A Self-Defeating Strategy Instead of encouraging spending and boosting the economy, low rates can lead people to squirrel more money away to meet their retirement or other goals. When I think back on all the crap I learned in grad school, it’s a wonder I can think… Continue reading Are Low Rates The Problem, Not The Solution?
None Today
Comment Yesterday we hosted a conference call titled The Three “Es”: Earnings, Energy and the Economy and The Two “Ms”: Markets and Monetary Policy. The mp3, webcast and handout are below. [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/041615.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] [hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/041615.flv” width=”600″ height=”495″ description=”” player=”3″ autoload=”false” autoplay=”false” loop=”false” autorewind=”true” splashimage=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/splash.jpg” /] If the webcast does not work above, please download… Continue reading The Three “Es”: Earnings, Energy and the Economy and The Two “Ms”: Markets and Monetary Policy
<Click on graphic for larger image> Comment Yesterday we highlighted the following story: Bloomberg.com – (April 16, 2015) Saudi Arabia Adds Half a Bakken to Global Oil Market in a Month Saudi Arabia led a surge in OPEC crude oil production in March. The nation boosted crude output by 658,800 barrels a day in March… Continue reading Why We Know Nothing About Crude Oil Production
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Federal Reserve official at odds with IMF rates warning A senior Federal Reserve official has played down fears of a gulf between the traders’ rates outlook and expectations of the central bank’s own officials, saying the market was rightly pricing in uncertainty over the pace… Continue reading Is This A Bigger Deal Than Data Dependence For The Fed?