The New York Sun – Editorial: The Fed’s Right Mind? It looks like the Federal Reserve is starting to worry about Senator Rand Paul’s plan to audit the central bank. The way the Hill newspaper, which covers Congress, puts it this week is that the Fed is “lashing out” at Mr. Paul’s plan, which, it… Continue reading Audit The Fed
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Renters Are Majority in Big U.S. Cities American cities—and not just the priciest ones—are more and more the domain of renters. Renters made up the majority of the population in cities at the core of nine of the nation’s 11 largest metro areas in… Continue reading Renting vs. Owning
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Banks Say Soaring Dollar Puts Them at Disadvantage The strengthening U.S. dollar is rippling through the financial system in unexpected ways, revealing what bankers say is a hidden flaw in a Federal Reserve proposal to increase capital cushions at the nation’s largest banks.… Continue reading The Soaring Dollar
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Sorry, Still Not a Stock Pickers Market The good news is that stock pickers are doing better in 2015. The bad news is that it’s still not a “stock-picker’s market.” After a dismal showing in 2014, more active managers are outperforming major stock benchmarks this year, according to strategists at Bank… Continue reading The Dead Art Of Stock Picking
Bloomberg.com – Mohamed El-Erian: Tsipras Lays Out Part of the Road Map for Greece Alexis Tsipras didn’t disappoint in his first parliamentary speech as prime minister of Greece yesterday. He mixed fiery rhetoric with defiance and emotional nationalistic language, reaffirming his government’s rejection of the country’s international bailout programs. His address shed light on a… Continue reading Greece
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Bond Danger Compounded by U.S. Extending Treasury Maturities As the insatiable demand for Treasuries pushes down yields, the U.S. has locked in low-cost financing for years to come by issuing more long-term debt. The average maturity of Treasuries is now poised to reach an all-time high this… Continue reading Bond Maturities
The Wall Street Journal – For Investors, the World Isn’t Flat Unusual stability has characterized several major financial markets in the past decade. The certainty this implies pulls in investors who can then lose big when, all of sudden, the fundamental view keeping the trend in place breaks. The risk is especially high when, as… Continue reading Beware Of Calm Markets
The Wall Street Journal – In a Poll, Goldman’s Reputation Is ‘Poor’–And That’s an Improvement Americans think Goldman Sachs has a “poor” reputation. But that’s an improvement. They used to say it was “very poor.” Goldman ranked dead last out of 100 corporations considered the most visible U.S. companies, according to 27,278 individuals surveyed by… Continue reading Goldman Gets Better!
None Today
The Wall Street Journal – Jobs Report: U.S. Adds 257,000 Jobs; Unemployment Ticks Up to 5.7% U.S. employers hired steadily last month and workers’ wages picked up, suggesting the labor market is moving closer to full health more than five years after the recession. U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 257,000 jobs in… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
Comment Yesterday we hosted a conference all with the above title. If you missed it, the audio and PDF are below: Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/020515.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=242″] [hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/020515.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” /]
<Click on graphic for larger image> Zero Hedge – It’s A Bond Picker’s Market: Bond Funds Have Biggest Inflow In History Mutual fund and ETF flows are catching up to the January collapse in interest rates. Recall that flows typically flow returns, but with a lag. Hence following the very strong bond returns in January… Continue reading Bond Flows