Yahoo Finance – US mortgage rates hit new lows; not a lot more buyers biting Average U.S. mortgage rates started the year by dipping to new lows, with the benchmark 30-year rate marking its lowest level since May 2013. The ongoing decline in mortgage rates would appear to be a boon for prospective homebuyers. But… Continue reading Low Mortgage Rates Are Not Resulting In More Home Buying
CNN Money – If the Fed Is Worried About Wall Street Bubbles, Maybe It Should Regulate Wall Street Confronted with the possibility of financial-sector bubbles, we seem to have two choices: 1) Raise interest rates until the economy cries “uncle” and no one wants to speculate anymore. Do it even if it’s taken years and… Continue reading The Federal Reserve And Bubbles
Bloomberg.com – ECB Said to Study Bond-Purchases Up to 500 Billion Euros European Central Bank staff presented policy makers with models for buying as much as 500 billion euros ($591 billion) of investment-grade assets, according to a person who attended a meeting of the Governing Council. Various quantitative-easing options focused on government bonds were shown… Continue reading Europe
The Wall Street Journal – In Low Gasoline Prices, an Opening Emerges for Higher Taxes President Barack Obama —who repeatedly criticized calls for a gas-tax increase during his first term—suggested he was open to one at a recent White House event. Asked by FedEx Corp. Chief Executive Fred Smith about current proposals in Congress to… Continue reading Will Low Gas Prices Lead To Higher Taxes?
CNN Money – Probability That Stocks Will Rise This Year: 90% After a furious rally on Thursday, stocks are now up after the first five trading days of January—a time-tested signal the market could be in store for another positive year. The first five trading days of the year — known as the January Barometer… Continue reading The January Barometer
Bloomberg.com – How OPEC Weaponized the Price of Oil Against U.S. Drillers If there ever was doubt about the strategy of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, its wealthiest members are putting that issue to rest. Representatives of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait stressed a dozen times in the past six weeks… Continue reading How OPEC Weaponized The Price Of Oil
MarketWatch.com – Beating the stock market has become even harder The stock market is no easier to beat today than it’s ever been.If anything, it may be more difficult. In 2014, only 15.6% of the several hundred advisers monitored by the Hulbert Financial Digest did better than the broad stock market, as measured by the… Continue reading Money Manager Performance
The Financial Times – Deflation fears blur interest rate outlook The biggest guessing game facing investors in 2015 remains whether the US and UK central banks will at some stage start raising official borrowing costs after a prolonged period of easy money that has pumped up asset prices. Normalisation of interest rates by central banks… Continue reading Fears Of Deflation
None Today
The Federal Reserve – Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee “While some participants had lowered their assessments of the prospects for global economic growth, several noted that the likelihood of further responses by policymakers abroad had increased. Several participants indicated that they expected slower economic growth abroad to negatively affect the U.S. economy, principally… Continue reading The FOMC Minutes … Market vs Fed Expectations and Defining “Patient”
Bloomberg.com – Why the Fed Won’t Tank the Stock Market Investors in the U.S. seem fixated on a gloomy outlook for 2015, in which the Federal Reserve’s efforts to remove economic stimulus cause stock and bond prices to fall. They’re missing an important detail: If the Fed raises short-term interest rates above those in other… Continue reading A Look At Stock Returns When The Fed Raises Rates
Reuters.com – U.S. oil production will be falling by end of 2015: Kemp Unless prices recover, U.S. oil production will start falling before the end of 2015 as new drilling is insufficient to replace declining output from wells completed in 2013 and 2014. Future production depends on the rate of decline from existing wells (known… Continue reading U.S. Oil Production