Reuters – Japan inflation slows and output slips, keep BOJ under pressure Japanese annual core consumer inflation slowed for a fourth straight month in November due largely to sliding oil prices, highlighting the challenges the central bank faces in achieving its 2 percent inflation target. Factory output unexpectedly fell and real wages marked the steepest… Continue reading New Low In Japan
The Wall Street Journal – Martin Feldstein: The Fed’s Needless Flirtation With Danger Well-designed tax rules are a safe and effective alternative to quantitative easing. The risks brought about by unconventional monetary policy were unnecessary. Well-designed tax policies can change incentives by businesses and households to spend without increasing fiscal deficits. Although we cannot undo… Continue reading Feldstein Speaks
Business Insider – A Top Wall Street Strategist Goes Contrarian And Predicts US Stocks Will Fall In 2015 Until now, we couldn’t find a single major Wall Street strategist that was predicting US stocks would fall in 2015. Of the strategists followed by Business Insider, the most bearish have been Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse, and… Continue reading We Found An Equity Bear!
The Financial Times – Moscow seeks to reassure public that rouble crisis is over The Russian government sought to reassure the public that the country’s currency crisis was over, but warned of economic hardship ahead. Finance minister Anton Siluanov said extreme signs of a liquidity squeeze due to the collapse of the rouble had already… Continue reading The Ruble Crisis Is Now Over
<Click on graphic for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Credit-Default Swaps Get Activist New Look Focus Is on Distressed Companies Hedge-fund managers are putting a new twist on credit-default swaps, using the contracts to fortify bets on troubled companies. The swaps, which work like insurance policies when companies default on bonds and loans,… Continue reading CDS’ New Role
Comment This game will be played tonight at 7PM ET pitting North Carolina State (Atlantic Cost Conference) against the University of Central Florida (American Conference). CBS Sports – (June 3, 2014) Bowl game’s new name is Bitcoin St. Petersburg Bowl Just when you thought bowl sponsors could get any crazier, the St. Petersburg Bowl will… Continue reading The Bitcoin Bowl … Seriously!
The Twelve Days of the Federal Reserve
Bloomberg.com – Oil Drillers Under Pressure to Scrap Rigs to Cope With Downturn Rig owners will essentially be at the behest of their customers next year, said Luke Lemoine, an analyst at Capital One Financial Corp. in New Orleans. “ Price doesn’t necessarily drive demand,” Lemoine said in a phone interview. “Demand generally drives the… Continue reading More On The DEMAND-DRIVEN Decline In Crude Oil
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Putin has one weapon to protect the rouble — he must use it wisely Capital controls can work if tied to a credible plan to boost confidence, writes Olivier Jeanne On top of his Ukrainian tribulations Vladimir Putin now has to manage a war of… Continue reading Will Russia Go To Capital Controls?
Project Syndicate – Stephen Roach: The Fed Sets Another Trap America’s Federal Reserve is headed down a familiar – and highly dangerous – path. Steeped in denial of its past mistakes, the Fed is pursuing the same incremental approach that helped set the stage for the financial crisis of 2008-2009. The consequences could be similarly… Continue reading Is The Federal Reserve Creating A Disaster?
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Oil fall adds to ECB’s deflation worries Bundesbank conservatism constrains Draghi’s ability to address problem In the eurozone, meantime, deflation is already a reality for the harder hit countries. It is also a looming threat for those economies that are ostensibly more healthy. The risk… Continue reading Deflation In Europe
The Financial Times – Causes and consequences of China’s contagious case of deflation The consequences of China’s deflation problems are ubiquitous and spilling into the rest of the world. Slower economic growth and a steady decline in the economy’s commodity intensity is already affecting commodity producers from Perth to Peru, with negative multiplier effects arising… Continue reading Deflation In China