<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Just How Much Does It Cost to Make a Penny? The U.S. Mint cut the cost of making the penny by nearly a third over the past two years, but the little copper-coated coin still costs more… Continue reading The Cost Of Producing Coins
The New York Times – Economic Recovery Spreads to the Middle Class For years, even as the economy recovered and the stock market soared, most American workers saw little evidence of better times in their paychecks. But last month’s surprisingly large increase in both average hourly and weekly earnings, along with other encouraging data, has… Continue reading Will The Middle Class See A Recovery?
None Today
<Click on table for larger image> The Financial Times – Bad call pain of US rate rise timing set to persist Inflation, falling oil and stronger dollar will figure in Fed’s decision No one gets paid for being too early on a trade, an adage that resonates acutely across the US interest rate market. Nothing… Continue reading Economists Are 100% Bearish Again
The Wall Street Journal – Hurdles Appear Higher for Next Stock Market Bounce There Are Numerous Obstacles and Possibly More Sharp Swings Last week’s selloff “may end up being a Christmas gift for investors,” he said, meaning people can buy beaten-down stocks and junk bonds at low prices. He said he is buying junk bonds… Continue reading What’s Next For The Stock Market?
<Click on chart for larger image> MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Bond Fund Inflows Rebound on Low Growth and Inflation It’s turned out to be a ripe old year for fixed income funds, according to strategists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Fund data for the year so far show that investors piled into investment-grade bonds… Continue reading Bond Fund Flows
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Likely to Stare Down Oil-Price Drop Officials Poised to Put More Weight on Economic Strength Than Low Inflation Much has changed in the U.S. economy since Federal Reserve officials last issued their economic projections, in September. Oil prices have fallen by more than one-third, the dollar has climbed 5.3%… Continue reading Will The Fed Pull A “Bullard” (Or A “Rosengren”) At This Week’s Meeting?
Bloomberg – Draghi’s QE Battle Almost Won as Economists See Action The battle over whether to start quantitative easing in the euro region is all but won, economists say. More than 90 percent of respondents in Bloomberg’s monthly survey predict the European Central Bank will begin large-scale buying of government bonds next year, up from… Continue reading Draghi’s QE Battle
The Wall Street Journal – Junk-Bond Worries Spread Beyond Oil A Pullback From Junk Bonds Can Be Harbinger That Risk Is Being Reassessed The oil bust is exposing cracks in the $1.3 trillion junk-bond market, putting pressure on a key source of corporate financing and potentially crimping economic growth. U.S. junk-bond prices have fallen 8%… Continue reading Oil Affecting Credit
The Financial Times – The dark side of the oil shock A fall in oil prices redistributes income away from oil producers, of whom there are relatively few, towards oil consumers, of whom there are very many. To a first approximation, the long run effect of this income transfer on the global economy should be… Continue reading The Winners & Losers In Crude’s Decline
The Wall Street Journal – How Crude Oil’s Global Collapse Unfolded Tracing the Plunge In Oil Prices Back to Texas But earlier this year, another trend began to come into focus, catching Wall Street energy analysts and other market watchers by surprise. In March, many analysts predicted global demand for crude oil would grow by… Continue reading Oil’s Decline Is About Falling Demand!
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Fed’s Kocherlakota Won’t Seek Reappointment in 2016 Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Narayana Kocherlakota, the U.S. central bank’s strongest advocate of taking aggressive action to help the economy, announced Friday that he is stepping down when his term ends in early 2016. Mr. Kocherlakota’s exit after a tumultuous… Continue reading Kocherlakota Stepping Down In 2016