MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Low Oil Prices Are Biggest Risk to Big Banks in Years, Oppenheimer Warns The steep drop in oil prices in recent weeks could be the greatest threat to the largest U.S. banks since the financial crisis, Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski wrote in a report this week, yet banks give investors limited… Continue reading Lower Crude & Wall Street
The Financial Times – US refineries run flat out to process cheap crude US highways grow visibly emptier as winter weather sets in. Traffic volumes decline, as does petrol consumption. Tell that to oil refiners. The US industry is processing record amounts of crude for this time of year, taking advantage of falling oil prices… Continue reading Refineries Take Advantage Of Lower Crude Prices
The Wall Street Journal – Saudi Arabia Sees Oil Prices Stabilizing Around $60 a Barrel OPEC’s Biggest Oil Producer Isn’t Likely to Push for Production Cuts as a Result OPEC’s biggest oil producer, Saudi Arabia, now believes oil prices could stabilize at around $60 a barrel, a level both it and other Gulf producers believe… Continue reading The Battle Between Shale Producers & OPEC
Reuters – NY Fed taps former Tudor partner as new policy guru The New York Federal Reserve on Wednesday named a former hedge fund partner to head a new policy team meant to better understand the effects that the coming tightening cycle will have on global economies and financial markets. Alberto Musalem, who ran research… Continue reading Fed Appoints Ex-Hedge Fund Manager To Study Rate Hike Environment
The Financial Times – An active headache for fund managers 2014 has been bad thanks to lower volatility and dispersion Active equity fund managers are used to bad years but 2014 has been special. This has been a biblically bad year for almost anyone attempting to beat the main stock indices. The questions now are… Continue reading Lack Of Volatility & Dispersion Is Hurting Active Managers
DealB%k (NY Times Blog) – Booyah! Activist Investor Hurls Purple Prose at Jim Cramer Activist investors have long used sharply worded letters as weapons in their campaigns to shake up companies. Some, like Daniel S. Loeb, have built fortunes by telling chief executives that they deserve “a well-worn boot planted in the backside.” But even… Continue reading Someone Is Not A Fan Of Jim Cramer
Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Crude Oil Falls Daily Gas Prices And Annual Gasoline Costs As Crude Prices Fall, The Russian Ruble Continues To Suffer Saudi versus U.S. Crude Oil Production Falling Inflation Expectations A Look At 30-Year Treasury YTD Total Returns Silicon Traders Continue To Capitulate In Fixed Income More… Continue reading Charts of the Week
Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV discussing the stock market, crude oil prices and auto sales. To view the interview, click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews, click here. In the interview Jim noted that stocks are fully valued, citing the 12-month forward P/E for the S&P 500 is… Continue reading Discussing Stocks And Auto Sales
Bloomberg.com – Cantab Capital Quant Hedge Fund Said to Gain 18% in November Cantab Capital Partners LLP, co-founded by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS:US)’s former quantitative trading head Ewan Kirk, rose 18 percent in its main hedge fund last month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Aristarchus, the largest share class in… Continue reading More on Silicon Traders’ Capitulation
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Martin Wolf: Two cheers for the sharp falls in oil prices Abundant supply threatens to make economies more carbon intensive and less energy efficient At this stage it seems unclear whether we are witnessing a lasting structural downshift in prices. But let us assume they… Continue reading Crude Oil
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – U.S. Corporate Bond Sales Pass $1.5 Trillion for Annual Record U.S. corporate bond sales swelled to an annual record as a late-year rush by borrowers to lock in low interest rates pushed offerings for 2014 past $1.5 trillion. Issuance was bolstered by heart-rhythm device maker Medtronic Inc.… Continue reading Corporate Bond Issuance