MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Odds Are Good That Friday’s Jobs Report Won’t Disappoint Of all the adjectives that will be used to describe Friday’s payrolls report, the latest data argue “disappointing” will not be one of them. Several business surveys and two hiring estimations released so far this week suggest the jobs report will at… Continue reading Tomorrow’s Payroll Report
FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – How the dumb money was set up for commodity failure Here’s a great chart from Emad Mostaque, a strategist at Ecstrat, a new research company set up by Mostaque and former head of EM strategy at Deutsche Bank John-Paul Smith. As Mostaque explains, even though commodities are at double the… Continue reading Investing In Commodity Funds
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Not All QE Is Created Equal as U.S. Outpunches ECB-BOJ It turns out not all quantitative easing is created equal. New stimulus measures at the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank (BOJDTR) may lack the global punch of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which last week ended… Continue reading Comparing Central Bank Balance Sheets
The Financial Times – Fed has built a thorny central bank divide Top Federal Reserve officials were careful to be seen to be understanding of the plight of lesser central banks during the International Monetary Fund’s meetings in Washington last month. However, they may have unintentionally made things worse. By confirming their reluctance to assume… Continue reading How Much Should The Fed Consider Other Countries In Its Policy?
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Hilsenrath: Keep An Eye On Mester for Considerable Time Clues A speech by Loretta Mester this evening could offer clues on how the Federal Reserve’s thinking is evolving on its interest rate guidance. Ms. Mester, who became the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland in June, appears… Continue reading Timing The First Rate Hike
Bloomberg.com – Singer’s Elliott Says U.S. Growth Optimism Unwarranted as Data ‘Cooked’ Paul Singer’s Elliott Management Corp. said optimism on U.S. growth is misguided as economic data understate inflation and overstate growth, and central bank policies of the past six years aren’t sustainable. The market turmoil in the first half of October may be a… Continue reading Paul Singer Says U.S. Growth Is A Mirage
CNBC – Ben Bernanke: Quantitative easing will be difficult for the ECB Former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke predicted that the European Central Bank (ECB) would have a rough time implementing U.S-style monetary easing. Speaking Wednesday at the Schwab IMPACT conference, the ex-central bank chief said the ECB faces political barriers to enacting such an… Continue reading Bernanke Comments On European QE
Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Earnings Look “Ok” … …Revenues Not So Much Another Sign Of Capitulation? 30-Year Treasury Year-To-Date Total Returns Europe Struggles Is Falling Crude Signaling Weak Economic Growth? Crude Oil Plunges An Update Look At Gas Prices Gold ETF Holdings Continue To Fall Gold Has Declined More More… Continue reading Charts of the Week
Comment As of this writing, the Republicans picked up a net 7 seats in the Senate to get to 52 (shown above). Two Senate races are too close to call, Alaska (Republican Dan Sullivan is leading) and Virginia (Democrat Mark Warner is leading). Louisiana will have a December runoff because no candidate secured the required… Continue reading Mid-Term Election Results
Comment With the Republicans’ big day yesterday, the focus actually turns to President Obama. How does Obama respond to this? We don’t think all the hand-wringing about what the Republicans will do is relevant. We know what Republicans will do. The question is whether or not Obama will play ball with them. Will Obama “triangulate”… Continue reading Interpreting The Midterm Elections
The Wall Street Journal – Businesses See Hope for Stalled Agenda After Midterm Elections American businesses are hoping the dust will settle from Tuesday’s GOP takeover of Congress with new attention on corporate taxes, immigration, trade and energy, top priorities that have eluded breakthroughs in recent years. A post-election landscape that includes a more sharply… Continue reading What The Mid-Term Election Results Mean For U.S. Businesses