<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – China GDP Growth Rate Is Slowest in Five Years China’s economy in the third quarter grew at its slowest pace in five years as it battles a slumping real-estate market and weak domestic demand and industrial production. The results on Tuesday make it increasingly… Continue reading China Slows
<Click on chart for larger image> Real Clear Markets – Plunging Stock Pricess? It’s the Fed, Stupid! One reason that has been put forward for the recent decline in U.S. stock prices is that world economic growth appears to be slowing. Some analysts have expressed fears that “currency wars” may be breaking out. In particular,… Continue reading Stocks & QE
International Business Times – Midterm Elections 2014 Poll: Most Americans Say US ‘Out Of Control,’ Not Enthusiastic About Election Nearly two-thirds of Americans say the U.S. seems “out of control,” and fewer than a third are enthusiastic about the 2014 midterm elections, according to a Politico poll released Monday of likely voters in the most… Continue reading The Midterm Elections Draw Near
Pragmatic Capitalism – The Unintended Consequences of Fed Policy Today’s earnings report on IBM shed light on a recent trend that I have often criticized – corporate America’s fictitious obsession with boosting EPS by buying back shares. Since the Fed implemented ZIRP and QE we’ve seen a huge boom in firms borrowing to boost EPS… Continue reading Earnings
The Wall Street Journal- HILSENRATH’S TAKE: FED BRINGS A CULTURE WAR TO WALL STREET At a conference sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Monday, Fed governor Daniel Tarullo and New York Fed President William Dudley put an assembly of senior bank executives on notice that even after the crisis they were fostering… Continue reading Federal Reserve Warns Banks
The Washington Post – Quantitative easing reduced inequality, a top Fed official says Rosengren doesn’t think low inflation expectations today justify more QE. Right on cue, markets have remembered that Europe is stuck in a depression that it isn’t escaping anytime soon. That, together with a few weaker-than-expected U.S. data points, has been enough to… Continue reading Fed President Eric Rosengren Speaks
Bloomberg.com – Oil at $80 a Barrel Muffles Forecasts for U.S. Shale Boom The bear market in oil has analysts reassessing the U.S. shale boom after five years of historic growth. The U.S. benchmark price dropped to $79.78 a barrel on Oct. 16, the lowest since June 2012. At that level, one-third of U.S. shale… Continue reading More On Crude
Bloomberg View – A Little Volatility Can Be Good for You Gyrations in financial markets are giving rise to a plaintive cry from investors: Prices are getting more volatile because new regulations are making big banks less willing to buy when others want to sell. Actually, if that’s what’s happening, it would be no bad… Continue reading Volatility In The Markets
<Click on chart for larger image> Seeking Alpha – A Historical S&P 500 P/E Analysis And Why Current Valuations Are Justified The S&P 500 index reached an all-time high closing price on September 18th at 2011.36. Since these highs, the index has pulled back substantially by nearly 8% to 1862.76. The current trailing index P/E… Continue reading S&P 500 Long-Term P/E Ratio
Value Walk – Ben Bernanke Suggests 3% Inflation Target; Skeptical Of EU QE Ben Bernanke: QE not the contributor to asset bubbles Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has strong opinions on inflation and thinks the Fed’s current 2 percent target is too low. Speaking at a private event last week in Washington D.C.,… Continue reading Bernanke: QE Not The Contributor To Asset Bubbles
The Wall Street Journal – Rally in Treasuries Makes a Longstanding Bet Look Good The roaring rally in government bonds has thrown Wall Street for a loop, but it comes as no surprise to a group of veteran money managers in Austin, Texas. Van Hoisington, president of Hoisington Investment Management Co., and Lacy Hunt, its… Continue reading Bonds For The Long Run
The New York Times – Shouts on Bond-Trading Floor Yield to Robot Beeps Until last year, the work that Q.M.M. performs was handled by human traders at JPMorgan Chase, who would shout prices into a phone and yell “Done!” when the trade was executed. Now, Q.M.M., which sits on the same floor as those traders… Continue reading Robots Taking Over The Bond Floor