Barrons – Michael Kahn: There is No Bond Bubble As the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note slipped beneath the 2.40% mark last week, talk about bonds being in a bubble ramped up again. Of course, we’ve heard that chatter for quite some time as investors have chased yield. Is it really a bubble… Continue reading Refuting The Idea Of A Bond Bubble
Bloomberg.com – Why Geopolitics Is No Reason to Sell: History Says Buy Geopolitics is on the lips of every investor. Use of the term in Bloomberg News stories reached the highest last month since the height of the financial crisis in 2008. Bank of America Corp. analysts reckon 11 percent of the world’s population is… Continue reading Trading Off Geopolitics
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Market bears now scarcer than any time since 1987 Professional investors haven’t had this little fear about stocks since Ronald Reagan was president. It was the same year Michael Jackson told us in a song he was “Bad.” The New York Giants won the Super Bowl. And… Continue reading Where Have All The Stock Bears Gone?
Pimco – William H. Gross: For Wonks Only Cross your fingers, credit growth is a necessary but not sufficient condition for economic growth. Economic growth depends on the productive use of credit growth, something that is not occurring. Today’s levels of interest rates and stock prices offer a historically unacceptable level of risk relative to… Continue reading Bill Gross Speaks
Yahoo Finance – Hack Attack: From banks to retail, signs of cyberwarfare? Home Depot is reportedly the latest added to a growing list of retailers like Target and P.F. Chang’s that have seen their customer payment data hacked — but is the concern to customers the least of it (or at least not the whole… Continue reading Cyber Warfare
Reuters.com – U.S. inflation bonds back in vogue U.S. investors are back in the hunt for inflation protection for the first time in two years as rising housing costs – particularly for rent – suggest inflation may finally be waking from its post-recession slumber. That’s helping to drive cash into specialty funds that focus on… Continue reading TIPS Make A Comeback
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Aug. auto sales rate hits 17.53M, best since 2006 Automakers reported a 5.5 percent rise in U.S. sales in August from a year earlier. The seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales rose to 17.53 million vehicles from 15.94 million a year earlier. The annualized rate is followed… Continue reading Vehicle Sales Booming
The Guardian – Weaker corporate tax receipts worsen US budget picture The US budget picture will likely worsen in coming months as companies wait until next year to see what actions Congress will take on taxes, a report from the Congressional Budget Office showed on Wednesday. The US budget deficit for fiscal year 2014 will… Continue reading Tax Revenues & The Budget
Bloomberg.com – Ex-Goldman Trader Loses in Bid for $5 Million More in Bonus Former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. trader Deeb Salem struck out in his pursuit of almost $5 million in bonus money on top of $8.25 million he received in 2010 as a Manhattan judge upheld an arbitration panel’s decision favoring the bank. State… Continue reading Don’t Mess With Goldman
Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Can We Trust ISM? Bond Prices Higher On Rising Volume World Central Bank Balance Sheets Measuring The Federal Budget Deficit A Look At ETF Assets Credit Spreads And The S&P 500 World GDP Forecasts Stock vs Bond Returns Homeownership In The U.S. An Updated Look At… Continue reading Charts of the Week
The Wall Street Journal – Some Stock Strategists Brace for Autumn Swoon Russ Koesterich, chief investment strategist at BlackRock Inc., which oversees $4.32 trillion, also is nervous about the outlook this autumn, and for similar reasons. He, Mr. Paulsen and many others expect investors soon to begin wringing their hands over Federal Reserve plans to… Continue reading More On The Autumn Swoon