Bloomberg.com – Oaktree Is Said to Seek $10 Billion for Distressed Fund The world’s biggest distressed-debt investor is seeking $10 billion for a new fund with plans to sit on most of the capital until rising markets reverse course, three people with knowledge of the plans said. Oaktree plans to raise $3 billion that it… Continue reading Gearing Up For The Next Crisis
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Credit Holds the Key to Auto Sales Is the U.S. auto market’s tank half empty or half full? That seems like a silly question on the fifth anniversary of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. By spending—some would say “wasting”—nearly $3 billion in taxpayer money… Continue reading Are U.S. Auto Sales Driven By Easy Credit?
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<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – US factory activity expands in August at fastest pace since April 2010 The U.S. manufacturing industry expanded in August while employment in the sector grew at its fastest pace since March of last year, an industry report showed on Tuesday. Financial data firm Markit said its final… Continue reading Can We Trust ISM?
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Real Time Economics – Inflation Stays Below the Fed’s Target for 27th Straight Month Consumer prices rose modestly in July, a sign inflation remains in check as the Federal Reserve winds down its bond-buying program. The price index for personal consumption expenditures–the Fed’s… Continue reading Inflation
FRB Atlanta – GDPNow The GDPNow model forecast for real GDP growth (seasonally adjusted annual rate) in the third quarter of 2014 was 2.3 percent on August 29, down from 3.2 percent on August 26. The nowcast for consumption fell from 2.1 percent to 1.1 percent following this morning’s personal income and outlays release from… Continue reading Q3 GDP Tracking Takes A Hit
Market Pulse (WSJ Blog) – CBO, Fed Growth Forecasts Unattainable, Northwestern’s Gordon Says Fed officials believe they can keep interest rates low in the months ahead even after a big decline in the unemployment rate, in part because they say labor participation is stabilizing and productivity improving. Mr. Gordon argued in his paper that the… Continue reading Falling Potential GDP?
Zero Hedge – It’s Settled: Central Banks Trade S&P500 Futures Based on the unprecedented collapse in trading volumes of cash products over the past 6 years, one thing has become clear: retail, and increasingly, institutional investors and traders are gone, probably for ever and certainly until the Fed’s market-distorting central planning ends. However, one entity… Continue reading Is The Plunge Protection Team Ramping Up?
Economic Cycle Research Institute – Has the Sun Set Early in Japan? The prevailing wisdom is that Abenomics is working to help the Japanese economy escape its lost decades. In sharp contrast, ECRI research comes to very different conclusions. Our study also has important implications for other G7 nations following policies similar to those in… Continue reading Japan Struggles
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – There’s No Need for Investors to Fear September Historical Stock-Market Returns for the Month Aren’t as Ominous as Some Investors Believe If a stock-market selloff is coming, September might appear to be a likely time for it to start. Over the past century, September… Continue reading Stock Market Seasonality
The Wall Street Journal – Can the New York Stock Exchange Be Saved? After Historic Takeover by Intercontinental, New Chiefs Plot Turnaround for Storied NYSE In his most-detailed interview since the acquisition, Mr. Sprecher said he wants to pare the former NYSE Euronext company’s five remaining stock and options exchanges down to about two. He… Continue reading What To Do With The NYSE?