The Financial Times – Energy: The indispensable country The US shale revolution has averted the threat of a global oil crisis caused by growing levels of conflict and instability The rise of Eagle Ford has been spectacular. The advances in horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, which were first used to extract natural gas… Continue reading Crude Oil Production In The U.S.
USA Today – Bill Gross: Economic inequality threatens capitalism We have only to ask ourselves what is normal, and what might heal. Here’s what normal is not: Record after-tax corporate profits (at 10% of gross domestic product) are not normal, even exceeding levels in the Roaring ’20s. American wages at 42.5% of GDP vs. a… Continue reading Bill Gross Discusses Economic Inequality
Zero Hedge – Why The Status-Quo Is Unsustainable: Interest and Debt (What Yellen Won’t Tell You) Even if the economy were growing at a faster pace, it wouldn’t come close to offsetting the interest payments on our ever-expanding debt. If you want to know why the Status Quo is unsustainable, just look at interest and… Continue reading Debt Skyrockets As Real Growth Remains Stagnant
The Financial Times – Weak US + slowing China = big EU trouble Eurozone recovery depends on export growth The shortcomings of US official economic statistics are plain for everyone to see. After having initially predicted a 1 per cent economic slowdown for the first quarter of this year, these statistics were then massively adjusted… Continue reading Why The Eurozone Is In Trouble
Bloomberg.com – BRICS to Form $50 Billion Lender in Challenge to World Bank, IMF Leaders of the five BRICS nations agreed on the structure of a $50 billion development bank by granting China its headquarters and India its first rotating presidency. Brazil, Russia and South Africa were also granted posts or units in the new… Continue reading BRICS Nations To Form A New Bank
None Today
The New Yorker – The Hand on the Lever How Janet Yellen is redefining the Federal Reserve. In April, two months after Janet Yellen took over as chair of the Federal Reserve Board, she went to New York to make her first speech to the financial industry. In a Times Square hotel ballroom, Yellen, a… Continue reading All About Yellen
Comment Last week we highlighted how the July economist survey conducted by Bloomberg showed 100% (67 of 67) of participants were forecasting higher rates at the end of the year. This bearishness is not restricted to economists. The charts below show the results of a survey of fixed income conducted by JP Morgan. 40% are… Continue reading More Bond Bearishness
CNBC – Why S&P 500 short interest is surging According to Simon Maughan, head of product specialists at OTAS Technologies, this notable rise in short interest reflects two different factors: a rise in negative sentiments about the market and an increase in the funds flowing into hedge fund strategies. But for asset allocators like John… Continue reading Surging Short Interest
Bloomberg View – Barry Ritholz – Masters in Business: Jeff Gundlach Jeff Gundlach has become one of the bond market’s most influential and savvy investors. His firm, Double Line Capital, manages about $50 billion. Gundlach says that he didn’t even know what a bond was when he began his career decades ago. Comment To listen… Continue reading Gundlach Speaks
Mises Economics Blog – John P. Cochran: Bubbles Everywhere: Krugman Wrong Again; Austrians and the BIS Are Correct Paul Krugman is at it again – distorting or misinterpreting work by other economists to attack critics of today’s central bank driven low interest rate environment and to defend policy status quo or to push for even… Continue reading Taking On Krugman
The Wall Street Journal – Empty Floors Fray Traders’ Nerves Is This a Temporary Slump or a Lasting Shift? Today, there are virtually no traders shouting into their phones or staring at terminals. UBS’s cavernous floor is taken up mostly by back-office, legal and technology staffers, according to people familiar with the bank. A spokeswoman… Continue reading UBS’ Big Empty Space