CNBC – I’m worried about a crisis bigger than 2008: Faber The 2008 financial crisis could be just a precursor to a more severe economic fallout on the horizon, closely followed contrarian investor Marc Faber told CNBC on Thursday. The publisher of The Gloom, Boom & Doom Report told “Squawk Box” he’s concerned about the… Continue reading Scary Talk From The Usual Suspects
Bloomberg.com – William D. Cohan: Is Wall Street Killing Its Bankers? It’s probably just a sad coincidence, but the sudden deaths since December of a group of young men who worked for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (or who once did) have conspiracy theorists in a tizzy. For the less conspiracy-minded, the deaths again raise a… Continue reading Life Of A Wall Street Banker
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Comment Today at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 BST), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Join us today as we discuss the recent bond market rally that has taken so many by surprise. We will also update… Continue reading The Bond Rally
Comment The consensus forecast from Bloomberg’s survey of economists is shown in the graphic below (taken yesterday). Respondents expect at least 3% growth for the next five consecutive quarters. Question: When was the last time the U.S. economy experienced five consecutive quarters of at least 3% real GDP? Answer: The five quarters ending with Q4… Continue reading The Extraordinary Consensus GDP Forecast – Is This Time Really Different?
<Click on chart for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Fed’s Yellen Gives Fairly Clear Signal Reverse Repos To Be Made Permanent Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen made clear Wednesday that the central bank will use a combination of tools to tighten credit when the time comes, including a rate the Fed pays… Continue reading The Fed’s Fixed Rate Reverse Repo Facility
The Wall Street Journal – Investors Say Alibaba IPO Filing Leaves Many Questions Unanswered As Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. prepares for what might be one of the biggest initial public offerings in history, it faces the challenge of convincing investors it will be a good buy. Some may need more prodding. A number of investors… Continue reading Does Alibaba’s IPO Mark A High?
[pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=187″] The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: Yellen Sees Indicators Pointing to Rebound in Spending, Production Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen offered a mostly upbeat assessment of the economic outlook in testimony to Congress on Wednesday but signaled that her optimism hasn’t altered the central bank’s plan to keep short-term interest rates… Continue reading Yellen’s Testimony
The Wall Street Journal – Allan Meltzer: How the Fed Fuels the Coming Inflation The U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts that food prices will rise as much as 3.5% this year, the biggest annual increase in three years. Over the past 12 months from March, the consumer-price index increased 1.5% before seasonal adjustment. These are… Continue reading Inflation & The Fed
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Jon Hilsenrath: One Day, Two Views From Yellen on Reach For Yield Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen on Wednesday played down worries that low interest rates are causing excessive risk-taking in financial markets. “Reach for yield” behavior – in which banks and investors delve into riskier products to get… Continue reading Reaching For Yield
<Click on chart for larger image> Financial News – Mega deals give M&A activity a shot in the arm The long-awaited recovery of the mergers and acquisitions market finally appears to have arrived. There have been setbacks along the way and false dawns as the patient showed signs of improvement, only to lapse. But, after… Continue reading More On M&A
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – What Explains the Anglo-German Yield Gap? British bonds have been steadily losing ground against their German counterparts since September 2012. The U.K.’s 10-year government bonds, known as gilts, have been underperforming equivalent German bonds since not long after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi promised, in the summer of 2012, to… Continue reading U.K/German Spreads