The Wall Street Journal – Temp Jobs Surge as Firms Contain Expenses The economy is creating jobs. But how many of them will endure? The “short-term” staffing industry is enjoying a long-term boom, with temps accounting for more than one-tenth of all job growth since 2009, according to government data. The job-matching firm CareerBuilder says… Continue reading The Jobs Market
The Financial Times – High drama in murky link between ETFs and HFT Buying and selling ETFs involves a complex ecosystem that touches on a wide variety of financial players. Mom and pop investors are involved alongside big banks and, yes, trading firms. These trading firms essentially act as market-makers, or “authorised participants”, for the… Continue reading ETFs & HFT
The Wall Street Journal – More Investors Are Drawn to Dividends This isn’t the way things are supposed to go. Even though the economy is improving, interest rates are low and stock markets have been setting new highs, investors are still playing defense. Instead of piling into shares of companies with juicy growth prospects, fund… Continue reading Dividend Paying Stocks
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – BOJ Cash Seen Catching Fed on Expanded Stimulus The Bank of Japan will probably boost currency in circulation by more than 50 percent by the end of 2015, catching up with the Federal Reserve, amid forecasts for extra stimulus. The monetary base will increase to 340 trillion… Continue reading The Battle Of The Central Banks
The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Adds 192,000 Jobs; Unemployment Steady at 6.7% Overall, the latest payroll numbers suggest the economy is gaining some traction and could be poised for faster growth in the coming months. Activity had slowed during the winter as snowstorms and icy temperatures blasted cities across the Midwest and much of… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – When Will Fed Raise Rates? Watch the Wages Paycheck Growth May Be as Important as Unemployment in Guiding the Fed’s Next Move More important than what the stock and bond markets make of Friday’s jobs data is what Janet Yellen thinks. Since Ms. Yellen… Continue reading Why Wages Matter To The Federal Reserve
The Washington Post – Jobs preview: Pay less attention to the sausage, and more to how it’s made The BLS’s monthly employment numbers come out tomorrow, and economists expect a strong showing, in the neighborhood of 195,000 jobs. The top-line numbers in those BLS surveys are always seasonally adjusted – that is, they’re corrected to… Continue reading How To Read The Jobs Report
Reuters.com – Leaving buyers club could be Fed’s next tricky task With the wind-down of the Federal Reserve’s massive bond buying under way, policymakers are beginning to discuss the next stage – when to allow the U.S. central bank’s swollen balance sheet to shrink. If the Fed sticks to a plan laid out in June… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s Next Task
The Financial Times – Mario Draghi has to back QE words with action Deflation crunch point is approaching in the eurozone The power of a central bankers’ jawbone is awesome. But there are limits. After a point, words must be backed by actions to have any effect. That point may be approaching in the eurozone.… Continue reading Draghi’s Plan To Fight Deflation
Real Time Economics – Fed’s Stein to Step Down May 28 A top Federal Reserve official who has expressed concerns about the possibility that the central bank’s policies could spark financial instability said Thursday he is resigning from his post on May 28. Jeremy Stein, an economics professor at Harvard University, will be returning to… Continue reading Jeremy Stein Resigns, Returning To Harvard
Pimco – Bill Gross: Bob PIMCO recommends overweighting credit and to a lesser extent volatility and curve. Underweight duration. Although credit spreads are tight, they are not as compressed as interest rates, which are now in the process of normalization. While PIMCO agrees with Janet Yellen that such normalization will be a long time coming… Continue reading Bill Gross Speaks