The Financial Times – China’s shadow banks at risk of a property crash Capital outflows and falling property values could create cascading losses In spite of reports by alarmist analysts that the shadow banking system is shaping up to be the country’s “Lehman” or “Bear Stearns” moment, or is the equivalent of the subprime mortgage… Continue reading More On China’s Troubled Banking System
The Wall Street Journal – FBI Investigating High-Speed Trading The Federal Bureau of Investigation is probing whether high-speed trading firms are engaging in insider trading by taking advantage of fast-moving market information unavailable to other investors. The investigation, launched about a year ago, involves a range of trading activities and is still in its early… Continue reading FBI Investigates HFT
<Click on chart for larger image> Economics One – John B. Taylor: Where Do Policy Rules Come From? I recently read Steve Williamson’s interpretation of what I was and was not claiming when I wrote my 1992 paper on what would come to be called the Taylor rule. It’s quite a while ago, but I… Continue reading John Taylor Defends The Taylor Rule
Bloomberg.com – Record Natural Gas Need Keeps Bulls Betting on Advances The cold snap in the Eastern U.S. convinced hedge funds and other speculators to keep betting on rising natural gas prices, accumulating the most bullish position for this time of year since at least 2010…Net-long wagers on four U.S. natural gas contracts rose 0.1… Continue reading Managed Money’s Natural Gas Bets
Financial Sense – Jim Bianco: China May Be in Hard-Landing Phase Right Now, But Don’t Expect ’08 Crash “China worries me the most for the moment…the economic numbers in China are looking awful. As a definition for people to understand about China, the slowest growth that the Chinese economy has had over the last 20… Continue reading China’s Hard Landing
Bloomberg.com – High-Speed Traders Rip Investors Off, Michael Lewis Says The U.S. stock market is rigged when high-frequency traders with advanced computers make tens of billions of dollars by jumping in front of investors, according to author Michael Lewis, who spent the past year researching the topic for his new book “Flash Boys.” While speed… Continue reading Michael Lewis Takes On HFT
The Financial Times – US equity investors ignore warning signs As US equity investors bid adieu to the weakest first quarter in five years, few are dwelling on the lacklustre performance. Indeed, many appear to be ignoring any warning signs about the economy’s prospects: a disappointing 0.5 per cent gain on S&P 500 in the… Continue reading Looking At Stocks Through Rose-Colored Glasses
The Financial Times – Reports of death of EM are exaggerated In the space of three years, emerging markets have seen a dramatic fall from grace. Once thought to be a key strategic asset class, favoured by many investors, now they are essentially persona non grata. As of mid-March, emerging market equity funds had experienced… Continue reading Emerging Markets
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – North Carolina Had More Job Losses Than Any Other State North Carolina led the U.S. in job losses last month, a sign of stress for a state scaling back its support for its jobless residents. The Tar Heel State shed a seasonally adjusted 11,300 jobs in February from the… Continue reading North Carolina’s Jobs Experiment
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Businessweek – Euro Inflation at Lowest in Over 4 Years Misses Estimates Euro-area inflation slowed in March by more than economists forecast to the lowest level in over four years, keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to take action to foster the currency bloc’s recovery. Consumer prices… Continue reading Deflationary Concerns In Europe
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Biggest ETF Exodus From Treasuries Since ’10 Signals Higher Rate Investors of exchange-traded funds that buy U.S. government debt are signaling their conviction the Federal Reserve is intent on raising interest rates sooner rather than later. After pouring into the ETFs to start the year, investors pulled… Continue reading Outflows In Treasury ETFs