BBC – Did Hyman Minsky find the secret behind financial crashes? Minsky spent his life on the margins of economics but his ideas suddenly gained currency with the 2007-08 financial crisis. To many, it seemed to offer one of the most plausible accounts of why it had happened. His long out-of-print books were suddenly in… Continue reading Minsky’s Take On Financial Crises
The Wall Street Journal – Guessing China’s Plans for Growth Here goes China again. Another disappointing economic start to the year has investors looking to Beijing to prime the pump. HSBC’s preliminary manufacturing purchasing managers index fell to 48.1 in March from 48.5 in February. It’s the first reading since the distorting effects of the… Continue reading China’s Hard Landing
Bloomberg.com – Mark Buchanan: How High-Speed Traders Are Like Fish New research by Austin Gerig, a physicist and quantitative finance expert at Oxford University, suggests that high-frequency trading improves markets’ price discovery function. It does so by ensuring that the prices of assets that ought to move in sync actually do so. Suppose, for example,… Continue reading The Benefit Of HFT?
The Financial Times – Gavyn Davies: Did Yellen intend to tighten policy last week? Many commentators, including the normally well-informed Robin Harding and Jon Hilsenrath, argued that Ms Yellen had not intended to give such a hawkish signal. Viewed narrowly, that is probably right: Ms Yellen herself claimed there had been no change in policy… Continue reading Hawks vs. Doves
Bloomberg.com – Stein Says Fed Should Weigh Financial Risks in Stoking Job Gains Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein said monetary policy should be less accommodative when bond markets are overheated even if it raises the risk of higher unemployment. The remarks suggest financial stability should receive strong consideration as the Fed pursues its two mandates… Continue reading Stein Reiterates His Preference For Financial Stability Over Accommodation
None Today
[hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/032014.flv” width=”600″ height=”495″ description=”” player=”3″ autoload=”false” autoplay=”false” loop=”false” autorewind=”true” splashimage=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/themes/twentyten/images/splash.jpg” /] Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/022714.mp3|titles=Conference Call ] [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=177″] Comment Yesterday we hosted a conference call titled “What Crosscurrents Are Affecting The Markets Most?” Above is the webcast, audio and handout. On Monday we will have the transcript ready.
The Financial Times – Sanctions trigger drop in Russian shares and rouble Foreign counterparties scrambled to reassess their dealings in Russia and shares tumbled as the effect of US sanctions on some of the country’s wealthiest men rippled through the financial sector on Friday. Bank Rossiya, the only company to be named in the US… Continue reading Russian Markets Continue To Struggle, Does Putin Care?
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg – Soros Says Beware of Punishing Russia in One-Sided Policy The U.S. holds the key to the “strongest sanction” because it could open its Strategic Oil Reserve, flood markets and depress crude prices, Soros said. Russia needs oil prices at $100 per barrel or more “to balance the… Continue reading Will Selling SPR Hurt Russia Or The US?
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg – Fed Custody Holdings Increase Damps Russian Selling Speculation U.S. government securities held in custody at the Federal Reserve increased, damping speculation that last week’s record drop reflected Russia shifting its holdings out of America amid the threat of sanctions. Treasuries held by foreign central banks rose by… Continue reading Custody Account Rebound
247WallSt – Crude Oil Inventory Jumps, WTI Closing Gap With Brent Crude oil inventories at the Cushing, Okla., hub are dropping quickly as the Seaway Pipeline pushes more than 400,000 barrels a day to the Gulf Coast. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD), the pipeline’s owner, now expects to have Seaway’s expanded capacity of 830,000… Continue reading Revisiting The Brent/WTI Spread
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – George Magnus: China’s financial distress turns all too visible Country’s economic change will have deflationary consequences Investors have a lot to worry about without cause to fret about China, but now they have that too. Trend growth is slowing down, and markets have been shaken… Continue reading More On China’s Stress