MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Don’t Fight a Quiet Rally A quiet rally is nothing to scoff at, some market watchers say. Trading volumes have been relatively low during the market’s bounce over the last couple weeks, but that doesn’t mean the S&P 500 can’t keep rising to new highs, and beyond, technicians say. The S&P… Continue reading Rallying Without Volume
Slate – Where Are the 2008 FOMC Transcripts? Full transcripts of the Fed’s monetary policy meetings are normally made available to the public on a five-year delay. Which is to say that when the calendar turned to January 2013, we got the 2007 transcripts. Today is Feb. 19, 2014, and there are no FOMC transcripts… Continue reading In Search Of The 2008 FOMC Transcripts
The Wall Street Journal – Cold Weather Presents Quandary for Investors The weather has been blamed for two weak jobs reports in a row as well as poor retail sales, construction and manufacturing data. With plenty of winter left, the weather could be a factor to contend with for weeks, or even months, before any… Continue reading Weather & The Economy
New York Magazine – One-Percent Jokes and Plutocrats in Drag: What I Saw When I Crashed a Wall Street Secret Society Recently, our nation’s financial chieftains have been feeling a little unloved. Venture capitalists are comparing the persecution of the rich to the plight of Jews at Kristallnacht, Wall Street titans are saying that they’re… Continue reading Wall Street’s Secret Society
Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Mutual Fund Flows Quant Funds Disappoint An Earnings Season Update Emerging Markets The Taylor Rule Economic Forecasts Get Downgraded Updated Look At Credit Betting On Gold An Updated Look At TIC Flows China’s Holdings Of U.S. Treasuries Drop Gas Prices Homebuilder Sentiment Falls The Federal Reserve’s… Continue reading Charts of the Week
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Fiery Street Battles Mark Deadliest Day for Ukraine Protests Government Moves to Clear Kiev Encampments, Provoking Pitched Battles Weeks of stalemate between the government and protesters here were shattered Tuesday by a burst of deadly violence that provoked a massive crackdown. Authorities stormed the… Continue reading Ukraine
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Stanford’s Taylor Says His Rule Shows Fed’s QE No Longer Needed Stanford University Professor John Taylor, creator of a rule for guiding monetary policy, said his framework suggests that Federal Reserve purchases of bonds are no longer needed to fuel economic growth…“If you put in the numbers… Continue reading The Taylor Rule
CBO – The Effects of a Minimum-Wage Increase on Employment and Family Income Increasing the minimum wage would have two principal effects on low-wage workers. Most of them would receive higher pay that would increase their family’s income, and some of those families would see their income rise above the federal poverty threshold. But some… Continue reading The CBO & White House Disagree On Minimum Wage Effects
<Click on chart for larger image> Zero Hedge – China Sold Second-Largest Amount Ever Of US Treasurys In December: And Guess Who Comes To The Rescue While we will have more to say about the disastrous December TIC data shortly, which was released early today, and which showed a dramatic plunge in foreign purchases of… Continue reading China’s Holdings Of U.S. Treasuries Fall
Ludwig von Mises Institute of Canada – Robert P Murphy: Bernanke’s QE Programs: Has This EVER Worked in History? In closing, let me point out that we do have historical examples of central banks ruining their economies/currencies through massive expansions of their balance sheets (Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe, etc.). To my knowledge, this has never actually… Continue reading Has QE Ever Worked?
Arbor Quantitative Analytics – US 10 Yr Note – US Citigroup Economic Surprise Index Suggests Lower Yields The U.S. Citigroup Economic Surprise Index (CESIUSD) has dropped from its recent high of 72.7 to 19.7 on Friday. US 10 Yr Note yields peaked when this index reached extreme euphoria levels above ’50′ to end 2013. Since… Continue reading Examining The Citi Surprise Index And 10-Year Yields