Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC yesterday discussing the Federal Reserve, emerging markets and the President’s State of the Union address. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interview, click here. CNBC – Paul Singer: Minimum wage hike would ‘destroy’ jobs Billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer… Continue reading Discussing The Markets
The Wall Street Journal – Central Station: What Do Turkey and the Fed Have in Common? Jon Hilsenrath: Federal Reserve officials – concluding a two day meeting today – appear not to see global market jitters as their problem just yet. They appear on track to stick to a plan they laid out in December… Continue reading The Fed Is Expected To Taper $10 Billion Today
The Wall Street Journal – What to Watch for From Fed Meeting The Federal Reserve’s policy committee on Wednesday wraps up its latest meeting, Ben Bernanke’s last as chairman. The Fed’s policy statement comes out at 2 p.m. EST. Mr. Bernanke won’t hold a news conference after the meeting and Fed officials won’t release new… Continue reading More On The Fed
Business Insider – Look How The Unemployment Rate Is Plunging In The One State That Already Canceled Long-Term Unemployment Benefits At this point, it looks extremely unlikely that long-term emergency unemployment benefits will be extended. This has caused a huge debate about whether this is wise, and what will happen to the long-term unemployed and… Continue reading The Effect Of Benefits On Unemployment
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke’s Unprecedented Rescue Unlikely to Be Repeated As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke shuts the door to his office for a final time in two days, he can say he took actions that were the first or the biggest of their kind in the central bank’s 100-year history. Some will probably also… Continue reading Bernanke’s Unconventional Fed
Alhambra Investment Partners – The Year of Leverage The theme of stock margin debt and its obvious correlation to QE episodes continued into December. Margin debt levels are at record highs, but more importantly investor net worth in the aggregate has finally closed in on the dot-com levels. While just a bit short of the… Continue reading A Look At Leverage
<Click on chart for larger image> USA Today – Case-Shiller: Home prices dipped in November Home prices in November fell slightly for the first time since November 2012, as the combination of price gains earlier in 2013 and higher mortgage rates caused prices to reach a plateau, according to a leading index of housing-market activity.… Continue reading Home Prices Dip
The Telegraph (UK) – Rising risk that German court will block Bundesbank rescue for Southern Europe The risk is rising that the German constitutional court will severely restrict the eurozone bond rescue scheme for Italy and Spain, and may reignite the euro debt crisis by prohibiting the German Bundesbank from taking part. The Frankfurter Rundschau… Continue reading Germany May Be Blocked From Helping The Rest Of Europe
Reuters.com – Exclusive: U.S. banking regulator, fearing loan bubble, warns funds A U.S. bank regulator is warning about the dangers of banks and alternative asset managers working together to do risky deals and get around rules amid concerns about a possible bubble in junk-rated loans to companies. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency… Continue reading Regulators Warn Funds Of Risky Behavior
<Click on chart for larger image> Kingworldnews.com – Art Cashin: Is Something Strange Brewing In The Gold Market? Don’t look now but the physical gold shortage is growing. Everyone knows that JP Morgan is one of the biggest gold holders on the planet. They store gold for themselves and others. On Thursday JPM reported the… Continue reading Something Strange Brewing In Gold?
The Economist – Risk off Why some people are more cautious with their finances than others RISK has always had a bit of an image problem. It is associated in the popular mind with gamblers, skydivers and, more recently, the overpaid bankers who crippled the global economy. Yet long-term economic growth would be impossible without… Continue reading Risky Behavior With Money
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Implications of Turkey’s aggressive interest rate rise The most striking increase was in the weekly repo rate, which more than doubled from 4.5 to 10 per cent. But, in a sign of how complex Turkish monetary policy had previously become, the central bank had not… Continue reading Turkey