The Washington Post – Robert J. Samuelson: A frustrated Fed The Fed turns 100 Monday. A century ago — on Dec. 23, 1913 — President Woodrow Wilson signed legislation establishing the Federal Reserve. Broadly speaking, it was charged with preventing financial crises and preserving prosperity. The record is mixed. Despite many successful years (the 1920s,… Continue reading The Fed Turns 100
The Wall Street Journal – DJIA Sets Inflation-Adjusted Record High U.S. Growth Reading Is Better-than-Expected On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average achieved something it hadn’t managed in nearly 14 years: It closed at a record after adjusting for inflation. Since March, the Dow has been hitting new records in nominal terms, meaning they didn’t… Continue reading Inflation Adjusted Stock Prices
The New York Times – Gordon Brown: Stumbling Toward the Next Crash When I was chairman of the G-20 summit meeting here in April 2009, our first principle was that future financial crises that started in one continent would affect all continents. That was why we charged the new Global Financial Stability Board with setting… Continue reading Crash Alert, UK Edition
Yale Global – David Dapice: Worries About the World Economy for 2014 Growth limps along, at an uneven pace, as governments tackle big problems with uncertainty Uncertainty and uneasy interdependence characterize a 2014 forecast on global economic growth. High rates of unemployment persist in developed economies while emerging economies rely on those nations for exports… Continue reading Worries About 2014
The Wall Street Journal – J.P. Morgan Chase Places Limits on Debit Cards Used During Target Breach Caps Placed on Cash Withdrawals and Daily Purchases From Affected Accounts for Now J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. on Saturday put in place daily limits on use for debit-card holders who shopped at Target Corp. stores during a… Continue reading Will This Hurt Holiday Spending?
CASHIN’S COMMENTS MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013 A TRADITIONAL PRESENTATION ‘Tis two days before Christmas and at each brokerage house The only thing stirring was the click of a mouse Down on the Exchange the tape inches along Brokers bargained and traded as they hummed an old song The Fed kept on printing yet few jobs… Continue reading Cartoons
Comment Yesterday we hosted a conference call titled “Financial Stability vs. Data Dependency: Why Did The Fed Start The Taper?” If you missed it: Webcast [hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/121913.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” /] Handout [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=165″] Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/121913.mp3|titles=Conference Call ]
The Financial Times – John Authers: Do not get wrong-footed on descent from QE Too slow a removal of stimulus could generate risky asset bubbles The expected Christmas rally in the stock market finally arrived this week. US stock markets hit yet another all-time high, after sagging for several weeks. The genial white-bearded figure to… Continue reading Did The Fed Do The Right Thing This Week?
Bloomberg.com – Fed Seen Tapering QE in $10B Steps in Next Seven Meetings The Federal Reserve will probably reduce its bond purchases in $10 billion increments over the next seven meetings before ending the program in December 2014, economists said. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 41 economists matches the $10 billion reduction… Continue reading When Does The Fed End QE?
The Wall Street Journal – Fed’s Mortgage Role Expands Central Bank’s Asset Purchases Are Bigger Share of Market as It Begins to Taper The Federal Reserve’s role in the mortgage market has expanded over the past three months and could remain large for now, even as the central bank attempts to shrink its bond-buying program.… Continue reading The Fed And The Mortgage Market
The Economist – The bond bears IF THERE is a consensus bet for 2014, it is that equities will continue to outperform government bonds, as they did in 2013. But the odd thing is that, if investors relied on the usual fundamental factors, the evidence would seem to point in the opposite direction. Take equities,… Continue reading Bond Market Sentiment
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Jobless claims spike to 9-month high The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose last week to the highest level in nearly nine months, casting a shadow on the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 10,000 to a seasonally adjusted 379,000,… Continue reading Distorted Initial Claims