The Wall Street Journal – Yellen Hearing to Stir Up Fed Issues Ms. Yellen’s response to questions about the vacancy could follow what Mr. Bernanke said in March 2012, when he was asked about it at a banking committee hearing. “Congress created the position and, yes, I’d like to see it filled,” Mr. Bernanke said.… Continue reading Vice Chairman’s Job At The Federal Reserve Remains Open
MarketWatch – Marc Faber: China could spark a bigger crisis than in 2008 “If I am telling you that we had a credit crisis in 2008 because we had too much credit in the economy, then there is that much more credit as a percentage of the economy now,” the author of The Gloom, Boom… Continue reading Doom And Gloom For China
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Global equities to rally another 13 percent by end-2014: Citi Equity markets around the world may have rallied by 40 percent off their September 2011 lows, but they’ve got about another 13 percent to go by the end of 2014, according to Citigroup. “Global equities aren’t as… Continue reading Global Equities
The Economist – The perils of falling inflation In both America and Europe central bankers should be pushing prices upwards The European Central Bank, which cut its main policy rate from 0.5% to 0.25% on November 7th, still has the most work to do. Bolder moves to loosen financial conditions, including broad bond-buying and a… Continue reading Falling Inflation
Business Insider- US ECONOMY GROWS 2.8% IN Q3, WAY BETTER THAN ESTIMATES The American economy grew 2.8% at an annualized pace in Q3, accelerating from Q2’s 2.5% pace of growth and coming in well ahead of consensus estimates for 2.0%. Personal consumption growth slowed to 1.5% from 1.8%, however, worse than the slowdown to 1.6%… Continue reading Market Capitalization As A Percentage Of GDP
Business Insider – Here’s How The S&P 500 Boosts Sales When The Economy Stinks With the economy still looking anemic, investors are wondering where growth will come from. Surprisingly, sales growth in the S&P 500 has actually been accelerating. But don’t be fooled. This is not all organic growth, i.e. growth from existing operations. Companies… Continue reading Earnings Update
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Kohn: Central Banks Can’t Stop Bubbles Donald Kohn, vice-chairman of the Fed between 2006 and 2010 and a member of the U.K. central bank’s Financial Policy Committee, said in a speech that the rise and fall of asset prices and the ebb and flow of financial activity will continue… Continue reading Popping Bubbles
The Financial Times – ECB cuts rates amid falling inflation The European Central Bank has cut interest rates in response to falling inflation across the eurozone. The central bank’s governing council on Thursday cut its benchmark main refinancing rate to 0.25 per cent. The deposit rate, which it pays on lenders’ reserves parked at the… Continue reading The ECB Surprises Markets With A Rate Cut
The Wall Street Journal – Return of Cash Sparks Emerging-Market Rallies Cash is returning to emerging markets, sparking big stock rallies and a surge in fundraising as calm in the U.S., combined with low interest rates, spurs global investors to try to juice up returns before the end of the year. Yield-hungry investors are venturing… Continue reading Reaching For Yield
Bloomberg.com – Brent Crude Traders Claim Proof BFOE Boys Rigged Market Four longtime traders in the global oil market claim in a lawsuit that the prices for buying and selling crude are fixed — and that they can prove it. Some of the world’s biggest oil companies including BP Plc, Statoil ASA, and Royal Dutch… Continue reading Rigging The Oil Market
Bloomberg.com – Greenspan’s Bequest to Yellen Is Board Harmony Shown in Records Janet Yellen is poised to take charge of a Federal Reserve System where boardroom dissent has become increasingly rare, making the central bank’s governing body an unusual example of harmony in a divided capital. Records spanning a quarter-century of meetings of the Fed’s… Continue reading FOMC Groupthink