<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – IBM Reports Another Decline in Revenue International Business Machines Corp. posted a sixth straight quarterly decline in revenue on Wednesday, with disappointing results in several areas, including international business, technology services and hardware…Analysts had expected IBM’s revenue to… Continue reading Playing The Earnings Game
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Debt-Ceiling Risks Denting the Dollar The U.S.’s last brush with the debt ceiling in August 2011 saw it lose its triple-A rating from Standard & Poor’s. Now Fitch has put its triple-A rating for the U.S. on negative watch. In the near term, that… Continue reading The World’s Reserve Currency
The Telegraph – Watch what China does with US debt, not what it says So much for the hot rhetoric from Beijing questioning the creditworthiness of US debt and consigning the US dollar to the dustbin of history. The latest data shows that China’s foreign reserves soared by $163bn in the third quarter to $3.66… Continue reading Keep An Eye On China’s Reaction To Default Fears
Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Fitch to U.S.: This Is No Way to Run AAA Country One week ago, when it looked as if a deal to reopen the U.S. government and raise the debt ceiling was at hand, financial markets were ecstatic. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had its best day in nine months, rising… Continue reading Ratings Agencies
The Wall Street Journal – Rising Market Tide Lifts Money Managers Big banks are suffering from slumps in mortgage lending and bond trading, but the asset-management business is booming. Money managers such as BlackRock Inc. and Charles Schwab Corp. are riding a galloping bull market for stocks, collecting more fees as their customers’ assets swell…”Trends… Continue reading Money Managers
Jim Bianco was on CNBC yesterday and discussed the possible debt default and the deal to prevent it. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews, click here. Bloomberg.com – Lew’s Gamble Worked as Congress Faced Warning With Ambiguity U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew’s gamble paid… Continue reading Jack Lew’s Hard Deadline
Bloomberg.com – Nobel Needs Grounding in Reality-Based Economics The Flat Earth Society has all but disappeared, but the efficient-market hypothesis is alive and well. This week, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to its most tenacious advocate, Eugene F. Fama of the University of Chicago…Robert Shiller of Yale University dubbed the efficient-market… Continue reading More On The Nobel Prize In Economics
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Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: The Debt Ceiling …And A Default What Does Everyone Think About Bonds? Short-Term Treasury Bills Obama’s Approval Rating Update Look At Mutual Fund Flows Earnings Expectations More On Earnings Company Guidance Stock Market Correlation United States 5-Year CDS Citi Economic Surprise Indexes Around The World Gas… Continue reading Charts of the Week
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment As we noted yesterday, the U.S. does not have an interest payment until October 31 ($6 billion), so technically concern of a default is not really an issue for another several days. Other payments may be missed as early as tomorrow, just not interest payments. Therefore, “default,” if… Continue reading T-Minus 1 Day For The Debt Ceiling (But How About Default?)
The Financial Times – US rating put on negative watch on default fears Fitch Ratings placed the triple A credit rating of the US on negative watch, as efforts to end the budget impasse faltered during a day of drama on Capitol Hill capped by the reopening of talks in the Senate late on Tuesday.… Continue reading Fitch Puts U.S. On Negative Watch, Catch-22 For The Markets
Reuters.com – Felix Salmon: The default has already begun Right now, with the shutdown, we’ve already reached the point at which the government is breaking very important promises indeed: we promised to pay hundreds of thousands of government employees a certain amount on certain dates, in return for their honest work. We have broken that… Continue reading More On The U.S. Default