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
The Big Picture – The Myth that U.S. Has Never Defaulted On Its Debt Some people argue that countries can’t default. But that’s false. It is widely stated that the U.S. government has never defaulted. However, that is also a myth. The United States has actually defaulted on its debt obligations before. 1. The first… Continue reading The History of U.S. Defaults
The Wall Street Journal – Short-Term Debt Market’s Anxiety Spikes The U.S. Treasury auctioned off short-term debt Tuesday morning, three- and six-month bills. The auctions saw weak demand, signifying some hesitancy on the part of investors to lend the U.S. government money while it’s mired in a caustic budget fight, with the threat of a… Continue reading Short-Term Yields Rise
The Telegraph – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Watch what China does with US debt, not what it says The latest data shows that China’s foreign reserves soared by $163bn in the third quarter to $3.66 trillion, one of the biggest jumps ever. Mark Williams and Qinwei Wang from Capital Economic called the rise “astonishing”. They estimate that… Continue reading China And U.S. Debt
The Financial Times – Regulators warn on rise of boom-era debt Global securities regulators have warned that the types of debt security that played a central role in the global financial crisis are again growing in popularity among investors. The International Organisation of Securities Commissions (Iosco) said on Tuesday that investors chasing higher yields were… Continue reading Regulation
The Wall Street Journal – Fiscal Uncertainty Chips Away at U.S. Prestige Dysfunction Is Limiting U.S. Position Abroad, Observers Say; ‘Sadness From Our Trading Partners’ As the world’s pre-eminent economic power, the U.S. has been the cornerstone of the global financial system since World War II. Now, observers say that prestige may have been badly… Continue reading The U.S. Is Losing Its Prestige
On the Debt Ceiling, The Economy And The Markets A transcript of the October 10, 2013 conference call. Audio Link of Conference Call Handout (also shown below) [hana-flv-player video=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/101013.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” /] <Click above to view webcast> [pageview class=”PDFViewer” url=”https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/wp-content/plugins/PDFViewer/plugin.php?id=151″] Audio [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/Bianco%20FULL%20AUDIO%20101013.mp3|titles=Conference Call ]
The Wall Street Journal – Op-Ed: A Nobelist’s Warning Lars Hansen has some doubts about how to define ‘systemic risk.’ Lars Peter Hansen was announced on Monday as one of three winners of the 2013 Nobel Prize in economics, and he is justly celebrated for making the dismal science operate a little more like actual… Continue reading What Is “Systemic Risk?”
theStreet.com – Herb Greenberg: Fleckenstein to Restart Short Fund From the looks of this market, you might think Bill Fleckenstein needs to have his head examined for what he’s about to do: Restart his short-selling fund, which he shut four years ago. As it turns out, he’s one of several ex-short-sellers I’ve talked to in… Continue reading Two New Funds For Your Investment Dollars
Politico – Senate leaders nearing a deal “I’m not sure what the hang-up is but it seems Sen. McConnell and Sen. Reid are working well together,” he said. “It feels like we’re in a good position.” Under the plan, the government would be funded at $986 billion until Jan. 15, the same day that a… Continue reading Congress Nearing A Deal
The Wall Street Journal – Jason Zweig: When Analysts Sober Up In each quarterly earnings announcement and the associated conference call, chief executives and chief financial officers discuss the results as well as their expectations for the quarter and year to come. It is that forward “guidance” that will get the analysts to move. And… Continue reading Earnings Season Gets Underway