MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Ben Bernanke: Man of Mystery Ben Bernanke is a man of mystery again. After seven years campaigning for greater openness and clarity, the Federal Reserve chairman has turned coy about how quickly the Fed will reduce its $85 billion in monthly market stimulus. The obfuscation has quieted markets, which had a… Continue reading FOMC Communication
The Telegraph – The Germans are walking tall in the eurozone, but just how rich are they? When it comes to putting up more of their hard-earned cash to support worthy European causes (AKA bailing out feckless southern Europeans) they aren’t too keen. With the German elections approaching in September this is a very touchy… Continue reading Germany’s Relative Wealth
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Fed’s Bullard: Need More Data Before Taper Question Can Be Settled The first Federal Reserve official to speak publicly after this week’s monetary policy meeting says the central bank does not yet have enough data to know when or if it can start slowing the pace of its bond-buying… Continue reading Bullard Weighs In With Some Taper Talk
The Financial Times – Why Obama should pick Yellen to lead the Fed President Barack Obama was recently asked what kind of person he is looking for to head the US Federal Reserve. His answer: someone who will help the economy grow while keeping inflation in check and making sure we do not create new… Continue reading More Support For Yellen
The Wall Street Journal – Low Pay Clouds Job Growth The U.S. labor market’s long, slow recovery slowed further in July—and many of the jobs that were created were in low-wage industries. Employers added a seasonally adjusted 162,000 jobs in July, the fewest since March, the Labor Department said Friday, and hiring was also weaker… Continue reading A Closer Look At The Jobs Report
The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Adds Less-Than-Expected 162,000 Jobs U.S. employers added jobs at a slower pace in July, suggesting more steady but unspectacular economic growth heading into the summer. U.S. payrolls grew by 162,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday. The unemployment rate, taken from a separate survey of U.S. households, fell… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch.com – P/E ratios to drop 20% in coming years Commentary: What history tells us about rising rate environments That, at least, is the conclusion that emerges from a very long-term perspective on the relationship between interest rates and P/E ratios. On average since 1871, it turns out, P/E… Continue reading P/E Ratios Set To Fall
The Wall Street Journal – Data of Prosperity Past The good news is that the Commerce Department’s second-quarter GDP report shows that the U.S. is richer and the economy larger than previously believed. The bad news is that this has nothing to do with anything that has happened lately, and certainly not in the last… Continue reading More On The GDP Revisions
The Financial Times – Smaller is better as US recovery rides on The Russell 2000 equity index sits in record territory, as does the S&P 500 index of large companies, many of which are exposed to the global economy. Since the start of May, the small index has trumped its bigger and better known rival… Continue reading Small Cap Stocks Up Nearly 24% This Year
The Financial Times – Fed choice: a clear guide or boundless ingenuity They are two very different people who have followed strangely parallel careers. In a closed-door meeting of congressional Democrats on Wednesday, Barack Obama, US president, said “you would have to slice the salami very thin” to find policy differences between Mr Summers and… Continue reading Yellen vs Summers
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