The Atlantic – How Sharknado Explains the Federal Reserve There is a movie called Sharknado. It is a real movie. It is about sharks in a tornado. The killer sharks in the tornado fly around snatching up people who say things like “we just can’t wait here for sharks to rain down on us.” And… Continue reading Bernanke And Sharknado
Comment Hilsenrath’s portion of the video starts at 5:40. The defacto FOMC spokesman Jon Hilsenrath insists Bernanke’s speech Wednesday night to the NBER in Cambridge was nothing new. The other guests/hosts pushed back on this statement, pointing to the huge market reaction as evidence that the market did perceive a change. Count us among those… Continue reading Hilsenrath Speaks, What Is The Federal Reserve Trying To Say?
Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC yesterday discussing the Federal Reserve. To view the interview the click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. Rick Santelli also discussed the same subject in an earlier segment yesterday. To view that segment click below. As Rick correctly points out, the Federal… Continue reading What Is The Federal Reserve Trying To Do?
Business Wire – UPS Announces 2nd Quarter Expected Results UPS today announced that second quarter diluted earnings per share are expected to be $1.13. Overcapacity in the global air freight market, increasing customer preference for lower-yielding shipping solutions, and a slowing U.S. industrial economy drove revenue and operating profit below expectations. In addition, UPS experienced… Continue reading UPS Blames The Economy
The Wall Street Journal – Economists Dial Down Estimates for Growth The nation’s economic growth pace may have fallen below 1% in the second quarter, several economists said Wednesday, after wholesalers’ inventories declined in May. The stockpiles of U.S. wholesalers decreased by 0.5% to a seasonally adjusted $500.87 billion, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. That… Continue reading US Economy Continues To Disappoint
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Henny Sender: Fed’s easy money damps M&A animal spirits Global mergers and acquisitions are at their lowest levels since the first half of 2004, according to data from Dealogic. The Americas was slightly better – merger activity was up 4 per cent compared with the… Continue reading Is QE Holding Back Merger Mania?
CNBC – China Could ‘Shock’ Markets With Big GDP Miss Weak trade data for China has left investors expecting more doom and gloom with next week’s release of second-quarter numbers, and according to Lombard Street Research, the world’s second-largest economy could shock markets with a quarter-on-quarter contraction in gross domestic product (GDP). “Global markets could… Continue reading China’s Economy Continues To Sink
The Economist – Financial data: Seconds out Is it a crime to give people an early peek at data? ORE than a half century ago the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research created a well-received monthly index tracking American consumer sentiment. Until 2007 it was funded by more than 100 “supporters” who got an… Continue reading Selling Financial Data
Bloomberg.com – Summers Said to Show Interest in Fed Chairmanship After Bernanke Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is indicating to President Barack Obama’s Wall Street supporters that he wants to become Federal Reserve chairman, according to people familiar with the matter, as he keeps in touch with senators who would vote on the nomination.… Continue reading Fed Chair Larry Summers?
Bloomberg Businessweek – Hedge Funds Are for Suckers At the height of the financial crisis in 2008, a group of famous hedge fund managers was made to stand before Congress like thieves in a stockade and defend their existence to an angry public. The gilded five included George Soros, co-founder of the Quantum Fund; James… Continue reading Hedge Fund Performance Problems
The Wall Street Journal – (July 9, 2013) Central Bankers Hone Tools to Pop Bubbles The point of the new tools is to protect the entire financial system and economy, so economists refer to them as macroprudential. That distinguishes them from microprudential, which describes traditional oversight to assure safety and soundness of individual banks. At… Continue reading What Is Macroprudential Regulation?