Comment In the last week we have seen numerous stories about the carnage in the bond market. Many point to the rise in yields to proclaim this is one of the worst routs ever. How does one compare a rise in yields from 1.6% to 2.6% to a rise from 10% to 13%? Which is… Continue reading The Bond Selloff in Perspective – All About The Federal Reserve
The Wall Street Journal – Easy Money Is Still Central After Wild Quarter, Federal Reserve Moves Remain Dominant Issue for Investors As the second half of 2013 gets under way, investors have been tossed out of the frying pan and into the fire. Front and center in the second quarter were the risks investors had… Continue reading It’s All About Easy Money
The Financial Times – Investors move out of cash and into bonds Investors switched billions of dollars out of the safety of cash into bonds as well as equity funds in the first half of this year, before the US Federal Reserve created market uncertainty by hinting at a possible slowdown in quantitative easing. Data… Continue reading The Bond Market
The Financial Times – Mark Carney: welcome to London We don’t want much from you, really. Just fix our economy Dear Mr Carney, Welcome to London and your job as governor of the Bank of England. What took you so long? You were appointed last November; we have been on tenterhooks ever since. Incidentally, glad… Continue reading Mark Carney, The New Governor Of The BOE
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – How Next Debt-Ceiling Fight Could Play Out Sometime this fall, perhaps as soon as September but potentially as late as November, Democrats and Republicans are expected to lock horns again over one of Washington’s least pleasant (and that’s saying something) topics: whether to raise… Continue reading The Return Of The Debt Ceiling Battle
MoneyBeat (WSJ Blog) – Stephen Roach: Fed’s Response to Market Selloff ‘Pathetic’ and ‘Embarrassing’ Investors responded this week when Federal Reserve officials told them they’d misinterpreted Chairman Ben Bernanke’s plan for tapering bond-buying last week, but economist Stephen Roach watched the whole episode with disgust. “I think it’s pathetic,” said Roach, the former chairman of… Continue reading Stephen Roach Holds Back No Punches On FOMC Policy
The Wall Street Journal – Defensive Stocks Won’t Shield Investors A rising stock market has always been a sign investors are taking on more risk. What made the recently stalled rally odd are the types of stocks where that risk-taking was concentrated. From the start of the year to its peak on May 21—the day… Continue reading Defensive Stocks
The Wall Street Journal – True ‘Bullievers’ Are Still Sweet on Japan Many Investors Expect Tokyo Shares to Climb by Year-End After Recent Selloff; Seeing ‘a Good Entry Position Again’ Japan’s stock market has a reputation for disappointing even the most ardent bulls. When the Nikkei Stock Average tanked 20% in June from a multiyear… Continue reading The Nikkei
The New York Times – Jeff Sommer: Tremors From the Fed’s Grand Experiment BEN S. BERNANKE and the Federal Reserve have been conducting a gigantic monetary experiment aimed at reducing unemployment, speeding up the economy and reviving the housing market. Using traditional methods, as well as some that have never been tried on so large… Continue reading Looking Back At The Federal Reserve’s Unorthodox Strategies
The Wall Street Journal – China’s Cash Crunch Shows Signs of Easing The start of a new quarter Monday helped bring down interest rates in China, but rates are expected to stay high until later this month, and the days of cheap credit are likely over as Beijing tightens its grip over risky lending. The… Continue reading China’s Liquidity Squeeze
None Today
The Financial Times – Commodities traders call end of ‘supercycle’ The commodities “supercycle” is dead. If anyone was still in doubt about whether the era of ever-rising prices driven by rapid Chinese growth was over, events of the past week have surely dispelled it. The dollar rally after the Federal Reserve’s hints about tapering its… Continue reading The Commodity “Supercycle” Is Dead