Reuters.com – Fed doves stand by stimulus, though one has bright outlook A handful of Federal Reserve policy doves on Tuesday showed no sign they were prepared to dial down the central bank’s extraordinary accommodation any time soon, even though one gave a highly optimistic outlook that the economy will turn the corner next year.… Continue reading Federal Reserve Policy
The Financial Times – Forex chiefs hope for end of risk-on, risk-off trend After long months in the dark, currencies are coming back into the light. Investors have flocked back to the global foreign exchange market this year as trends have developed in key currencies, while talk of currency wars has put the Japanese yen,… Continue reading Risk-On, Risk-Off
Bloomberg.com – SNB’s Danthine Says Economy Vulnerable to Credit Bubble The Swiss economy is vulnerable to instability in the banking sector caused by an unsustainable rise in mortgage debt, the central bank’s vice president said. In recent years, credit growth has outpaced that of the economy, and the ratio of private debt, primarily mortgage loans,… Continue reading The Swiss Economy And A Credit Bubble
The Wall Street Journal – Easing Is an Issue as G-20 Meets As finance officials and central bankers from the Group of 20 leading economies meet in Washington this week, delegates from emerging countries hope to address an issue that’s both a boon and a danger to their economies: the stimulus policies of the world’s… Continue reading Stimulus Is the Major Topic at The G20
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<Click on chart for larger image> MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Outflows in Gold ETFs Surge as Traders Bolt Investors in gold exchange-traded funds have been rushing to the exits as gold prices plunge. More than $1 billion flowed out of the SPDR Gold Trust Friday, according to IndexUniverse, marking the third-largest outflow on record since… Continue reading Gold ETFs Sold Before The Crash
Bloomberg Businessweek – The Price of Gold Is Crashing. Here’s Why A chart of the crashing price of gold looks like a wedding ring rolling off a table. Gold futures for June delivery closed at $1,361 an ounce on the Comex in New York today, a drop of more than $200 in two sessions. Gold’s… Continue reading More On Gold’s Big Decline
The New York Federal Reserve – Responses to Survey of Primary Dealers In the January FOMC statement, the Committee announced it will continue purchasing additional agency mortgage-backed securities at a pace of $40 billion per month and longer-term Treasury securities at a pace of $45 billion per month, and also stated that it would take… Continue reading Primary Dealers See QE Tapering In December
The Financial Times – Fed urged to taper QE through Treasuries The US Federal Reserve should slow its purchases of Treasuries before it turns to mortgage-backed securities when the time comes to taper QE3, Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Fed, said in an interview with the Financial Times. The remarks make Mr Rosengren one… Continue reading The QE Endgame
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Treasuries back on investors’ buy lists Foreign buying is expected to rise in coming months as the Bank of Japan’s aggressive quantitative easing settles into its stride, based on the view that domestic holders of Japanese government bonds will sell their holdings and seek higher… Continue reading BoJ’s New QE Means More U.S. Treasury Buying To Come
The Financial Times – Europe is no longer Spain’s solution Travelling between Madrid and Barcelona on a recent weekday afternoon, I wandered into the first-class section of the train. There was only one passenger, snoozing on the black leather seats – and he turned out to be the conductor, who looked up startled at the… Continue reading Europe
The Wall Street Journal – Slower China Growth Signals Days of Miracles Are Waning Shanghai property developer Sun Ping recalled offering a bloc of villas for sale in 2006, a time when buyers queued overnight and traded spots in line for money. He sold 62 houses in three hours and figures those homeowners quickly saw… Continue reading China