The Big Picture (blog) – VIX Spikes and the S&P500 Epic 34% spike in the VIX Monday. The 1oth largest daily percent increase since 1990 and biggest since August 2011, which, at the time was in the midst of a nasty correction/mini bear market. The S&P500 is only off just under 3 percent from its… Continue reading When The VIX Spikes
Bloomberg.com – Postponed Illinois Bond Deal Still Weeks Away, Sinsheimer Says Illinois plans to sell a postponed $500 million general-obligation issue after Governor Pat Quinn releases his fiscal 2014 budget proposal next week. Illinois may bring back the bond sale, which will price through competitive bid, as soon as late March to raise cash for… Continue reading Illinois Postpones Bond Deal Again
The Wall Street Journal – Why the Corporate Pension Gap Is Soaring Companies Struggle as Low Rates, Other Forces Inflate Funding Needs Across America’s business landscape, the gap between the amount that companies expect to owe retirees and what they have on hand to pay them was an estimated $347 billion at the end of… Continue reading More Pension Problems
Zero Hedge (blog) – Cramer Does It Again From the “Bear Stearns is fine” man himself, circa 7 hours ago: “It is a monster move. A lot of people being left behind. A lot of shorts. This thing won’t die. There is a show, again, very good ratings, The walking dead. You know, you can’t… Continue reading The Worst Call Of The Year
Bloomberg.com – Italy Political Vacuum to Extend for Weeks as Bargaining Begins Italian party chiefs began jockeying to forge a coalition of rivals and head off a second vote as a political vacuum of at least a month loomed, threatening to whipsaw financial markets. In the aftermath of an inconclusive election, Democratic Party leader Pier… Continue reading Italy Votes, Markets Reject
The New York Times – Treasury Pick Tries to Cast His History as Right for the Job As the Senate gears up to vote on the next Treasury secretary, President Obama’s choice for the job, Jacob J. Lew, has been forced to navigate through something of a political minefield. As White House chief of staff… Continue reading Here Comes Jack Lew
None Today
The New York Times – In the Developed World, Growth Contracts FOR the first time since 2009, the economies of major developed countries are shrinking. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 countries, said this week that the combined gross domestic product of its members declined at an annual rate of… Continue reading No Growth In The Developed World
The Wall Street Journal – WSJ’s Hilsenrath: Fed Not Ready To Begin Exit Yet Two developments are worth watching on the Federal Reserve front these days. Both relate to Fed planning for how it will withdraw one day from the aggressive bond buying it is now pursuing to bolster the markets and the economy. Call… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Talks The Stock Market Higher
CNN/Money – Fed officials: Don’t worry if we lose money The Federal Reserve’s massive annual profit, which it turns over to the Treasury, is likely to dwindle and may even disappear entirely in a few years. But that’s okay, Fed officials say. After years of record profits, the Fed is likely to be saddled with… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s P&L Statement
The New York Times – James B. Stewart: Mindful of Bubbles in a Boom for Deals Thomson Reuters reports that during the first two months of 2013 there have been over a thousand deals valued at almost $163 billion in total. That’s more than double the amount for the same months in 2012. If this… Continue reading M&A Activity
FT Alphaville – Are rates mispriced or are investors missing something? Priya Misra, rates strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, makes a very interesting point on Friday: In our opinion, rates should decline in the near term if growth weakens. But, even without a slowdown in consumption and growth, there is a strong case… Continue reading Are Rates Accurately Reflecting The Economic Landscape?