<Click on chart for larger image> Comment In Q2 2012, the Federal Reserve revised their estimates of how much cash companies are holding. The blue line in the chart above shows the latest release while the red lines shows previous estimates. Where did the cash go? Apparently it disappeared as the Federal Reserve is now… Continue reading Cash On The Sidelines
MarketWatch.com – Dow 17,000? Main Street lambs led to the slaughter Wharton School economist Jeremy Siegel, author of two classics, “Stocks For the Long Run” and “The Future for Investors,” is one of America’s most respected financial minds. He recently told cable channel CNBC that Dow 15,000 was “definite,” with 50-50 odds of Dow 17,000… Continue reading Predicting The Economy Is Nearly Impossible
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch.com – Wheat prices may rise due to supply, U.S. drought Global wheat prices are close to bottoming out and may rise in coming months because of lingering drought in the U.S. and smaller crops in exporting countries including Australia and Russia and Argentina. Higher prices would result in… Continue reading Wheat Prices
Reuters.com – Draghi says ECB would only use bond-buy plan to address “major problems” The European Central Bank could only consider employing its bond-purchase plan if there were major problems in the transmission of its monetary policy, ECB President Mario Draghi told Spanish lawmakers on Tuesday. Draghi’s comments indicated that the ECB is in no… Continue reading Europe
<Click on chart for larger image> The Japan Times – Japan’s economic minister wants Nikkei to surge 17% to 13,000 by March Economic and fiscal policy minister Akira Amari said Saturday the government will step up economic recovery efforts so that the benchmark Nikkei index jumps an additional 17 percent to 13,000 points by the… Continue reading Japan
The Federal Reserve – Fed Bank Chiefs Back Money-Fund Overhaul The letter, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, was a response to a proposal for money-market overhaul made by the FSOC in November. The aim of the council’s push: Prevent runs on money-market funds during a financial crisis, as happened in 2008 when… Continue reading Money Market Industry Overhaul
The Financial Times – G7 fails to defuse currency tensions An attempt to soothe global currency tensions backfired on Tuesday as a joint statement by the world’s richest nations roiled the markets. The Group of Seven nations took the unusual step of issuing a public statement to address rising concerns over a fresh round of… Continue reading Currency Wars
MarketWatch.com – TARP: The bailout success story that wasn’t About those bank bailouts … Remember the Troubled Asset Relief Program, better known as TARP? When we last heard from the Treasury Department, on Jan. 23, TARP was being wound down. It was, in the estimation of Timothy Geithner & Co., a success: 93% of the… Continue reading TARP Revisited
Zero Hedge – How A Rookie Excel Error Led JPMorgan To Misreport Its VaR For Years Specifically we said that “in the 10-Q filing, the bank reported a VaR of $170 million for the three months ending March 31, 2012. This compared to a tiny $88 million for the previous year.” JPM, which was desperate… Continue reading Spreadsheet Mistakes Cost J.P. Morgan Billions
Scientific American – Chris Arnade: Too Big to Succeed Since the [1994] peso crisis, banks have become massive, bloated with new complex financial products unleashed by deregulation. The assets at US commercial banks have increased five times to $13 trillion, with the bulk clustered at a few major institutions. JP Morgan, the largest, has $2.5… Continue reading Too Big To Succeed
CNN/Money – How banks could get blown away by bond bubble Bank chief executives have spent the past few months telling investors not to worry about rising interest rates. Most have said their banks are not taking risks in the bond market and are protected from losses. One Federal Reserve governor doesn’t agree. On Thursday,… Continue reading Bond Market Bubble?