The Wall Street Journal – Dudley Calls for Curbs on Repo Market A top Federal Reserve official called for tougher restrictions on the $2-trillion market where banks go to borrow and lend securities, which was a key source of financial instability during the 2008 crisis. “The status quo is unacceptable,” said William Dudley, president of… Continue reading Regulating The Repo Market
MarketWatch.com – SEC panel seeks stock exchange only for the rich A panel that advises the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday recommended an exclusive exchange be created for micro- and small-capitalization public companies that would only be available for only high-net-worth investors. The panel, the advisory committee on small and emerging companies, voted to… Continue reading A Stock Market For The Rich
The Financial Times – Time for calm as Treasuries age nears end There is nothing like a summer-in-January start to bring in the buyers after they’ve heard why they should, often from the same people who argued last year that shares were finished. Yet the big-picture boys at Bank of America Merrill Lynch are nervous.… Continue reading Is This The End Of The Treasury Bull Market? (the 486th Such Prediction)
The Financial Times – Wolfgang Münchau: The eurozone crisis is not finished The renationalisation of banking means that the monetary union is still unsustainable What does it tell us about a eurozone banking union if the member states are rushing to pass unilateral legislation on financial regulation? France and Germany have, in short succession, proposed measures… Continue reading Europe Is Not Out Of The Woods
The Wall Street Journal – New Worry for Bondholders: LBOs Corporate-bond investors are facing a new threat: private-equity firms launching debt-laden takeovers of companies in their portfolios. With buyouts back in vogue, fund managers specializing in highly rated, or investment-grade, bonds have been scrambling to avoid companies that might fall prey to private equity. When… Continue reading Leveraged Buyouts
The Financial Times – California v Illinois: rain and shine Budgetary fortunes diverge for the two US states once considered the most vulnerable The sun is rising on California’s finances. The Golden State had to resort to issuing IOUs in the wake of the recession. Now a budget surplus is on the horizon. Meanwhile, clouds… Continue reading Munis
The Wall Street Journal – Low Rates Force Companies to Pour Cash Into Pensions Ford Motor Co. expects to spend $5 billion this year shoring up its pension funds, almost as much as the auto maker spent last year building plants, buying equipment and developing new cars. The nation’s second-largest auto maker is one of… Continue reading Pensions Struggling In A Low Rate World
The Financial Times – Who is afraid of currency wars? Worries about global currency wars have resurfaced in recent weeks, mainly because of Japanese action on the yen. This is only the latest of several such flare-ups since the 2008 financial crash. It is hard to avoid the suspicion that the unconventional monetary policies of… Continue reading Currency Wars
Zero Hedge – Kyle Bass Tells ‘Nominal’ Stock Market Cheerleaders: Remember Zimbabwe Amid the euphoria of today’s crossing of the Dow’s Maginot Line at 14,000, Kyle Bass provided a few minutes of sanity this morning in an interview with CNBC’s Gary Kaminsky. Bass starts by reflecting on the ongoing (and escalating) money-printing (or balance sheet… Continue reading Kyle Bass
MarketWatch – No-money-down mortgages are back Some affluent buyers are getting the keys to their new home without putting a penny down. It’s 100% financing—the same strategy that pushed many homeowners into foreclosure during the housing bust. Banks say these loans are safer: They’re almost exclusively being offered to clients with sizable assets, and they… Continue reading No Money? No Problem. Buy Your House Today
The Financial Times – Obama must face the rise of the robots Technology will leave a large chunk of the US labour force in the lurch Early in his first term Barack Obama joked that he would “keep an eye on the robots in case they try anything”. He should have known resistance is futile.… Continue reading The Rise Of The Robots
(h/t The Big Picture)