<Click on graphic for larger image> Zero Hedge (blog) – 88% Of Hedge Funds, 65% Of Mutual Funds Underperform Market In 2012 2012 is a year most asset managers would like to forget. With the S&P returning 16% and Russell 2000 up 16.3%, on nothing but multiple expansion in a world where risk has been… Continue reading Money Management’s Terrible Year
The Financial Times – Cracks widen in US debt ceiling debate Although the idea is popular among some Democrats, the White House has explicitly ruled out using the 14th Amendment as recently as last month.Mr McConnell declined to say whether he would allow the debt ceiling to be breached if Mr Obama did not offer… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling Fight Continues
The Financial Times – Beware the ‘central bank put’ Mohamed El-Erian asks how far central banks can divorce prices from fundamentals The investment recommendations made by many financial commentators are now dominated by cross-asset class relative valuation rather than the fundamentals of the investment itself. A typical refrain runs something like this: buy X because… Continue reading Federal Reserve Policy
The Wall Street Journal – Banks Are Still Too Big and Fragile, Economist Says What a difference a few years makes. Or not, in the case of banking regulation, says Anat Admati, a Stanford University economist who studies banks and finance. During an interview on the sidelines of this weekend’s American Economic Association confab in… Continue reading Are Banks Still Too Big?
The Financial Times – Banks win more flexible Basel rules International banks received a new year fillip when regulators announced that the first ever global liquidity standards would be less onerous than expected and not be fully enforced until 2019, four years later than expected. Aimed at preventing a repeat of the 2008 bank collapses,… Continue reading Basel Rules Loosened
Barron’s – What the Cliff Deal Means for Investors Dividend and capital-gains rates stay low for most investors, but the wealthy will pay more. Why keeping the rates at parity will avoid distortions in investor behavior. How can you tell that politicians have a sense of humor? Well, who else would call the bill hastily… Continue reading The Fiscal Cliff Deal And Investing
The Wall Street Journal – Junk Bonds’ Fire Is Poised to Fade Junk bonds started 2013 much like they finished 2012—on fire. In just three trading days this year, bonds of low-rated companies delivered returns of almost three-quarters of a percent, even as most other types of bonds lost value. And junk bonds continued to… Continue reading Junk Bonds
The Financial Times – US joins misguided pursuit of austerity Governments have pushed themselves into a corner where austerity is the default choice When viewing the US fiscal stand-off from Europe, it all looks eerily familiar. The US has become very European. But for me the main problem is not an inability to deal with… Continue reading Austerity
The Wall Street Journal – Peering Into Fed’s Jobless Rate Ball The Federal Reserve has set 6.5% as the threshold the unemployment rate must reach before it considers raising its target interest rate. Good luck forecasting when that might happen. The Labor Department on Friday reported a December unemployment rate of 7.8%, even with November… Continue reading U.S. Unemployment
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> <Click… Continue reading Employment/Unemployment Pictures
The Financial Times – Fed split over when to halt QE3 Officials at the US Federal Reserve are split on whether to keep buying assets until the end of 2013, according to the minutes of their December meeting. The minutes show the new front line for debate on the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee and… Continue reading The Future Of QE