CNBC.com – Jobs Growth Rises 114,000 as Rate Slides to 7.8 Percent Job growth remained tame in September, with the economy creating just 114,000 net new positions though the unemployment rate fell to 7.8 percent, the first time it has been below 8 percent in 43 months. The report presented a slew of contradictory data… Continue reading Jobs In Pictures
Comment The table below shows the U.S. unemployment rate, the incumbent and challenger of each presidential election, and the winner of each election from 1904 to present. Prior to 1944 (above the bold line) the unemployment rate shown is a yearly average. After 1944 (below the bold line) the unemployment rate shown is from October… Continue reading The Unemployment Rate And Presidential Elections
The Economist – Give us a brake When fiscal policy is in chaos, companies cannot plan for the future SOME perils are easier to dodge than others. A helicopter equipped with Honeywell’s latest safety system can spot danger through dense cloud. It can even spot hazards that don’t yet exist. If the pilot flies towards… Continue reading Concern About The Fiscal Cliff
The Wall Street Journal – Despite Gains, Many Flee Stock Market The stock market is reaching toward new highs on the fourth anniversary of the financial crisis, but many people refuse to be lured back. Even as stock indexes have doubled in value since the market low in March 2009, investors have yanked a net… Continue reading Still Stock Market Distrust
Bloomberg.com – William Pesek: Bernanke’s QE3 Will Turn Out Better Than Japan’s It’s Paul Volcker time for Ben Bernanke and Masaaki Shirakawa. The heads of the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan are facing waves of hostility from politicians, perhaps of a virulence not seen since Volcker ran the Fed from 1979 to 1987. Bernanke… Continue reading Japan And QE
BBC News – French and British national moods a world apart It has not been a great week to be French. Unemployment has just hit three million, growth for next year is estimated at barely above zero, and the popularity of President Hollande has plummeted. Anyone who uses the Eurostar regularly gets to know the… Continue reading France
The Wall Street Journal – JON HILSENRATH and KRISTINA PETERSON: Fed Seeks to Clarify Plans Federal Reserve officials are considering another revamp of their communications policies. Since August 2011, the Fed has been saying it will keep short-term interest rates near zero until a particular date. Right now that date is mid-2015. The hope has… Continue reading About The Federal Reserve
Can’t join us for the Big Picture Conference on October 10th? Catch all the speakers on Fora.TV live during the day or for weeks after. <Click on graphic to register> Tentative Schedule 8:00 Registration and Breakfast in the Atrium 8:30 Introductions 8:45 Neil Barosfsky Bailout 9:30 Dylan Grice in conversation with Rich Yamarone A Great… Continue reading The Big Picture Conference – October 10
The Wall Street Journal – Investors Jump Off the ‘Junk’ Pile The massive “junk”-bond boom is raising alarm bells among some large money managers, who warn the market is showing signs of overheating. So much money has flooded into the junk-bond market from yield-hungry investors that weaker and weaker companies are able to sell bonds,… Continue reading Junk Bonds
American Banker – Apartment Lending Jumped 60% in 2011 Overall, 2,653 different lenders provide $110 billion in new mortgages for residential buildings with five or more units, according to a report released Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The funding represents a jump of 60% from 2010. Wells Fargo (WFC), JPMorgan Chase (JPM) CBRE Group… Continue reading Will This End Well?
The Economist – Europe’s monetary opposition Tensions between the Bundesbank and the ECB are rooted in concerns about central-bank independence Plans are now afoot to put the ECB in overall charge of bank supervision in the euro area. The Bundesbank politely welcomes a more harmonised approach but is anxious about both the speed of the… Continue reading Bundesbank and The ECB
The Economist – Voting with the wallet Democrats have been better for equities, Republicans for bonds WALL STREET is popularly assumed to love the Republican Party. It is a fair bet that most bankers and investors will be rooting for Mitt Romney to move into the White House next year. But in an industry devoted… Continue reading Republicans Or Democrats, Who Is Better For The Markets?