The Wall Street Journal – Meredith Whitney Blew a Call—And Then Some In another life, Meredith Whitney would have made a terrific replacement referee. Not only can’t she get the call right, she won’t admit when she’s wrong. It is amazing that after costing investors who traded on her December 2010 analysis of the municipal-bond… Continue reading Meredith Whitney
The Financial Times – Robert Parker: Markets will learn to welcome QE3 The expansion of the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing programme has raised a number of fundamental questions, namely: Will QE work in boosting the economy? Will it lead to an upturn in inflation? And what will the impact be on asset prices, notably global… Continue reading Finally Some QE3 Love
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Gasoline Prices: Unrefined Gasoline futures leapt 4% on Wednesday, even though crude oil futures settled below $90 per barrel for the first time since early August and crude oil stockpiles in the U.S. are robust. The key to understanding this mystery is that cars don’t… Continue reading Gasoline Prices
<Click on chart for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – After Brief QE3 Fever, Inflation Expectations Cool Longer-term inflation expectations are pulling back again after a brief run-up driven by the Federal Reserve‘s latest bond-buying program. The 10-year break-even rate, the yield difference between a 10-year Treasury note and 10-year TIPS, jumped to… Continue reading Inflation Expectations
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Fed’s Evans Wants Central Bank to Do Even More The Federal Reserve should take additional steps to further strengthen its positive effects on the economy, a central bank official said Wednesday, mounting a strong defense of the Fed’s latest bond-buying program. “This was the time to act. With the… Continue reading Charles Evans & Economic Targets
MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Here’s a Rally: Treasurys on Pace for Longest Winning Streak Since ’08 Treasury bonds extended their strength into an eighth session Wednesday, headed for the longest winning streak since December 2008. The price gain over the past week in the safe-harbor market reflects the fading euphoria over latest monetary stimulus from… Continue reading Treasuries’ Winning Streak
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Focus Turns to Spanish Budget Plan Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government has a new chance to shore up investor confidence in the economy when it announces its 2013 budget plan on Thursday, together with other changes aimed at improving the way the economy… Continue reading Spain
The Financial Times – Lex: CDS market – Markit’s weird selection The world recently learnt how confusing and dangerous the credit derivatives markets can be. The latest development looks just plain weird. Index provider Markit on Thursday will add three companies to its 100-member benchmark for credit default swaps on US junk bonds. Periodic index… Continue reading An Index Of Imaginary CDS
Bond Buyer Online – Foreign Buyers Eye U.S. Munis Foreign investment in the U.S. municipal bond market has exploded in the last 10 years. From 2001 through the second quarter of 2012 foreign investors increased their holdings of munis by more than 11-fold. While foreign investors owned $8 billion at the end of 2001, they… Continue reading Munis
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – As Chinese Stocks Slip, Funds Move In Chinese shares fell to their lowest intraday level in nearly four years on Wednesday, and some foreign fund managers say they are ready to jump in. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index for shares listed on mainland China,… Continue reading Chinese Equities
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