The Wall Street Journal – Regulators Try to Beat Clock in Rate Probe U.S. prosecutors are seeking more time to complete their investigation of alleged interest-rate fixing, while banks ensnared in the probe are trying to turn the clock to their advantage as they battle lawsuits claiming damages from rate-rigging. The Justice Department recently asked… Continue reading LIBOR Investigations
The Financial Times – The Fed calls the tune in bond markets If there was any doubt before about the Federal Reserve’s commitment to drive investors into riskier assets, Ben Bernanke has dispelled it. Bond dealers now face the reality of a US central bank prepared to keep buying unlimited amounts of bonds, in particular… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Is The Only Fundamental That Really Matters To The Bond Market
The Wall Street Journal – Debt Investors Aren’t Just Waiting For the Next Downgrades in Europe As many investors brace for possible downgrades of Spain and Italy, some are already positioning themselves for the potential fallout in the countries’ €180 billion ($234.9 billion) corporate-debt markets. Even with the prospect of aid from the European Central… Continue reading Frontrunning Moody’s
The Wall Street Journal – Ed Whitacre: Time for ‘Government Motors’ to Hit the Road The Treasury Department should sell every last share that it owns of General Motors—as quickly as possible. I don’t say that critically, but the government has been an active participant in GM’s management for more than three years, and that’s… Continue reading Government Motors
The Financial Times – Mohamed El-Erian: Introducing the “reverse Volcker moment” Is the US experiencing a “reverse Volcker moment” in which low and stable inflation gets subordinated to other economic objectives? Markets seem to hint this and an increasing number of central banks in the rest of the world appear concerned about it…There certainly are… Continue reading The Dual Mandate
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Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/503842-630970.mp3|titles=Conference Call] Topics Covered This Week Include: The State Of The US Economy Real Growth Expectations Negative Earnings Growth No Revenue Growth The Fed’s Inflation Target The Fed’s Inflation Target – 2 Market Based Inflation Expectations Survey Based Inflation Expectations Wealth Effect World Central Bank Assets Europe: The Cycle… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
Comment On Friday, September 21, 2012 at 9 AM CT (10:00 AM ET, 7:00 AM PT, and 15:00 BST), Bianco Research, in conjunction with Arbor Research & Trading, will be hosting a webcast/teleconference moderated by Jim Bianco. Join us Friday (not the usual Thursday time slot) as we discuss the implications of the ECB’s unlimited… Continue reading What To Expect In An Unlimited And Open-Ended Central Bank World
The Wall Street Journal – Stalled Rally Puts Pressure on Spain The European rally has ended, and now the waiting begins. Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, triggered a burst of optimism this month with the bank’s plan to support weak countries like Spain. Spanish bonds strengthened sharply, and the Spanish stock… Continue reading The Pressure Is Now On Spain
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Businessweek – China Resumed Treasury Buys in July as Trade Surplus Widened China, the biggest foreign owner of U.S. government debt, bought Treasury securities in July for the first time in three months as the nation’s trade surplus with the U.S. widened by the most on record. The… Continue reading China Among The U.S. Treasury Buyers In July
Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis – Government Debt Held by Spanish Banks Doubles in Seven Months; Deleverage? What Deleverage? Lenders in the euro area increased assets by 7 percent to 34.4 trillion euros ($45 trillion) in the year ended July 31, according to data compiled by the European Central Bank. BNP Paribas SA (BNP), Banco… Continue reading Spanish Debt
The Wall Street Journal – Japan Eases Monetary Policy in Surprise Move The Bank of Japan decided on surprisingly strong steps to further ease its monetary policy Wednesday following recent easing action by the Federal Reserve, as the central bank looks to tackle entrenched deflation, the strong yen, and slowing global growth. nThe central bank’s… Continue reading Bank Of Japan Offers Additional Easing