The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Brinkmanship as Spain warns over bail-out terms Spain has issued a veiled warning that it will not accept a full bail-out from Europe if the terms are too harsh, a move that would paralyse the European Central Bank and call the euro’s survival into question In an escalating game… Continue reading Spain At The Edge
CNBC – Home Prices Aren’t Rebounding as Fast as You Think Prices nationwide in July rose 3.8 percent year-over-year, according to the latest reading from CoreLogic. This includes prices of distressed properties and is the biggest annual jump since August of 2006. This is also the fifth consecutive month that home prices have increased both… Continue reading Home Prices
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Reuters – At Jackson Hole, a growing fear for Fed independence Increasing political encroachment on the Federal Reserve, particularly from the Republican Party, could threaten the central bank’s hard-won independence and undermine confidence in the nearly 100-year old institution. That was the pervasive sentiment among economists gathered at the Fed’s annual monetary policy symposium in… Continue reading Central Bank Independence
The Washington Post – James Grant: Watching the Bank of Bernanke More important than anything that Ben Bernanke might have said in his long-awaited speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo., was the thing he wouldn’t say, but should. Positively out of bounds for the chairman of the Federal Reserve is the admission that he is… Continue reading The Ben Bernanke Show
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment The chart above shows ECB bond purchases to-date, the last of which occurred in early March. Most of the purchases above were Greek debt that suffered a haircut when it was restructured last spring. The Wall Street Journal – Europe Bank Chief Hints at Bond Purchases The president… Continue reading The ECB Hints More Purchases On The Way
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – September’s Historically Tough for Stocks With summer winding down, say goodbye to beach days, wearing white and and perhaps positive returns for the stock market. September is historically the worst month of the year for equities. The Dow has been negative for the month 60%… Continue reading September Seasonals
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Jon Hilsenrath: Fed Still Lukewarm About Cutting Reserve Rate There was much ado in Jackson Hole, Wyo., this weekend about a 0.25% interest rate that the Federal Reserve pays to banks on money they deposit with the central bank. A number of people want the Fed to cut this… Continue reading Don’t Expect A Cut To Interest On Reserve Rate
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Hedge Fund Bulls Push U.S. Gasoline to Labor Day Record Hedge funds raised bullish bets on gasoline to more than a three-month high, helping push prices at the pump to record levels for the U.S. Labor Day holiday, as Hurricane Isaac roared toward the Gulf of Mexico… Continue reading Energy Prices Continue Higher
Bloomberg.com – CBO Demands a Leap of Faith on the Fiscal Cliff Last month, the Congressional Budget Office released a report warning that the “fiscal cliff” would cause a new recession. It came to the right conclusion for all the wrong reasons. Reasons matter. A policy response crafted to satisfy the CBO’s analysis would hurt… Continue reading Examining The CBO’s Methodology
<Click on picture for larger image> Business Insider – UH-OH: Barron’s Latest Cover Looks Bullish The covers of widely circulated newspapers and business news publications are famously known for being contrarian indicators of what will actually happen in the economy and financial markets. The most notorious case of this was BusinessWeek’s 1971 cover story “The… Continue reading Something For The Contrarians
The Wall Street Journal – Moody’s Gives EU Warning Moody’s Investors Service has put the European Union’s triple-A credit rating on a negative outlook in a move that reflects actions the ratings firm has taken on some of the euro-zone’s largest members, including Germany and the Netherlands. “Moody’s believes that it is reasonable to assume… Continue reading Moody’s Puts The EU On Negative Outlook