Barron’s – Why the Smart Money Looks Dumb Sophisticated investors’ skepticism about the rally, combined with the need to hedge, keep pushing up stock prices U.S. stock prices seem supported by a “smart-money” put. Like the Bernanke Put, and the Greenspan Put of yesteryear, the smart-money put can be relied on to prevent stocks from… Continue reading The “Smart-Money Put”
The Financial Times – Angola officials held hidden oil stakes Three of the most powerful officials in Angola have held concealed interests in an oil venture with Cobalt International Energy, the Goldman Sachs-backed explorer whose operations in one of the world’s most promising energy frontiers are under investigation by US authorities, the Financial Times has… Continue reading Another Scandal Involving Goldman Sachs?
The New York Federal Reserve – Historical Echoes: We Are the 99 Percent, 1765 Edition In the early 1760s, an economic downturn caused a great deal of hardship for most of the residents of New York, including many merchants, recent immigrants, and debtors (many of whom wound up in jail). In the midst of this… Continue reading Occupy Wall Street, 1765 Edition
The Washington Post – Shelia Bair: Fix income inequality with $10 million loans for everyone! Under my plan, each American household could borrow $10 million from the Fed at zero interest. The more conservative among us can take that money and buy 10-year Treasury bonds. At the current 2 percent annual interest rate, we can… Continue reading Free Money For Everyone!
None Today
The Wall Street Journal – Economists Don’t See Fed Action This Year Improving U.S. Outlook Cited as Reason Central Bank Is Unlikely to Restart Bond Buying More economists are convinced the Federal Reserve won’t take further action to spur growth this year as the economy appears to be on firmer footing, according to The Wall… Continue reading Will QE3 Happen?
Bloomberg.com – Fed Rift Over Rates Widens Amid Cooling Job Market Federal Reserve officials widened a rift over a commitment to keep rates near zero through late 2014 as an unexpected increase in claims for jobless benefits added to evidence of a weakening labor market. William C. Dudley, president of the New York Fed, and… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Cannot Agree
OLD STORY Bloomberg.com – Gridlock Good for Treasuries With Gap to Bunds Narrowing The big winner in the battle over the U.S. government budget may be the bond market, as investors say for the first time since the onset of the financial crisis they see lawmaker resolve to trim the $1 trillion deficit. “The market… Continue reading Government Gridlock & The Markets
Bloomberg.com – Steinhardt Says Bonds ‘No Place to Be,’ Favors Dividend Stocks Investors should avoid bonds and buy stocks in companies paying high dividends, and the Federal Reserve should reconsider its low-interest-rate policy, according to Michael Steinhardt, whose hedge funds returned more than 20 percent a year for almost three decades.“Bonds are no place to… Continue reading More Bond Haters
The Financial Times – US equity funds see biggest outflows of 2012 US equity funds suffered their worst outflows of the year in the week to Wednesday as investors became decisively risk-averse following a five-day losing streak for US equities. The S&P 500 fell 4.3 per cent in the five trading days to Tuesday, giving… Continue reading Stock Mutual Fund Outflows Increase
The Economist – Inter-bank interest rates: Cleaning up LIBOR A benchmark which matters to everyone needs fixing IT IS among the most important prices in finance. So allegations that LIBOR (the London inter-bank offered rate) has been manipulated are a serious worry. LIBOR is meant to be a measure of banks’ own borrowing costs, and… Continue reading What To Do With LIBOR
A police officer blocks the main door of the Barcelona stock exchange during last Thursday’s general strike in Spain. Spiegel (Germany) – Uncertainty about Spain Worries Euro Zone The markets appeared to have forgotten about the euro crisis for a few weeks, but now uncertainty is returning, with yields rising again on Spanish and Italian… Continue reading The Mess That Is Spain