<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – ECB Seen Favoring Bond Buying Over Bank Loans The European Central Bank will restart its controversial government bond purchases rather than offer banks another round of unlimited three-year loans as the sovereign debt crisis worsens, a survey of economists shows. Of 22 economists polled this week, 17… Continue reading Will The ECB Again Buy Bonds?
Bloomberg.com – China’s Less-Than-Forecast 8.1% Growth May Signal Easing China’s growth slowed more than forecast last quarter to the least in almost three years, prompting economists to predict a rebound as Premier Wen Jiabao loosens policy to counter weak domestic and European demand. Gross domestic product in the world’s second-biggest economy expanded 8.1 percent from… Continue reading China Slows
The Telegraph (UK) – Jeremy Warner: Time to put the doomed euro out of its misery Europe can’t accept that the economics of the single currency condemn it to failure There is no mess quite so bad that official intervention won’t make it even worse. Nowhere is this old saw more applicable than in the… Continue reading Is The Euro Doomed?
CNBC – Media Rules for Jobs Report to Tighten to Prevent Leaks The U.S. Department of Labor announced on Wednesday it plans to tighten its rules for the media to prevent leaks of the monthly jobs numbers. The department will supply standard equipment to journalists in press “lock-ups” and will not allow company-owned computers or… Continue reading Did Someone Leak A Jobs Report?
Bloomberg.com – JPMorgan’s London Whale Could Use New Nickname Late last week, a little-known trader at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) in London, Bruno Iksil, awoke to find his life changed forever. In an instant, Iksil had become famous as the guy who infuriated some of his bank’s counterparts so much that they complained to… Continue reading The London Whale
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Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV yesterday discussing QE and stocks. To view the interview the click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. The Wall Street Journal – Inflation Reports May Clear Path for QE3 Economists’ consensus expectations are for a jump in energy costs to push… Continue reading Inflation & QE3
The Telegraph – Europe’s banks beached as ECB stimulus runs dry Credit experts say the Spanish and Italian banks are trapped with large losses on sovereign bonds bought with ECB funds under the three-year lending programme, or Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO). Andrew Roberts, credit chief at RBS, said Spanish banks used ECB funds to purchase… Continue reading Did The LTRO Actually Hurt European Banks?
MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Yes, Apple’s Huge. But S&P 500 Not as Top Heavy As You Think Apple’s meteoric growth has been well documented. But the company’s outsized weighting isn’t making the S&P 500 as top-heavy as one might think…But Brown Brothers Harriman rejects the notion that the S&P 500 is looking “top heavy” these… Continue reading Quantifying Apple’s Effect On The S&P 500
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Italian Short-Term Yields Rise Italy’s short-term borrowing costs rose at auctions Thursday, adding to fears that investors’ growing wariness of Spanish government debt may spread as the calming effect of cheap European Central Bank cash fades. The Treasury of Italy sold a total of… Continue reading European Bonds
Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Inflation Lurks as Stealth Tax on Top of Form 1040 Inflation is sometimes referred to as a hidden tax. Unlike other taxes, it doesn’t require legislation by Congress or the states. It doesn’t merit a line item on the 1040 federal income-tax form many Americans will file this week. And it… Continue reading Inflation As A Tax
Bloomberg.com – Fed May Have Aggravated Income Inequality, El-Erian Says The Federal Reserve and other central banks may have increased income inequality with policies that boosted prices of stocks and other assets without having a commensurate effect on the economy, said Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. In a lecture prepared… Continue reading PIMCO Weighs In On Income Inequality