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The Federal Reserve Can’t Stand A Declining Stock Market For Even 15 Hours

March 8, 2012

The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: Fed Weighs ‘Sterilized’ Bond Buying if It Acts Fed officials have used different types of bond-buying programs since 2008. In each case the aim has been to drive down long-term interest rates to spur investment and spending by businesses and households. In case they decide to act again,… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Can’t Stand A Declining Stock Market For Even 15 Hours

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Greece

March 8, 2012

The Wall Street Journal – Greece Moves Closer to Swap Greece moved a step closer to completing its debt restructuring when a raft of bondholders pledged to participate in the swap, likely enabling the troubled nation to force the deal through. As of late Wednesday, about 52% of the €206 billion ($270.9 billion) in bonds… Continue reading Greece

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Oil Speculation

March 8, 2012

BusinessWeek – Have Oil Speculators Already Priced In War With Iran? The last time the price of Brent crude closed below $100 a barrel was Oct. 6, 2011. It’s since gone up nearly 30 percent, to a high of $126.20 on March 1. Tensions over Iran’s nuclear program have people spooked that a potential attack… Continue reading Oil Speculation

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Central Banks’ Exit Strategies

March 8, 2012

The Wall Street Journal – The Long Road to Central-Bank Exits Central banking has become a global growth industry. But it isn’t just the size of balance sheets that has changed: so too have their composition. With rates close to zero, the U.S., U.K., Japanese and European central banks have pumped cash into the financial… Continue reading Central Banks’ Exit Strategies

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The Treasury Looks To Further Reduce Its Holdings Of AIG

March 8, 2012

The Wall Street Journal – Treasury Launches AIG Stock Sale The Treasury Department launched a sale of as much as $6 billion of American International Group Inc. stock, in a move that stands to further reduce the U.S. government’s stake in the New York-based insurer more than three years after the company’s government rescue during… Continue reading The Treasury Looks To Further Reduce Its Holdings Of AIG

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The Federal Reserve’s Dual Mandate

March 8, 2012

Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Seen Accepting Faster Inflation as Fed Seeks Jobs Boost Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke spent six years pushing for an inflation goal. Now that he has it, some investors are betting he’ll breach the 2 percent target in the short run to lower unemployment. The Fed chairman told lawmakers last week… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s Dual Mandate

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The Unintended Consequences Of QE

March 8, 2012

Business Insider – QE Set To Leave British Pensions $141 Billion In The Hole A second round of quantitative easing in the UK will leave the country’s pension funds £90 billion ($141 billion) out of pocket, the National Association of Pension Funds (NAPF) announced on the third anniversary of QE in the UK. Joanne Segars,… Continue reading The Unintended Consequences Of QE

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Something To Keep In Mind On Payroll Friday

March 8, 2012

Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Beware Analysts Torturing Jobs Data to Fit Model Traders, take your mark. Go! The monthly employment stakes has begun. At precisely 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the Employment Situation report for February…Then the real fun begins: dissecting the numbers and spinning them to… Continue reading Something To Keep In Mind On Payroll Friday

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The CDS Determinations Committee’s Conflict Of Interest

March 8, 2012

Bloomberg.com – Banks Shouldn’t Be Both Judge and Jury on Credit Defaults Imagine you bought a house and, to insure it, you had to purchase coverage from the homebuilder. Then imagine a fire nearly destroyed the house, but your ability to collect the insurance depended on a committee of anonymous homebuilders meeting in secret to… Continue reading The CDS Determinations Committee’s Conflict Of Interest

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Jim Grant Does His Best John Galt Impression

March 8, 2012

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Labor Costs

March 8, 2012

Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Labor Costs Becoming Challenge to Fed, Companies Wednesday brought a fuller picture of the U.S. labor markets: more jobs, slower productivity, and a bigger cost squeeze…The data highlight a challenge in the outlook: Adding new [usually less experienced] workers tends to lower overall productivity and raise unit labor costs.… Continue reading Labor Costs

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Cartoons

March 8, 2012