Bloomberg.com – AAA Shortage Drives Foreign Treasury Holdings to $5T For all the concern that the $10 trillion market for Treasuries is dependent on Federal Reserve purchases to absorb a continually expanding supply of debt, the amount held by investors outside the U.S. has grown even more. Foreigners increased their holdings of U.S. government debt… Continue reading The Savings Glut Recycled For 2012
The Financial Times – In a slippery spot over pump prices One of Barack Obama’s finest moments in the long campaign of 2008 was when he mocked Hillary Clinton and John McCain’s call for a “gas tax holiday” to curb rising petrol prices. “It’s a stunt,” Mr Obama said before the primaries in North Carolina… Continue reading Releasing The SPR
The Wall Street Journal – Jon Hilsenrath: Fed Takes a Break to Weigh Outlook A big question is whether the Fed will launch a new bond-buying program in an effort to push down already low long-term interest rates. The Fed tries to ensure interest rates are low when the economy is weak to stimulate investment… Continue reading No More QE?
Bloomberg.com – Apple Has $500 Billion Challenge Others Failed: Chart of the Day Apple is the sixth U.S. company that has ever crossed the threshold, according to data compiled by Standard & Poor’s. The others are Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), General Electric Co. (GE), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO), Intel Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), in… Continue reading Can Apple Stay Above $500 Billion In Market Cap?
<Click on chart for larger image> USA Today – Central banks’ $9 trillion is global economic lifeline Never before have the world’s central banks sent so much money sloshing through the global financial system. From slashing interest rates and buying government debt to dangling cheap loans to banks and taking on their risky assets, central… Continue reading Central Banks
The Wall Street Journal – The Inside Track on the Market Rally Are you buying this rally? Insiders aren’t. The S&P 500 is up 25% since its October low, recently hitting its highest level since before the financial crisis. Yet the people running America’s listed companies are selling shares at the fastest pace since last… Continue reading No Insider Buying This Rally
Business Insider – DAVID STOCKMAN: You’d Be A Fool To Hold Anything But Cash Now Stockman suggests you’d be a fool to hold anything but cash now, and maybe a few bars of gold. He thinks the Federal Reserve’s efforts to ease the pain from the collapse of our “national leveraged buyout” — his term… Continue reading Cash Is King!
CNBC – Oil Is the New Greece: HSBC Chief Economist Rising oil prices have displaced Greece as a source of investor anxiety, a new HSBC report says, warning that if the trend of rising oil prices persists, a fragile economic recovery in the developed world could quickly be derailed, and inflation could return to emerging… Continue reading Is Oil The New Greece?
The Wall Street Journal – Lenders Stress Over Test Results Some very large banks are clashing with the Federal Reserve over how much detail the central bank will reveal about them when it releases the results of its latest stress test. The 19 biggest U.S. banks in January submitted reams of data in response to… Continue reading Bank Stress Tests
None Today
The Wall Street Journal – Crude Awakening: Oil Spikes on Saudi Pipeline-Blast Rumor The reports said an explosion destroyed one of the region’s main pipelines in the city of Awamiyah in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern province, which is home to the majority of the kingdom’s oil supplies. The region has been a flashpoint for tensions between… Continue reading A Quick Lesson On Ras Tanura And Abqaiq
Comment Yesterday Jim was on Bloomberg radio talking about the ISDA agreement and the U.S. economy. To listen to the interview click on the arrow below. [audio:https://www.biancoresearch.com/bianco/SubscriberArea/newsclips/2012/03/s5371614.mp3|titles=Bloomberg Radio] Business Insider – OOF! PIMCO Disagrees With PIMCO On The Greek CDS Decision This morning, ISDA decided that the inclusion of a collective action clause and the… Continue reading The ISDA Decision, Do As I Say, Not As I Do