The Financial Times – Twist again, again? Given the recent improving economic data in the US, the consensus likelihood of getting QE3 later this year seems to have gone from probable to uncertain…But something we didn’t see in the minutes and haven’t heard discussed much — strangely, now that we think about it — is… Continue reading Extending Operation Twist
<Click on table for larger image> The Big Picture (Blog) – The Decline In Inventory Right Now is NOT a Good Sign There was a 21.2% decline in listing inventory from December 2010 to December 2011. Relying on typical housing market scenarios and reasonable logic, a decline in listing inventory nearly always meant a tightening… Continue reading The Housing Market
<Click on chart for larger image> Business Insider – Well This Isn’t Going To Be Good For The European Economy The EU just downwardly revised its economic forecast for 2012, and now here’s more bad news. Priced in Euros, Brent Crude just hit its all time high. This chart of Brent priced in Euros isn’t… Continue reading Crude Oil
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Don’t Worry About That Slowing Loan Growth Yet Loan growth looks like it is slowing so far this year, but solid growth for 2012 is still possible, Jefferies analysts say today. The firm is still looking for mid single-digit growth for the year, even… Continue reading Bank Lending
Business Insider – OMG: Here’s How Religion Is Tied To Stock Price Crash Risk Professors Jeffrey Callen of the University of Toronto and Xiaohua Fang of Georgia State University published a paper titled Religion and Stock Price Crash Risk (h/t Jason Zweig). Their findings seem to suggest that companies that are headquartered in religious areas… Continue reading Religion & Finance
The Wall Street Journal – Investigators Probe a Rush at MF Global to Move Cash Investigators probing the collapse of MF Global Holdings Ltd. are scrutinizing two money transfers made during the securities firm’s final days in an effort to uncover what happened to $1.6 billion in missing customer funds…On the morning of Oct. 28,… Continue reading Still Searching For MF Global’s Missing Money
Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week Audio Topics Covered This Week Include: Earnings Season So Far Earnings Growth Rates Are Falling More Low Single Digit Earnings Growth Rates Are 12-Month Forward Earnings Estimates Too High? The Latest On The Economy When Will The Fed Hike Rates? The FOMC Adopts An Inflation Target What If Inflation… Continue reading Conference Call Presentation/Charts of the Week
The Wall Street Journal – Fitch Downgrades Greece Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece’s credit rating to C from triple-C Wednesday after confirmation of the country’s second bailout package, which includes a debt exchange that will force bondholders to take a loss on their holdings of Greek debt. “The rating action is in line with Fitch’s statement… Continue reading More On Greece
<Click on chart for larger image> Reuters.com – Insight: ECB preparing to close liquidity floodgates The ECB is also concerned the interbank market is not yet functioning fully. Bankers themselves see this concern. “If you are flooding the market with cheap refinancing then there comes a point when you are preventing the market from working… Continue reading ECB Liquidity
The Financial Times – US feels pinch from high petrol prices Oil prices have been on the rise as western countries, including the US, have moved to tighten sanctions on Iran. A ban by the European Union on Iranian oil is due to take effect on July 1, leaving Iran looking for buyers and traders… Continue reading Rising Gas Prices
MarketWatch.com – Is the European crisis over or just beginning? The stock market is never wrong and prices are the ultimate arbiter of variant financial views. As that dynamic is an ever-changing verdict, the bulls will argue that European policymakers have successfully navigated the sovereign sequel to the first phase of our financial crisis. See… Continue reading The EU Crisis