Bloomberg.com – Orszag: Tax Hikes, Debt Limit Loom Over Budget Debate Most people understandably won’t make it to Table 6-2 of the Analytical Perspectives companion volume released with the Obama administration’s budget. This table, though, foreshadows the fight that will come at about this time next year — and is thus one good way to… Continue reading Is A Debt Ceiling Hike Coming Before The Election?
The Financial Times – Martin Wolf: Much too much ado about Greece Why does Greece – a country with little more than 2 per cent of the eurozone’s gross domestic product – cause such headaches? On a daily basis, people living as far apart as Beijing and Washington read stories of promises not kept and… Continue reading More On Greece
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Libor Probe Said to Expose Collusion, Lack of Internal Controls Britain’s Financial Services Authority is probing whether banks’ proprietary-trading desks exploited information they had about the direction of Libor to trade interest-rate derivatives, potentially defrauding their firms’ counterparties, the people said. The investigation may lead to civil… Continue reading LIE-BOR
oftwominds (blog) – Charleis Hugh Smith: It’s Not Just Gasoline Consumption That’s Tanking, It’s All Energy It’s not just gasoline consumption that’s declining–petroleum and electricity consumption are also dropping. Is that indicative of economic growth? Mark W. also forwarded these charts of Electrical power consumption. Not only has electrical consumption never recovered the levels of… Continue reading More On Energy Declines
Bloomberg.com – Euro-Area Economy Contracts for the First Time Since 2009 Despite some recent improved euro-zone surveys and evidence that Germany is returning to growth, we doubt that the euro zone will be able to avoid further contraction in the first quarter,” said Howard Archer, chief European economist at IHS Global Insight in London. “We… Continue reading The Euro-Zone Economy Contracts … Could Have Been Worse
The Financial Times – Credit ratings: reality check required The UK’s triple A credit rating is a bit like those outposts of empire that still dot the globe – almost an accident of history. After all, if triple A ratings had just been invented, the UK might not get one: some of the country’s figures… Continue reading Credit Ratings
Factset – Earnings Insight, February 10, 2012 Estimated Earnings Growth Rate for Q1 2012 Falls to 0% Today. The blended earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 for Q4 2011 currently stands at 5.5%. If this is the final earnings growth rate for the quarter, it will mark the end of the streak of consecutive… Continue reading Earnings Season Update – Still Not Good
The Economist – The professor versus the chairman IN THE early 2000s, economist Ben Bernanke was a fierce critic of the Bank of Japan’s response to prolonged weakness and deflation in the Japanese economy, a dynamic Mr Bernanke attributed to the central bank’s self-induced paralysis. As his work made clear, a central bank had plenty… Continue reading Bernanke
Bloomberg.com – China Pledges to Invest in Europe’s Bailout Funds, Sustain Euro Holdings China pledged to invest in Europe’s bailout funds and sustain its holdings of euro assets, spurring gains in the currency and Asian stocks on optimism the region’s debt crisis will be overcome.“China will always adhere to the principle of holding assets of… Continue reading China To The Rescue
<Click on chart for larger image> Reuters.com – Iran stops oil exports to six EU countries: state TV Iran has stopped oil exports to six European states in retaliation for European Union sanctions imposed on the Islamic state’s key export, its English-language Press TV reported on Wednesday. “Iran cuts its oil exports to six European… Continue reading Iran Stops Oil Exports To Six Countries
The Wall Street Journal – Apple’s Size Clouds Market Since 1980, five companies—IBM, General Electric, AT&T, Microsoft and Exxon Mobil—have at some point had a heavier weighting on the S&P 500 than Apple did at the end of December. Even so, Mr. Silverblatt says, “the impact that Apple has is huge,” adding that more than… Continue reading Apple And The Stock Market
Bloomberg.com – Big Long Is New Big Short as Bass Joins Subprime Bet: Mortgages Investors who made some of the biggest profits from the 2007 bust in U.S. mortgages are once again in agreement. This time, they’re going long. Hedge fund manager Kyle Bass, who made $500 million betting against subprime debt in the crash,… Continue reading Kyle Bass Goes Long Mortgages