MarketBeat (WSJ Blog) – Stop The Presses, Dr. Doom Is Turning Bullish For all the contrarian investors, this may be the best evidence of a market top. Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr. Doom for accurately forecasting the 2008 financial crisis, is reportedly turning bullish on equities. Roubini, who has stayed bearish even as markets have rallied… Continue reading Roubini Turns Bullish On Equities…For A Few Months
Slate.com – Time for QE3 Forget the happy jobs report—the Federal Reserve needs to boost the economy again. We have had two good months, but this is crazy talk. If we keep adding jobs at roughly the pace we added them in December and January, then the United States will return to full employment some… Continue reading QE3
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC.com – Uptrend in Gold to Continue; Next Target $1,880: Charts The gold price has been historically influenced by three main factors – currency hedging, jewelry demand and central bank activity. To these factors we add a fourth – the activity of Exchange Traded Commodity Funds. The use of… Continue reading Gold’s Latest Rise
<Click on chart for larger image> The LA Times – Super Bowl’s on a new ratings high, again Another ratings record, another halftime controversy. What else could it have been but the Super Bowl? Sunday’s NFL championship set another TV ratings record, the latest evidence that the Super Bowl has become the equivalent of a… Continue reading Superbowl Viewership Hits A New Record … Barely
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Says 8.3% Unemployment Understates Weakness in U.S. Labor Market Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the 8.3 percent rate of unemployment in January understates weakness in the U.S. labor market.“It is very important to look not just at the unemployment rate, which reflects only people who are actively seeking work,” Bernanke… Continue reading Bernanke Discusses Unemployment
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America . ABBOTT: Good Subject. Terrible Times. It’s 9%. COSTELLO: That many people are out of work? ABBOTT: No, that’s 16%. COSTELLO: You just said 9%. ABBOTT: 9% Unemployed. COSTELLO: Right 9% out… Continue reading Abbott And Costello Discuss Unemployment
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Rate Probe Keys On Traders Investigators in a world-wide probe of how crucial interest rates are set are focusing on a small number of traders suspected of trying to influence other bank employees to manipulate the rates, according to people familiar with the situation.… Continue reading Difference In Banks’ Reported LIBOR Diverging Again
Calculated Risk (Blog) – Recovery Measures By request, here is an update to four key indicators used by the NBER for business cycle dating: GDP, Employment, Industrial production and real personal income less transfer payments. Note: The following graphs are all constructed as a percent of the peak in each indicator. This shows when the… Continue reading A Look At Several NBER Business Cycle Measures
Comment Jim Bianco spoke at a CFA Society of Chicago event on January 18,2012. The handout for the presentation is shown below. The CFA Chicago has also made the webcast available for viewing on their website. Registration to view the webcast is FREE through February 20, 2012. Click here to register. Once registered, the CFA… Continue reading What Drives The Bond Market
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Sets Money-Market Plan Regulators are completing a controversial proposal to shore up the $2.7 trillion money-market fund industry, more than three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. sparked a panic that threatened the savings of millions of investors and forced… Continue reading Money Market Funds
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Citigroup: Risk of Greek Exit From Euro Has Risen to 50% Citigroup on Monday raised its estimate of the likelihood of a Greek exit from the euro area over the next 18 months to 50% from a prior range of 25% to 30%, according to the bank’s latest “Global… Continue reading Greece