<Click on chart for larger image> Zero Hedge (Blog) – Lowest Non-Holiday Market Volume In Past Decade We are struggling for superlatives (or whatever the antonym for superlatives is). Today’s NYSE volume is as low as we could find on Bloomberg data. It is the lowest non-holiday trading day volume in over a decade. This… Continue reading Low Volume
The Financial Times – Bill Gross: Zero-based money risks trapping recovery The modern capitalistic model depends on risk-taking in several forms. Loss of principal – as in default – necessitates the cautious extension of credit to those that presumably can use it most efficiently. But our finance-based Minsky system is dependent as well on maturity… Continue reading Bill Gross On 0% Rates
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Comment Jim Bianco was on CNBC Friday afternoon discussing the markets and the Federal Reserve. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. The Wall Street Journal – Charles Schwab: The Fed Votes No Confidence The prolonged—’emergency’—near-zero interest rate policy is harming the economy We’re… Continue reading Arguing The Federal Reserve Has It Wrong
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketWatch – Banks’ overnight ECB deposits near record Use of the European Central Bank’s overnight deposit facility surged to its second-highest level on record Friday, amid a surfeit of liquidity in the euro-zone banking system. Financial institutions parked EUR511.438 billion Friday at the overnight facility, which pays an interest… Continue reading ECB Deposit Facility Heading Higher Again
On Friday the January payroll report surprised everyone at 243,000 jobs. It was above the median of 140,000 jobs and outside the estimates of 95,000 to 225,000 jobs according to a survey of 89 economists by Bloomberg. Whenever a number surprises by this much, one wonders about special factors. One special factor to consider is… Continue reading Did Weather Play A Role In January’s Payroll Number?
Bloomberg.com – Time Is Running Out for Greece to Accept Bailout Conditions, Merkel Says European leaders stepped up pressure on Greek politicians to accept the conditions for a 130 billion- euro ($171 billion) bailout, saying time was running out. French President Nicolas Sarkozy met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Paris today as Greece’s interim prime… Continue reading Greece Needs A Deal Now
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Era of Falling Food Prices Comes to End as World Population Adds 2 Billion The era of falling food prices has come to an end with the world population set to add another 2 billion people, according to Cargill Inc., the U.S. farm commodities trader. The United… Continue reading Bottoming Food Prices?
The Wall Street Journal – Itchy Investors Ramp Up the Risk With Rates Staying Low, Returns on Conservative Investments Don’t Cut It Anymore for Some The central bank has held short-term interest rates near zero since late 2008 to spur the economy and help the housing market. One side effect of that policy is lower… Continue reading Moving Out The Risk Curve
The New York Times – Floyd Norris: A Bleak Outlook for Long-Term Growth OVER the long term, the United States economy has been growing at its slowest rate since the Great Depression. Most other major developed countries have also experienced unusually slow growth over the last 10 years. The American economy’s reported 2.8 percent growth… Continue reading Long-Term Growth Prospects
The Economist – Canada’s housing market: Look out below After years of lecturing America about loose lending, Canada now must confront a bubble of its own IN FEW corners of the world would a car park squeezed between two arms of an elevated highway be seen as prime real estate. In Toronto, however, a 75-storey… Continue reading Canada
The Telegraph (UK) – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: French socialists’ Latin revolt against Germany The half-century habits of Franco-German condominium die hard. It is a painful process for French elites to admit that monetary union is asphyxiating their economy and must inevitably trap France in mercantilist subordination to Germany The Carolingian union is all that anybody in… Continue reading France and Germany