Comment How are the odds of Obama’s re-election looking? There are two ways to look at it. The first chart below shows that he is running well behind the 2004 and 2008 winners at the same point in the election cycle. The second chart shows the odds of Obama’s re-election trading at a five-month high… Continue reading Election Update – In Charts
<Click on chart for larger image> CNBC – Commodities Investment Almost Grinds to Halt in 2011 New investments in commodities almost ground to a halt last year, Barclays Capital said on Thursday, with inflows into the sector dropping almost 78 percent from 2010 to the lowest in nine years. The move may indicate a shift… Continue reading Commodities
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Comment Jim Bianco was on Reuters TV yesterday morning discussing Bernanke and inflation targeting. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. The Federal Reserve – Press Release The inflation rate over the longer run is primarily determined by monetary policy, and hence the Committee… Continue reading The FOMC Statement Does Not Square With Reality
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg – Press Conference with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke (No Link) SCOTT SPOERRY (CNN): You’re linking your inflation target of 2 percent to the PCE. The PCE is something that hundreds of millions of Americans have no idea what it is. They do know what the CPI is.… Continue reading Bernanke Admits Housing Inflation Numbers Are “Made Up”
Comment Jim Bianco was on Yahoo Finance on Tuesday discussing the Federal Reserve, earnings and AIG. To view the interview click on the picture above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. Yahoo Finance – Market Rally of 2012 Is Almost Over: Bianco As for earnings, Bianco doesn’t believe they’re as great as… Continue reading Earnings Season Update
Comment Regarding our comments about the combined balance sheets of the central banks, we received the following note: If you add Bundesbank and Banque de France to the ECB you will be double counting central bank balance sheets. The ECB’s figures include the ECB proper, which is relatively small, as well as the 17 national… Continue reading Another Note On The Central Bank Balance Sheets
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Factory Jobs Obama Wants Unlikely to Return President Barack Obama challenged manufacturers in his State of the Union address to “ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country.” Their answer may be: less than you think, Mr. President. Rising wages in China… Continue reading Manufacturing In The U.S.
The Financial Times – Alan Greenspan: Meddle with the market at your peril Whatever the imperfections of free-market capitalism, no regime that has been tried as a replacement, from Fabian socialism to Soviet-style communism, has succeeded in meeting the needs of its people. Capitalist practice needs adjustment. I was particularly distressed by the extent to… Continue reading Greenspan Defends Capitalism And Argues Against Centrally Planned Markets
The Wall Street Journal – Ron Paul, the Fed and the Need for a Stable Dollar Dollar weakness doesn’t work at all for economic well-being. The corollary to the Fed’s policy of manipulating interest rates downward at the expense of savers is declining median incomes. It’s no coincidence that inflation-adjusted median incomes rose in the… Continue reading The Federal Reserve And The Dollar
The Wall Street Journal – Soros: EU Needs Euro Bonds Jointly issued debt, or euro bonds, are an inevitable part of the solution to the euro zone’s sovereign debt crisis, veteran financier George Soros said Wednesday, because the region cannot resolve its problems through structural reforms alone. At a lunch on the sidelines of the… Continue reading Soros Offers His Thoughts On Europe
<Click on chart for larger image> <Click on chart for larger image> Gizmodo (Blog) – Apple Sells More Phones in a Day Than People Make Babies According to its first-quarter sales figures—to the tune of 37.04 million units—Apple sold 377,900 iPhones every day of the 98-day fiscal quarter. The average number of children born—worldwide—tallied only… Continue reading Fun Facts About Apple