Zero Hedge – Gross Profit Margin For S&P 500 Companies Tumbles In Q3, Worst Sequential Drop Since Q1 2009 Even with the growth in rest of the world slowly grinding to a halt and in many places contracting (more on the in an upcoming post), the US continues to be spared from what increasingly appears… Continue reading Corporate Profit Margins
The Federal Reserve – Federal Reserve Prepares to Make Itself Perfectly Clear Federal Reserve officials are close to completing an overhaul of how they signal their policy plans to the public.They are likely to spend much of their Dec. 13 meeting ironing out unresolved pieces of the new communications strategy and seem on pace to… Continue reading The Federal Reserve Looks To Communicate Better
The Wall Street Journal – Faulty Forecasts Roil Corn Market Government reports about the U.S. corn crop have become increasingly unreliable of late, contributing to wild swings in corn prices, a Wall Street Journal analysis shows. Over the past two years, the Department of Agriculture’s monthly forecasts of how much farmers will harvest have been… Continue reading Corn Prices
Bloomberg.com – Fed’s Stress Tests Won’t Fix a Flawed Financial System Regulators are making a valiant effort to ensure that big U.S. banks can survive the kind of shock the deepening European sovereign-debt crisis could deliver. If only the same were true for the broader U.S. financial system. In a bid to restore crumbling confidence… Continue reading Will The Stress Tests Fix The Banking System?
The New York Times – GRETCHEN MORGENSON: Secrets of the Bailout, Now Told A FRESH account emerged last week about the magnitude of financial aid that the Federal Reserve bestowed on big banks during the 2008-09 credit crisis. The report came from Bloomberg News, which had to mount a lengthy legal fight to wrest documents… Continue reading Secrets Of The 2008-2009 Credit Crisis
Barron’s – The Best Opportunities in a Half-Century That’s what veteran strategist Joe Rosenberg sees, and some of the best bargains, he says, are in the Dow Jones Industrials. Joe Rosenberg is known for his candor, and for his understanding of all major asset classes. That comes from 50 years of experience on Wall Street,… Continue reading Joe Rosenberg Speaks
The Wall Street Journal – China’s Hard Landing The state-led growth model is leading the country into trouble The People’s Bank of China’s surprise announcement Wednesday of a half percentage point cut in banks’ required reserve ratio is an admission that the economy is facing stiff headwinds. Consumer price inflation remains relatively high at 5.5%,… Continue reading China
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Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV yesterday discussing Europe. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. Bloomberg.com – Euro Region’s Central Banks Seen Providing Up to $270 Billion Through IMF A European proposal to channel central bank loans through the International Monetary Fund… Continue reading December 9, The EU Summit of All Summits?
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Officials See No New Move Two Federal Reserve officials sought to play down market expectations that the central bank would quickly take additional steps to boost financial markets or the U.S. economy. James Bullard, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, said Thursday that recent data on… Continue reading Federal Reserve Officials Temper Expectations For More Stimulus In The U.S.
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – ECB overnight lending jumps to €8bn Eurozone banks borrowed more than €8bn from the European Central Bank overnight on Thursday, the highest amount since March, in a sign of the deep strains in the financial markets. Traders said the jump of overnight lending by the… Continue reading ECB Overnight Lending Showing Signs Of Strain
The Economist – Contagion? What contagion? American banks have been strangely immune to Europe’s crisis THE financial crisis of 2008 mowed down banks in America and Europe with equal abandon. Not so this year’s upheaval. European banks, struggling to fund themselves, are tightening credit. American banks are eager to lend, albeit not to Europe. Their… Continue reading Contagion