Mediaite – Traders From Chicago Board Of Trade Dump McDonald’s Applications On Occupy Chicago Protesters In the middle of an Occupy Chicago teach-in this week, traders at the Chicago Board of Trade dumped several sheets of paper on top of the heads of protesters below. Demonstrators were angered to find out they were showered with… Continue reading One Way To Solve The “Occupy” Protests
AFP – China fund official slams ‘indolence’ in Europe A top official of China’s $400 billion sovereign wealth fund has accused Europe of “indolence” and said any Chinese investment in the debt-laden region would be based on financial returns. Jin Liqun, chairman of the board of supervisors of China Investment Corp, slammed the welfare systems… Continue reading So You Think China Is Going To Bail Out Europe
MF Global: We have Convictions! (Or is that gonna be convicted?) (h/t The Big Picture)
The Wall Street Journal – Greece’s Government Teeters Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, fighting to stem his country’s escalating political crisis, told his cabinet that he would drop plans for a euro referendum if new talks with a leading opposition party secured support to push through harsh fiscal cuts required for further financial aid. Mr.… Continue reading All About Greece
<Click on chart for larger image> The New York Times – Market Anxiety Grows Over Italy When Italy issued 3 billion euros in bonds last week at an interest rate of more than 6 percent, it was about 1.5 percentage points higher than it had to pay as recently as last summer — and the… Continue reading Italian Bond Yields Reach A New Record
<Click on chart for larger image> Reuters.com – Dollar funding costs rise on European strain The cost for European banks to swap euros into U.S. dollars traded near the highest levels since 2008 on Thursday as investors worried about how far bank losses from a Greek debt haircut could spread. But borrowing costs in the… Continue reading EU Banking Stress
Blooomberg.com – ECB Unexpectedly Lowers Rate to 1.25% as Draghi Signals No Debt Backstops The European Central Bank unexpectedly cut interest rates at Mario Draghi’s first meeting in charge even as the new president signaled no plans to backstop the region’s most vulnerable nations as the escalating debt crisis threatens to splinter the euro region.… Continue reading The ECB Lowers Interest Rates
The Wall Street Journal – Private Sector Adds Jobs, but Unemployment Stubborn U.S. companies kept adding workers to their payrolls in October, and data for the previous two months were revised higher, but the gains made only a small dent in the high unemployment rate. The government’s broadest snapshot of the labor market showed the… Continue reading Employment In Pictures
The Financial Times – Gillian Tett: Subprime moment looms for ‘risk-free’ sovereign debt When future financial historians look back at the early 21st century, they may wonder why anybody ever thought it was a good idea to repackage subprime securities into triple A bonds. So, too, in relation to assumptions about the “risk-free” status of… Continue reading All Sovereign CDS Is Not Created Equal
<Click on chart for larger image> Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Some 15% of U.S. Uses Food Stamps Nearly 15% of the U.S. population relied on food stamps in August, as the number of recipients hit 45.8 million. Food stamp rolls have risen 8.1% in the past year, the Department of Agriculture reported, though… Continue reading Food Stamps
FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – Would you feel three basis points? Nonsense, says Tabb Group’s Adam Sussman: Three basis points doesn’t sound like a lot, right? Certainly for those in the Beltway who have managed to run up the U.S. national debt to $15 trillion, three basis points can feel like small potatoes. But you… Continue reading What A Difference 3 Basis Points Makes
The Wall Street Journal – Freddie Again Draws U.S. Assistance Freddie Mac tapped the U.S. government for another $6 billion in aid after the mortgage-finance giant’s loss widened to $4.4 billion in the third quarter.The cash drain is the latest sign of how the shaky U.S. housing market continues to bleed red ink for the… Continue reading Freddie Mac Taps The U.S. Government For More Aid