Charts of the Week Topics Covered This Week Include: Are Italian Yields Once Again At The Tipping Point? Are Italian Yields Once Again At The Tipping Point? – 2 European Banks European Banks – 2 Fun Facts On October’s Stock Returns Japan Intervenes A Look At U.S. Treasury Debt Market Cap As A Percentage Of… Continue reading Charts of the Week
Comment Back on September 12, we examined Italian bond spreads and CDS. At the time, 5-year Italian CDS was approaching 5% and 10-year Italian spreads to Germany were approaching 4%. Now that these levels are once again being breached, as shown in the charts below, we revisit why these markets may be reaching a tipping… Continue reading Are Italian Yields Once Again At The Tipping Point?
Yahoo Finance – Greece’s Papandreou toughs out referendum pledge Greece’s prime minister held firm early Wednesday to his shock decision to call for a referendum on a hard-fought European debt deal, despite anger from abroad, market turmoil across the world and dissent from within his own party. George Papandreou’s government still faced a battle for… Continue reading Greece
Bloomberg.com – EFSF Delays 3 Billion-Euro Bond Sale on Market Conditions Europe’s bailout fund is delaying a 3 billion-euro ($4.1 billion) bond sale after markets were roiled by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou’s request for a referendum on the rescue pact for his country.The European Financial Stability Facility is putting off the sale of the… Continue reading EFSF Delays Bond Sale
The Economist – Greg Ip: NGDP targeting will not provide a Volcker moment An NGDP target has some advantages over an inflation target, especially in responding to supply side shocks. But it could dangerously complicate policy making in more normal times. As inflation rises, the Fed tightens to keep nominal GDP on track; output then… Continue reading Will The Federal Reserve Announce A Nominal GDP Target Today?
Bloomberg.com – Fed Lays Ground for More Large-Scale Asset Purchases Federal Reserve officials are probably engineering a third round of large-scale asset purchases, while they are unlikely to announce a decision today, according to economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Sixty-nine percent of those surveyed say Chairman Ben S. Bernanke will embark on a third… Continue reading QE3
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg Businessweek – China’s Cheng Siwei Says Foreign-Currency Reserves Are Too Large China doesn’t intend to pursue a very large trade surplus and its foreign-currency reserves are too big, said Cheng Siwei, a former senior Chinese legislator. The nation can control its trade surplus at less than 4 percent… Continue reading China’s Reserves
The Wall Street Journal – Moody’s: U.S. Rating Not Contingent on Debt Deal The U.S. sovereign debt rating isn’t contingent on a joint congressional committee coming to an agreement this month on how to reduce the deficit, Moody’s Investors Service said in a new report Tuesday. However, a failure to reach a broad agreement would… Continue reading Moody’s Changes Its Mind On a U.S. Downgrade
Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – Europe Shouldn’t Count on a Chinese Bailout Speculation continues that emerging-market countries will step up to bail out Europe from its sovereign debt crisis. Don’t buy into it, World Bank President Robert Zoellick says. China and other developing economies may be able to support Europe’s plans down the road… Continue reading Will Europe See A Bailout From China?
The Wall Street Journal – MF Global’s Collapse Draws FBI Interest Instead of trading Tuesday, Erez Kreitner went to MF Global’s office near the Nymex floor hoping to unfreeze an account with about $100,000 and move it to another firm. “It’s stressful,” said Mr. Kreitner, an independent trader based in New York. While he expects… Continue reading More Trouble For MF Global
Macro Man – TMM’s Ex-Product Sketch “I wish to complain about this CDS what I purchased not half a year ago from this very investment bank””Oh yes, the Hellenic Republic… What’s wrong with it?” “It’s not paid out, that’s what’s wrong with it.” “No, no, it’s just voluntary, look.” “Look my lad, I know a… Continue reading Monty Python Takes On The CDS Market
Reuters – MF Global’s top creditors, equity investors MF Global Holdings Ltd , a futures brokerage run by former Goldman Sachs chief Jon Corzine, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday. The following list shows MF Global’s 10 largest unsecured creditors, as shown by the company’s bankruptcy petition. UNSECURED CREDITOR NATURE OF CLAIM AMOUNT… Continue reading Will This Affect CNBC’s Coverage of MF Global?