Zero Hedge (Blog) – Charting SOMA Twist: Here Is What The $55 Billion In Monthly POMO Purchases Will Look Like Starting Shortly For anyone still confused what Operation Twist is (covered here first about 4 months ago), here is SocGen’s Aneta Markovska, charting just what the flawed duration extension will look like (as a reminder,… Continue reading Operation Twist
The Wall Street Journal – S&P Met With Bond Firms Standard & Poor’s Corp. officials held private meetings with large bond investors weeks before the firm’s historic U.S. debt downgrade, leaving some believing the chance of a credit-rating cut was higher than they previously thought. Though S&P had put the U.S. on “credit watch” in… Continue reading The U.S. Downgrade Was Not A Surprise
The Wall Street Journal – Bernanke Takes On a Balancing Act The recent slew of bad economic news has raised expectations in financial markets that the Federal Reserve will take new actions to spur growth and hiring. For Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke this poses two challenges: Figure out what to do and forge a consensus… Continue reading The FOMC Committee Cannot Agree
The Financial Times – Bill Gross: ‘Helicopter Ben’ risks destroying credit creation “Helicopter Ben” Bernanke is a second-generation pilot. As he himself acknowledged in his now well-known 2002 speech, the term was an original of economist Milton Friedman. Whether father or child, the concept of showering money over national economies to combat deflation has been… Continue reading Credit Creation
<Click on chart for larger image> The Washington Post – Strikes hit Rome, Madrid in midst of debt debate, slowdown The strikes in Italy and Spain were aimed at government efforts to control public debt and to maintain confidence that the two countries will be able to pay their bills without international bailouts of the… Continue reading Europe
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Euro Woes Stir Currency Fears In a new sign of how turmoil in financial markets is convulsing economic policy around the world, Switzerland’s central bank said it would seek to repel the floods of capital pouring into the country by capping the surging Swiss… Continue reading Currency Fears
<Click on chart for larger image> Bloomberg.com – Ten-Year Treasuries Most Expensive Ever on Safety Bid, Fed Measure Shows A financial model created by economists at the Federal Reserve that includes expectations for interest rates, growth and inflation shows 10-year notes are the most overvalued ever. As Treasuries hover near record low yields amid stagnant… Continue reading Flight To Safety
The Wall Street Journal – Refinancing ‘Stimulus’ Is No Slam Dunk The U.S. is caught up in “refi” madness. Among the measures President Obama may unveil in his major policy speech this week is a plan to make mortgage refinancing easier, so more households can benefit from ultralow rates. Various proposals for this have been… Continue reading Will Refinancing Get Easier?
MarketWatch.com – Dow headed below 10,000 as cyclical bear begins Commentary: Technical pattern suggests market will fall into next year A strange technical pattern chronicled here in June suggests that the stock market still has unfinished business to the downside. Given that it correctly forecast the summertime peak, it might be a good idea to… Continue reading Dow 10,000
h/t The Big Picture Blog
Comment It was just over a month ago (August 2) that the great debt ceiling debate was “solved” with a deal to raise the limit by $500 billion. However, as the chart below shows, the immediate $500 billion ceiling hike on August 2 (red line) has almost been reached. As of September 5, the U.S.… Continue reading Are We About To Have Another Debt Ceiling Crisis?
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Seen Doing Twist Treasury Investors Expect New Stimulus; 10-Year Yield to 1.75%? After a week’s worth of bad data were highlighted by Friday’s dismal U.S. employment report, bond-fund managers are resigned to the idea that the Federal Reserve will soon announce more monetary stimulus. Most don’t believe that more… Continue reading Operation Twist