The Wall Street Journal – HOLMAN W. JENKINS, JR.: The Scourge of the Faith-Based Paper Dollar Jim Grant foresees a new American gold standard despite Wall Street’s stake in monetary chaos He adds: “I can’t explain the world’s infatuation with government securities and negligible yields. These bonds and notes and bills are denominated in currencies… Continue reading The Dollar
None Today
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Damps Additional Stimulus Prospect Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke tempered expectations the Fed will resume buying bonds as criticism from Republican senators highlighted the potential backlash to additional monetary stimulus. “We’re not proposing anything today,” Bernanke said to the Senate Banking Committee yesterday in Washington. “We just want to make sure… Continue reading Did Bernanke Step Back From QE3?
Comment Below is an article from the latest edition of Grant’s Interest Rate Observer that lays out some of our arguments about OER, rents and inflation. <Click on image for larger picture>
The New York Times: Europe Looks for Hope in Bank Test Results [T]he euro zone’s top banking supervisor will announce on Friday the results of its latest examination into the health of its financial institutions. It is an exercise that an increasingly desperate European Union hopes will quell investor fears … Since the last stress… Continue reading European Stress Tests Due Today
The Economist – Italy and the euro: On the edge By engulfing Italy, the euro crisis has entered a perilous new phase—with the single currency itself now at risk FOR more than a year the euro zone’s debt drama has lurched from one nail-biting scene to another. First Greece took centre stage; then Ireland; then… Continue reading Is The Euro On The Edge?
The Economist – Europe’s policy options: Huge mess, untidy solutions Why the debt crisis is so hard to resolve MUST have been a satisfying letter to write. European finance ministers meeting in Brussels at the start of this week got a stern wigging from George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister. Insisting that his country had… Continue reading Solving The Euro Mess
The Wall Street Journal – Plan B Emerges on Debt Sens. Reid, McConnell Quietly Discuss Way to Keep Government From Default A backup plan to cut the federal deficit and keep the U.S. government from default gained momentum Thursday even as President Barack Obama and congressional leaders paused their negotiations to determine if they can… Continue reading A Debt Agreement – Plan B
<Click on chart for larger image> Zero Hedge (blog) – US Default Risk Jumps To Highest Since February 2010 On Debt Ceiling Worries So much for the market “completely ignoring” the total chaos and complete cacophony out of the tragicomic DC soap opera which is transitioning into less of a comedy and into more of… Continue reading The Risk Of Default
The Wall Street Journal – Key Credit Gauge Loses Clout Low Demand for Overnight Loans Means Libor Status as Measure of Banks’ Health Is Waning These days, however, two key Libor gauges are being suppressed because of sharply shrinking demand: Banks, flush with cash, are borrowing diminishing amounts from one another. Outstanding “interbank” borrowings have… Continue reading Lie-bor On Its Way Out?
The Financial Times – Treasuries’ strength too much for bond bears Not even the risk of a US debt default has shaken Treasury bonds. Now, even the most bearish investors on US government debt are throwing in the towel as low yields prove a stubborn characteristic of the bond market. This week, for example, Pimco’s… Continue reading Everyone Is Bearish On Treasuries
The Economist – Food stamp:s The struggle to eat As Congress wrangles over spending cuts, surging numbers of Americans are relying on the government just to put food on the table WHEN the dismal news came on July 8th that the unemployment rate had risen fractionally to 9.2%, both Republicans and Democrats declared the data… Continue reading The Great Recession’s Soup Lines