MarkWatch – China bank loans, money-supply growth cool in May China’s banks extended fewer loans than expected in May, and the nation’s money supply expanded at a slower-than-expected pace, economic data released by the central bank showed Monday. Chinese financial institutions issued 551.6 billion yuan ($85 billion) of new loans in May, easing from the… Continue reading China
The Wall Street Journal – Gold Miners Wield Dividend in ETF Fight Gold miners are striving to outshine the metal they produce, raising their dividends to win back investors who have been flooding to bullion-backed funds. Share prices of gold-producing companies have lagged the huge run-up in the price of gold, as well as the… Continue reading Gold ETFs vs The Miners
Newsweek – Flawed Titan of the Fed In the fall of 2008, with the global economy in shambles and panic spreading throughout the financial system, a seemingly humbled Alan Greenspan—the former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve—appeared before Congress and admitted the unimaginable: there was a “flaw” in his world view that had prevented him… Continue reading A New Documentary Takes Aim At Greenspan
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Comment Jim Bianco was on Bloomberg TV yesterday with Sassan Ghahramani of our affiliate SGH Macro Advisors discussing the economy, housing and debating QE3. To view the interview click on the picture above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. <Click on chart for larger image> Reuters.com – Fed’s Lockhart talks to Reuters… Continue reading The Federal Reserve And QE3
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – U.S. Household Net Worth Climbs 1.2% U.S households saw their net worth edge up as the year began, with rising stock prices, increased savings and debt reductions outpacing a continued slide in real-estate prices. The Federal Reserve said Thursday that average household wealth—stocks, bonds,… Continue reading Household Net Worth Increases
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Muni bond funds end outflow streak Mutual and exchange traded funds that buy US municipal bonds took in a net $274m this week, snapping a 29-week streak of net redemptions as fears of local defaults eased, according to data compiled by Lipper, the fund tracker.Since… Continue reading Muni Bond Fund Flows
CNBC.com – US Home Prices Could Still Fall a Lot More: Shiller Recent housing and employment data suggest the U.S. economy is at a tipping point where a double-dip recession is possible and home prices could have much further to fall, a veteran economist said Thursday. Robert Shiller said the recent uptick in unemployment is… Continue reading Will Home Prices Ever Recover?
The Financial Times – ECB clears path to higher rates The European Central Bank is on course to raise interest rates again in July, but has left open whether further hikes will follow this year and kept in place its exceptional support for banks in Greece, Portugal and Ireland. Speaking after a governing council meeting… Continue reading Europe
CNBC.com – Fed Easing Has Helped China and Brazil: El-Erian The central bank’s two-part quantitative easing strategy—QE1 and QE2 in market jargon—has been credited both with spurring a strong US stock rally and stoking inflation both globally and domestically. But El-Erian said the debt-buying program has had a bigger impact outside the US shores and… Continue reading Quantitative Easing Has Helped China and Brazil
Rolling Stone – Matt Taibbi: The ‘Big Short’ and Goldman’s New Story One more thing I wanted to point about about Andrew Ross Sorkin’s story defending Goldman Sachs and Lloyd Blankfein the other day, in which it was posited that Goldman did not, in fact, have a “Big Short” in 2007. Sorkin says that according… Continue reading Goldman Sachs
Zero Hedge (Blog) – 30% Of People With A 401(k) Have Taken Out A Loan Against It: New All Time Record About a year ago Zero Hedge posted an article titled: “Record Number Of Americans Using Retirement Funds As Source Of Immediate Cash” after a report by Fidelity uncovered that “plan participants with loans outstanding… Continue reading With No Option Of A Home Equity Withdrawal, People Turn To Their 401ks