FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – There’s no change for the US driver… … because the gasoline crack (the difference between the price of crude and the price of gasoline — a key metric in determining whether there’s enough incentive for a refinery to process crude) is roofing. Indeed, as Jakob notes: Anyone that feared demand… Continue reading Don’t Bet On Lower Prices At The Pump Due To Last Week’s Crude Rout
The Wall Street Journal – Boehner Wants Cuts With Debt Increase House Speaker John Boehner said Monday that any increase in the government’s debt limit should be accompanied by trillions of dollars in spending cuts, and that those cuts should be greater than the amount of the debt-ceiling increase. Mr. Boehner, speaking to finance and… Continue reading The Debt Ceiling
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – New Greek Deal Possible by June Greece expects a new package of nearly €60 billion ($86.11 billion) in financial aid to cover its financial needs stretching into 2013 as early as next month, a senior Greek government official said Tuesday. The official, with knowledge… Continue reading Cracks In The European Union?
The Wall Street Journal – Paulson Plays the Lehman Bust Hedge-fund manager John Paulson made $4 billion betting against subprime mortgages, the market that ultimately helped destroy Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Now, his fund is poised to make hundreds of millions picking through the investment bank’s remains. Mr. Paulson’s fund has been snatching up Lehman… Continue reading John Paulson
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MarketWatch – Smart money left silver to tarnish retail buyers Hedge funds, other large players cooled speculative bets before metal’s crash Retail buyers may have stayed invested in silver long after most hedge funds and other large investors had left, data from U.S. futures regulators suggest. Data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission shows… Continue reading Silver ETF Sellers
The New York Times – Response to Volatility in Silver Takes Hold On April 25, half a dozen officials from the CME Group, which runs many of the nation’s commodities exchanges, met via videophone to discuss the eye-popping rise in the price of silver, which had doubled in just six months to about $47 a… Continue reading Did The CME Silver Margin Hikes Create The Crash Last Week?
The Wall Street Journal – Mark Gongloff: A ‘Buy’ Sign for Treasurys? Some Bet End of QE2 Will Be Boon to Bonds The recent rally is evidence for some investors that the end of the Fed’s second big bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing, or QE2, might actually benefit or, at worst, be a non-event… Continue reading Could Ending QE2 Be Good For Bonds?
The Wall Street Journal – Home Market Takes a Tumble Turnaround More Distant After 3% Drop, Steepest Quarterly Decline Since 2008 Home values posted the largest decline in the first quarter since late 2008, prompting many economists to push back their estimates of when the housing market will hit a bottom. Home values fell 3%… Continue reading This Just In, Home Prices Are Not Recovering!
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment The chart above shows that last week’s commodity crash weakened US TIPS from a multi-year high. The story below says British inflation expectations are at a 29-month high. Despite the commodity crash, inflation worries remain. The Independent (UK) – Inflation expectations climb to 29-month high Britons’ inflation expectations… Continue reading Inflation Expectations
<Click on chart for larger image> CNN – Gas hits $4 mark, near all-time high The Lundberg Survey found the average price of a gallon of self-serve regular nationwide was $4 on May 6. In July 2008, gas prices reached their all-time high at an average of $4.11. Based on spot checks the Lundberg survey… Continue reading Retail Gas Price Update
The Globe & Mail (Canada) – Why America’s ‘zombie consumers’ won’t be coming back to life soon Economy watchers looking for a spark of life in the exhausted, debt-ridden American consumer are quick to latch on to any signs of a pulse. The latest came in the form of higher personal borrowing in March. The… Continue reading Consumer Spending