Market Skeptics (blog) – FRAUD: Federal Reserve Is Selling Put Options On Treasury Bonds To Drive Down Yields What deCarbonnel has found is that as per then Fed secretary and economist, Vince Reinhart, and SOMA manager Dino Kos, the Fed has explicit authority and has in the past, sold puts on securities in order to… Continue reading Does The Federal Reserve Trade Derivatives?
Comment Tonight at midnight is the deadline for paying 2010 taxes, meaning terms like adjusted gross income (AGI) should be fresh in our memories. So, who is rich? The following table was constructed from IRS data from the 2008 tax year (latest data available, 2009 data should be out this summer). It comes from Berkeley… Continue reading Who Is Rich?
The Wall Street Journal – Don’t Get Caught Short by Rising Oil Prices Oil prices are roiling financial markets, hitting the economy and forcing investors to re-examine their portfolios. Oil prices closed at $109.66 a barrel on Friday, up more than 31% in the last year. They’re up from a low of about $84 in… Continue reading The Stock/Crude Relationship
Bloomberg.com – Bernanke Briefings May Offset Fed Hawks With Words as New Tool When Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke convenes his first press conference next week, he may emphasize a point the markets seem to have forgotten: He’s serious about keeping interest rates low for an “extended period.” Futures markets in Chicago see a… Continue reading The Federal Reserve
The BBC – World Bank president: ‘One shock away from crisis’ The president of the World Bank has warned that the world is “one shock away from a full-blown crisis” Robert Zoellick cited rising food prices as the main threat to poor nations who risk “losing a generation”. He was speaking in Washington at the… Continue reading One Shock Away From A Crisis
Bloomberg – China Vows to Punish Those Who Leak Economy, Inflation Data China’s statistics bureau said it “condemns” leaks of economic data and those responsible will be punished, after the office released economic indicators that matched rumors circulating in the market and online yesterday. “We believe any illegal behavior will be punished by law,” Sheng… Continue reading China Raises Rates
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – IMF Believes Greece Should Consider Debt Restructuring By 2012 The International Monetary Fund believes Greece’s debt is unsustainable and has told European government and central bank officials that Athens should consider restructuring by next year, three people familiar with the situation said Saturday. “The… Continue reading Will Greece Default Restructure?
The New York Times – The Wall of Worry Has Never Looked So High THE stock market has been climbing a wall of worry — that’s an old Wall Street adage, and it has certainly rung true lately. Calamities abound and there have been setbacks, but the market has been climbing anyway. Richard Bernstein, who… Continue reading Stocks’ “Wall Of Worry”
Bloomberg.com – Texas University Takes Cue From Kyle Bass to Hold $1 Billion in Gold Bars The University of Texas Investment Management Co., the second-largest U.S. academic endowment, took delivery of almost $1 billion in gold bullion and is storing the bars in a New York vault, according to the fund’s board. The fund, whose… Continue reading Buying Gold Bars … From Whom?
The Wall Street Journal – Emerging Nations Reject Capital Plan IMF Delays Program to Help Countries Manage Short-Term Inflows; as Geithner Blames China, Others Blame the Fed Representatives of emerging nations rebuffed an International Monetary Fund plan to guide them on managing huge flows of capital into their economies, viewing it as a way to… Continue reading Emerging Market Capital Flows
<Click on chart for larger image> The Independent (UK) – Saudi Arabia says oil market is oversupplied Saudi Arabia reduced its oil production in March, the Kingdom’s oil minister, Ali al-Naimi, revealed yesterday, claiming the world oil market was oversupplied. “The market has overbalanced,” he said, revealing that in March, the Kingdom – the most… Continue reading Saudi Crude Production
The Wall Street Journal – Hedge Funds Bounce Back At $2 Trillion, Industry Revives to Near Pre-Crisis Levels Despite Mixed Returns Hedge funds are bounding back, with return-hungry investors pumping up the industry to a size not seen since before the financial crisis laid it low. Total hedge-fund assets are approaching $2 trillion and are… Continue reading Hedge Funds