<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Ill. Treasurer: ‘Testosterone’ Needed to Solve States’ Fiscal Woes Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford has a solution to fiscal problems facing state and local governments. “Someone has to go out and have the testosterone and deal with the problems, particularly with the public employee unions,”… Continue reading Illinois
The Wall Street Journal – Bernanke to Hold Press Conferences 4 Times a Year In a break with tradition, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will hold public news conference four times a year, in the U.S. central bank’s latest move to boost transparency and improve communications after its policies came under attack. Mr. Bernanke will… Continue reading More Press Conferences From The Federal Reserve
The New York Times – Paul Krugman: The Austerity Delusion Portugal’s government has just fallen in a dispute over austerity proposals. Irish bond yields have topped 10 percent for the first time. And the British government has just marked its economic forecast down and its deficit forecast up. What do these events have in common?… Continue reading Paul Krugman Speaks
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The Wall Street Journal – Easy-Money Fed Prepares to Get Tough Even as it continues to pump cash into financial markets, the Federal Reserve is keeping one eye on the exit. It made that clear again on Wednesday, when the New York Fed announced it will start a new, gradually expanding, round of small reverse-repurchase… Continue reading The Federal Reserve’s Reverse Repo Exit Strategy
<Click on chart for larger image> The Financial Times – Yen action sets scene for carry trade’s return The billions of dollars in yen sold by the world’s most powerful central banks have sent a strong message to speculative investors. Those daring to bet that the Japanese currency will again test Y76.25, the record high… Continue reading The Yen Carry Trade
<Click on chart for larger image> BusinessWeek – Portugal’s Bonds Slump as Prime Minister Quits Over Budget Cuts Portuguese bonds led a slide by securities of the most indebted European nations as the resignation of Prime Minister Jose Socrates fuelled concern the southern European country may need a bailout. Two-year Portuguese yields reached the highest… Continue reading Portugal
Bloomberg.com – Libor Probe Spurs Witness Call-up at Citigroup, Deutsche Bank Citigroup Inc. (C), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) have been asked by U.S. regulators to make employees available to testify as witnesses in a probe of potential interest-rate manipulation, two people briefed on the… Continue reading The Lie-bor Drama Continues
The Wall Street Journal – Egyptian Shares Plunge Egypt’s stock market racked up heavy losses when it reopened Wednesday for the first trading session of the post-Mubarak era, with foreign investors leading a selloff prompted by the country’s uncertain political and economic outlook. “The system was flooded with sell orders, led by the foreign investors,”… Continue reading Egyptian Markets Open For Business Once Again
<Click on chart for larger image> MarketBeat – Roubini on Greenback Haters: Nowhere for ‘em to Go Dow Jones Newswires yesterday chatted with high-profile economist and market prognosticator Nouriel Roubini, who said those expecting the dollar to lose its special status among currencies are going to be waiting for a while: “I’m not in the… Continue reading Roubini On The Dollar’s Role As A Reserve Currency
FT Alphaville (FT Blog) – Don’t be surprised if NYSE volumes drop … on account of Citigroup’s reverse share split. Jeffrey Rubin at Birinyi Associates points out on Thursday that so far in 2011, Citigroup has on average represented 11 per cent of the entire daily volume of the New York Stock Exchange. An average… Continue reading NYSE Volume
Bloomberg.com – Caroline Baum: Japan Earthquake Might Hasten Bernanke’s Exit There’s one economic aspect of Japan’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that seems to be getting lost in the rubble, and that’s the effect on prices. Yes, prices. Remember them? You’d never know it from the analysis of what Japan’s triple-whammy means for the domestic… Continue reading The Inflationary Effect Of The Disasters In Japan