Bloomberg.com – Treasury 30-Year Returns as Bellwether as Fed Propels Trading For the first time since the 1990s the U.S. 30-year Treasury bond is becoming the benchmark for the world’s biggest debt investors. The Federal Reserve’s plan to buy $600 billion of U.S. government debt will focus about 86 percent of its purchases in notes… Continue reading Trading The Long Bond In Light Of QE2
The House Of Representatives – Ron Paul: Don’t Raise the Debt Ceiling! As of November 7th, the total U.S. public debt outstanding reached an astonishing $13.7 trillion. This means that although Congress just raised the debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion back in February, the new Congress will face another debt ceiling vote almost immediately next… Continue reading Stop Raising The Debt Ceiling
The Wall Street Journal – Economists’ Grail: A Post-Crash Model How can we understand a world that has proven far more complex than the most advanced economic models assumed? The question is far from academic. For decades, most economists, including the world’s most powerful central bankers, have supposed that people are rational enough, and the… Continue reading Will The Perfect Economic Model Ever Exist?
None Today
<Click on chart for larger image> Irish Times – Ireland to receive €85 billion bailout at 5.8% interest rate The European Union has approved an €85 billion rescue package for Ireland which, if drawn down in its entirety today, would attract an average interest rate of 5.83 per cent. Of this €10 billion will be… Continue reading Bailing Out Europe
Telegraph.co.uk (UK) – Hold on tight for the next credit crunch aThey were made again before Ireland agreed Sunday’s €85bn (£72bn) bail-out. But despite hopes that this will be the beginning of the end of Europe’s financial crisis, many think there are more jittery weekends to come. However, like the aftermath of Lehman Brothers bankruptcy,… Continue reading The Next Credit Crisis
<Click on chart for larger image> The Wall Street Journal – Investing in Fear Is Big Business The popularity of the VIX index, which has become a widely watched barometer of investor fear since the financial crisis, is generating a host of spinoffs, copycats and derivatives. It is adding up to big business for VIX’s… Continue reading Volatility
The Los Angeles Times – Tom Petruno: Still betting on economic doomsday — and still waiting This certainly doesn’t feel like a recovery to most people. The U.S. economy has grown for five straight quarters, but a CNN/Opinion Research poll in late September showed that 74% of Americans thought the recession still hadn’t ended. So… Continue reading The Robust U.S. Economy
The Wall Street Journal – Emerging Wild Card: Inflation Price pressures in emerging markets could force central banks to tighten aggressively, roiling assets and currencies. While many investors have been fixated on the European debt crisis, concerns have been quietly building about the potential for inflation problems in emerging markets. The fear isn’t that emerging-market… Continue reading Global Inflation
Bloomberg.com – Wall Street Shrinks From Credit Default Swaps Before Rules Hit Trading in credit-default swaps, Wall Street’s fastest-growing business before the credit crisis, has tumbled 40 to 60 percent from three years ago as banks prepare for new regulation of derivatives. The declines estimated by executives at four of the biggest dealers of swaps… Continue reading The CDS Market Is Disappearing
The New York Times – Robust Sales for Holiday Weekend More Americans went shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend than ever, and online shopping accounted for the highest percentage of the weekend’s sales yet. The average amount spent per person from Thursday to Sunday was about $365, more than a 6 percent increase over last year,… Continue reading Holiday Shopping Increases