MarketWatch – Ivan Martchev: Why you shouldn’t trust the recent gains in oil prices The No. 1 risk to crude oil prices remains China The biggest risk remains China, which is not in a particularly stable economic situation. In fact, with China being the largest consumer of oil, I don’t think that any Saudi-Russia handshake… Continue reading Why China Poses The Biggest Risk To Crude Oil Prices
The Financial Times – Gillian Tett: The rise of US stocks masks shifting sentiment on Donald Trump The more immediate issue preoccupying them is geopolitical risk and protectionism. Mr Trump’s recent threats to walk away from the North American Free Trade Agreement are alarming; so much so that the US Chamber of Commerce recently took… Continue reading Trump Sentiment And Stocks
Bloomberg View – Tyler Cowen: The Only Fed Rule Is That There Are No Fed Rules Monetary policy is too much of a political balancing act to burden it with a strict template. Now enter the Fed, which I think of as a tool of Congress and the president. It gives Congress a means of… Continue reading Rules Of Monetary Policy
Summary Deregulation remains the dominant stimulant for equities even though its frequency on the news wire lags behind heath care and tax reform. Many of the same sub-industries of the S&P 500 boosted by deregulation have potential to rally in the event tax reforms become likely heading into the end of 2017. Comment The chart… Continue reading Deregulation Remains the Markets Main Stimulant
Comment In the webcast above, Jim Bianco discusses the post below titled The Race For Fed Chair. Comment There is no consensus on who will be the Fed chairman or who should be the Fed chairman. Even if we group the four main candidates by ideology, the market is implying a 51%/49% coin toss. This is… Continue reading The Race For Fed Chair Webcast
Wall Street Journal – Dr. Copper Needs Lessons in Chinese Medicine Copper, iron ore and Chinese growth are all telling different stories—that’s worrying Copper, the metal which Wall Street loves to pretend has a Ph.D. in economics, is these days a close student of Chinese medicine. With that in mind, investors agog at commodities and U.S. equity… Continue reading Copper Rallying but Commodities Still Signal Low Growth
Comment In the webcast above, Peter Forbes discusses his post titled Tech, Not Commodities, Fueling Emerging Markets. OPEN Tech, Not Commodities, Fueling Emerging Markets Webcast Here we look at how the focus of emerging market returns has moved from energy and raw materials to technology. Tighter ties to the influences that are driving performance… Continue reading Tech, Not Commodities, Fueling Emerging Markets Webcast
MarketWatch – Fed flunks econ 101: understanding inflation The Federal Reserve’s illusive quest to achieve 2% inflation over the medium term is becoming a long-term problem. The institutional anxiety over the chronic inflation undershoot is evident in daily news stories, Fed speeches and the increased focus in internal discussions, as reflected in the minutes of… Continue reading The Fed’s Inflation Problem
Bloomberg.com – Want to Protect Your Wall Street Job From Robots? Learn How to Code As Goldman promotes engineers, other firms explore training Banking leaders ‘have a responsibility,’ BofA’s Bessant says Goldman Sachs Group Inc. realized it had a problem. For years, the investment bank recruited top coders to help its army of traders execute strategies… Continue reading The State of Bond Trading
The Financial Times – Fund managers face shortage of European junk bonds A blockbuster bond buyback by Tesco comes at a pivotal moment for fund managers owning European high-yield debt, with more cash chasing fewer bonds as bellwether companies vacate the speculative-rated debt universe. The shrinking of the European junk bond market reflects an increase… Continue reading The European Junk Bond Universe Is Shrinking
International Business Times – Google, Citi And Goldman Sachs Among Blockchain’s Biggest Investors The buzz around blockchain technology is all about its potential to disrupt the status quo. But the truth is Silicon Valley and traditional finance giants are funding much of the white collar blockchain industry. The market research firm CB Insights recently released… Continue reading Who Is Betting On Blockchain?