Bloomberg – China Increases U.S. Treasury Holdings to Almost One-Year High China increased its holdings of U.S. Treasuries to the most in almost a year, an indication that government policies helped curb capital flight. China’s holdings of U.S. bonds, notes and bills rose for the sixth straight month by to $1.17 trillion in July, an… Continue reading China Remains Top Foreign Holder Of U.S. Treasuries
Bloomberg – U.S. Raises Odds of a Market-Roiling La Nina Forming This Winter La Nina watch posted as Pacific waters undergo ‘rapid’ chill Higher U.S. natural gas prices, drought in Brazil and flooding rains in Australia’s coal-mining regions are all more likely after forecasters raised the odds of a weather-roiling La Nina forming this winter. There… Continue reading What Could a La Niña Winter Mean for Energy Markets?
Bloomberg – This Record Inflow Shows Some Investors Aren’t Worried About the Fed iShares 20+ year Treasury Bond ETF got $1.69 billion last week The bond bulls are back. Investors poured a record $1.69 billion into the iShares 20+ year Treasury Bond ETF last week, the most among U.S.-listed funds across asset classes, even as yields… Continue reading Long Term Treasury ETFs See Surge of Inflows
The Financial Times – America’s inflation enigma continues to confound As the Federal Reserve meets this week, officials are flummoxed by restrained price rises If inflation fails to reassert itself, the Fed and other central banks will find it harder to balance the need for low rates against the hazardous side-effects loose policy engenders in markets.… Continue reading Low Inflation Keeping Markets From Buying Central Bank Rhetoric
The Wall Street Journal – The Fed, a Decade After the Crisis, Is About to Embark on the Great Unwinding For the next year or so, the Fed should still end up buying bonds in most months, since only a small fraction will mature and go not replaced, said Richard Clarida, an economist at Pacific Investment Management… Continue reading Unwinding The Fed’s Balance Sheet
Quartz – Janet Yellen is once again the frontrunner for the next Fed chair—for now The next Fed chair will take on the massive, unprecedented task of rebalancing the central bank’s $4.5-trillion balance sheet. Keeping Yellen on as Fed chair would give Trump a scapegoat if the unwinding process doesn’t go well. If he nominates… Continue reading The Race For The Next Fed Chair
MarketWatch – S&P 500 buybacks have dropped by 25% since the first quarter of 2016 The lower buyback activity in the quarter came “as share prices increased, resulting in fewer share repurchases and a weaker tailwind for [earnings per share],” said Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Corporate profits are measured in… Continue reading Stock Buybacks
The Wall Street Journal – Bitcoin’s Wild Ride Shows The Truth: It Is Probably Worth Zero So is a single bitcoin worth $500,000, $5,000, $500 or $0? I’m inclined to say $0, especially if bitcoin’s value depends on it being adopted as a global digital currency to replace dollars. There is no chance whatsoever that… Continue reading Doubting Bitcoin
Bloomberg – Swiss Probe Cash Flushed Down Toilets Including at UBS Branch Swiss prosecutors are trying to figure out why someone apparently attempted to flush tens of thousands of euros down the toilet at a Geneva branch of UBS Group AG. The first 500-euro ($597) bills were discovered several months ago in a bathroom close… Continue reading Literally Flushing Cash Down The Drain
Reuters – U.S. oil prices hit $50 on rising refinery demand, falling rig count U.S. crude oil prices rose above $50 per barrel on Monday and were near last week’s multi-month highs as the number of U.S. rigs drilling for new production fell and refineries continued to restart after getting knocked out by Hurricane Harvey. U.S. West… Continue reading How Will Drillers Respond to Crude Oil at $50?
Bloomberg – Economists Boost Euro-Area Outlook, See Best Year in a Decade Outlook has improved after strong first-half performance The euro-area economy just got another upgrade, with economists seeing the fastest expansion since before the financial crisis. In the latest survey by Bloomberg News, gross domestic product is forecast to increase 2.1 percent this year, up… Continue reading European Economies on the Mend