Author Archive: Jeremy Parkinson
ECB Leaves Rate Unchanged At Zero Percent
The European Central Bank on Thursday left interest rates unchanged at 0.00 percent record low. According to the Governing Council, key interest rates are expected to remain at current levels for an extended period and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases. However, the apex bank announced it would cut down on its […]
Ford Motor Company Q3 2017 Earnings Boost Stock
Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) Q3 2017 earnings were released before opening bell this morning. The automaker reported adjusted earnings of 43 cents per share on $36.5 billion in sales. Analysts had been expecting earnings of 33 cents per share on $32.9 billion in revenue. In last year’s third quarter, Ford reported $35.9 billion in sales […]
Recent Trends In Prices For U.S. New Home Sales
There have been three main trends in median new home sale prices since July 2012. The following chart updates where we are through September 2017. For the most recent trend, which began two years ago in September 2015, the trailing twelve month average of median new home sale prices in the U.S. has been escalating […]
Gold Will Be Safe Haven Again In Looming EU Crisis
– Gold will be safe haven again in looming EU crisis – EU crisis is no longer just about debt but about political discontent – EU officials refuse to acknowledge changing face of politics across the union – Catalonia shows measures governments will use to maintain control – EU currently holds control over banks accounts and […]
ECB Announces Dovish €30 Billion QE Taper Through September 2018 “Or Beyond”; Euro Tumbles
While the ECB kept all of its three key rates unchanged as expected, and also kept the pace of QE at €60 billion until the end of the year, confirming the numerous trial balloons over the past month, the ECB announced that it would cut the rate of QE in half, to €30 billion “from […]
Weekly Unemployment Claims: Up 10K, Better Than Forecast
Here is the opening statement from the Department of Labor: In the week ending October 21, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 233,000, an increase of 10,000 from the previous week’s revised level. The previous week’s level was revised up by 1,000 from 222,000 to 223,000. The 4-week moving average was 239,500, […]
Spanish Stocks Soar On ‘Good’ Catalonia News
“Big league!” Not really, but the IBEX is up sharply on the day and is headed for a one-month high. Apparently, Puigdemont is going to call regional elections as opposed to declaring independence, which is obviously preferable if you’re long risk or otherwise hoping periphery spreads don’t explode, with God knows what kind of knock-on effects. Here’s […]
The Fed Balance Sheet Unwind Myth
Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Reserve has been heavily discussing, warning rather, they were going to begin to “unwind” their gargantuan balance sheet. As Michael Lebowitz recently penned in his subscription-only article “Draining The Punchbowl:” “Since QE was first introduced, the S&P 500 has gained 1,546 points. All but 355 points were achieved during periods […]
UK Q3 Growth Likely To Trigger Rate Rise
The unusual feature about the UK’s Q3 2017 performance is that the focus is not so much on an analysis of the underlying trends to see if a “Brexit” factor is dragging the economy back, or points towards an Eldorado for UK businesses as the nation moves into an unseen space and “leads the world” […]
The Latest Innovation In Inflation Targeting
In 2016, I wrote a piece at mises.org highly critical of inflation targeting. At that time the idea of a 2% inflation target was fast becoming mainstream. Since then it has become a routine yardstick for assessing economic policies.1 It was a hit with politicians, liberal economists, and borrowers around the world because with inflation running below that […]
