Central Bank Of The World
If, by chance, you’re not familiar with my work, I focus on the Federal Reserve System. That’s the formal name for the central bank of the United States, most often referred to simply as “the Fed.” Those who are familiar with my work might even say it’s a bit of an obsession for me, and […]
Industrial Drag
Completing a busy day of US economic data, Industrial Production was, like retail sales and inflation data, highly disappointing. Prior months were revised slightly lower, leaving IP year-over-year up just 2% in June 2017 (estimates for May were initially 2.2%). Revisions included, the annual growth rate has been stuck around 2% now for three months […]
5 Broker-Favorite Stocks Your Portfolio Must Have
As the second-quarter reporting cycle gets underway, investors would look to add stocks that have the potential to surpass earnings expectations in the quarter. This is because an earnings beat generally leads to stock price appreciation. Investors, after all, are driven by the sole objective of generating handsome returns from their portfolio. None of them […]
EUR/USD To Break 1.15
With Janet Yellen’s testimony behind us, the next big focus for the forex market will be the European Central Bank’s monetary policy meeting. After rising to a 1 year high of 1.1490, EUR/USD struggled to extend its gains above 1.15. Investors worry that Mario Draghi will disappoint in the same way as Janet Yellen. […]
The Fed’s New Plan Could Kill The Market As Soon As September
As far as the markets go, they’ve had an incredible run since 2009. That’s because the Federal Reserve bought more than $4 trillion worth of bonds and securities in the open market to flatten interest rates and buoy said markets. But going forward, starting in September, the Fed’s stopping its monthly purchases of billions of […]
Health Costs Are Rising Because Of Price Controls
When discussing government involvement in the health sector, I usually focus on the budgetary implications. Which makes sense since I’m a fiscal wonk and programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Obamacare are diverting ever-larger amounts of money from the economy’s productive sector. I also look at the tax side of the fiscal equation and complain about how the healthcare exclusion mucks […]
Dismal Data Sends Stocks To Record Highs As Short Interest Collapses To 2007 Lows
Overheard everywhere today… Stocks (Dow and S&P) hit record intraday highs… (must mean everything is awesome, right?) With Nasdaq’s best week of 2017… So clearly, unlike The Leftists, Trump Jr’s email means absolutely nothing… BUT… This morning’s terrible retail sales and inflation data sent ‘hard’ data to new post-Trump lows – lowest since May 2015 – […]
Stocks Fly To Records, Global Risk Rally Continues As Bad Data, ‘Good’ Yellen Keep Hope Alive
And that’s the week ladies and gentlemen. A dovish Yellen on Capitol Hill largely offsetting the rate hike from Poloz, a couple of ECB leaks to make sure the messaging is “just right”, and (another) miss on the CPI print which promptly pushed the odds of a September hike below 10%: The S&P hit a […]
Stocks Dare The Fed
It was only a month ago Fed President Dudley was lecturing us about the dangers of overly easy financial conditions and how inflation’s sanguine performance was “transitory.” And it wasn’t like he was alone. The Fed’s generally accepted second in command, Stanley Fischer, echoed similar comments. Well, this morning about the most awkward economic news […]
Himax Issues Strongly Worded Rebuke To Analyst After Downgrade
Himax Technologies (HIMX) responded to a downgrade of its stock by an analyst at Oppenheimer with a strongly worded reply, in which the company said it has not communicated with the analyst in months and questioned the timing of the report. OPPENHEIMER DOWNGRADES: Oppenheimer analyst Andrew Uerkwitz downgraded Himax to Underperform, the firm’s lowest rating, […]
