Archive for December, 2011

One of the most frustrating issues to haunt the halls of alternative economic analysis is the threat of misrepresentative terminology. For instance, when the U.S. government decided to back the private Federal Reserve in lowering the interest rates on lending windows to European banks last month,… read full news Published: Sun, 01 Jan 2012… »

The spotlight will be on France’s debt auctions in the holiday-shortened first week of January. Thursday’s auctions, along with a German sale Wednesday, will be the year’s first test of borrowing conditions, as a potential euro-zone recession threatens to further roil debt markets. Italy, Spain a… read full news Published: Sun, 01 Jan 2012… »

The dollar edged up in the last week of 2011. US employment data is the highlight of the opening week of 2012, among many other US figures. Trading volume is expected to return to normal after the holiday break. Here is an outlook on the major events at hand. Last week the EUR/USD plunged to… »

Rising confidence, fewer firings and gains in holiday sales show the U.S. economy is picking up, defying a slowdown in Europe and much of the rest of the world. … read full news Published: Sat, 31 Dec 2011… »

The Council on Foreign Relations polled economists to identify five trends to watch in the coming year. They all fall under the increasingly common theme of uncertainty, and most of them touch on U.S. or euro-zone policies. Brief excerpts of their conclusions, which you can read in full here: U… read full news Published: Sat,… »

Iran will fire long-range missiles during a naval drill in the Gulf on Saturday, a semi-official news agency reported, a show of force at a time when Iran has threatened to close shipping lanes if the West imposes sanctions on its oil exports. Iran threatened on Tuesday to stop the flow of oil th… read… »

The past week in monetary policy saw just three central banks meeting to review monetary policy settings. Israel held its interest rate at 2.75%, and Taiwan held its interest rate at 1.875% during its quarterly interest rate review, while Uruguay bucked the trend, lifting its interest rate 75 basis… read full news Published: Sat, 31… »

A market that remains positioned against the euro continues to grow more bearish about the currency’s long-term prospects. Investors loaded up on antieuro bets in the latest week, according to Commodity Futures Trading Commission data, with speculators increasing their net short positions on the … read full news Published: Sat, 31 Dec 2011… »

Spain forecasts 2011 deficit at 8% versus 6% target Spain announces 8.9B in spending cuts EUR net short position falls to record in CFTC Commitments of Traders report IMF says USD share of global FX reserves +7.5% y/y in Q3; EUR loses ground Milwaukee PMI Dec 57.77 vs 56.7 prio… read full news Published: Sat,… »

Newsletter writer/bomb thrower Peter Grandich is at it again. A few weeks ago he launched a broadside rant against three of his fellow newsletter writers, including Dennis Gartman, who have recently dared to suggest that gold might possibly not be a great buy right now! After labeling them the Th… read full news Published: Sat,… »