Archive for January 6th, 2012

The past week in central banking and monetary policy was relatively quiet, with just 5 central banks announcing interest rate decisions. Those changing interest rate settings were: Romania -25bps to 5.75%, Bangladesh +50bps to 7.75%, and Cape Verde +150bps to 5.75%. Those that held rates unchanged… read full news Published: Sat, 07 Jan 2012… »

Succinct summation of weeks events: Positives: 1) Dec Payrolls surprise to upside with 3rd 200kish print of yr, unemployment rate falls to 8.5% although in part due to another drop in labor force 2) Initial Jobless Claims 4 week avg drops to lowest since June 08 3) US ISM m… read full news Published: Sat,… »

As crude rallies on impending Iran sanctions, the question now is whether the resistance overhead can be broken. If so, the next question is whether the loonie will benefit and go along for the ride as the USD/CAD hovers just above its floor 50 to 130 pips above parity. The uptrend in crude oil m…… »

Civilian Unemployment Rate: 8.5% in December, down from 8.7% in November. Cycle high jobless rate for the recent recession is 10.0% in October 2009. … read full news Published: Sat, 07 Jan 2012… »

Canadas financial services regulator and the countrys banking sector are pushing back against the Volcker rule, a key plank of U.S financial reform that they say would unfairly punish Canadian banks that deal closely with the U.S. market. The rule, a controversial part of the massive 2010 Dodd-… read full news Published: Sat, 07 Jan… »

The U.S. Navy said it rescued 13 Iranian fishermen held hostage by pirates in the Northern Arabian Sea days after an Iranian military leader warned against sending a U.S. aircraft carrier into the Persian Gulf. A boarding team from the guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd — part of the John C. Ste… read full news Published:… »

Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you this afternoon. It is always a pleasure to be back in Baltimore and to see so many old friends. I was here during the most intense days of the financial crisis, and I will never forget how bankers worked around the clock to ensure that the… »

GBP/USD failed to reach range resistance near 1.5770 and instead fell to range support, trading near 1.54. The positive non-farm payroll was shrugged off, or perhaps it paved way for more USD-strength. Whatever the reason, daily price action is looking heavy, and the support therefore looks shaky… read full news Published: Sat, 07 Jan 2012… »

It just may turn out that Europe’s strategic “plan” of kicking the can down the road indefinitely, or at least until aliens can come down and bail out the global central banking cabal, may have worked! In a rather curious announcement, the SETI website of UC Berkeley has announced that it has found… read full… »

It is hard to see a way forward in the euro-area debt crisis, and the currency is falling fast, suggesting investors are betting against it in swelling numbers. But joining the euro-flogging party could be a mistake. The common currency has tumbled almost 2% against the dollar since the first … read full news Published:… »