Archive for January 12th, 2012

Macroeconomic indicators for the United States have been better than expected for the last few months. Job creation has picked up. Indicators for manufacturing and services have improved moderately. Even the housing industry has shown some signs of life. And consumption growth has been relatively… read full news Published: Fri, 13 Jan 2012… »

In a new twist to the Dominique Strauss-Kahn saga, which has become a hunt for a prostitution ring operating out of Paris, his mobile phone records showed he had relationships with 10 women, allegedly all call girls, the Telegraph reports. But DSK’s lawyer has countered with perhaps the single mo… read full news Published: Fri,… »

I question the euros optimism today for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the substantial downtrend that it is in. But lets look at some other reasons to question todays move higher in the single currency: The Dow just aint buying it. The December Retails Sales picture was dim an… read… »

Things are looking up in Europe, at least for now, as borrowing costs in Italy and Spain eased Thursday following strong debt auctions. Spain’s auction of nearly 10 billion worth of bonds in three different maturities met with strong demand, as did Italy’s 8.5 billion of 12-month bills. The … read full news Published: Fri,… »

The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government (MTS) is prepared by the Financial Management Service, Department of the Treasury, and after approval by the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury; is normally released on the 8th workday of the month… read full news Published: Fri, 13 Jan 2012… »

And so the escalation ends, if only for the time being, as Iran chalks a (Pyrrhic?) victory. EU IRAN OIL EMBARGO SAID TO BE LIKELY DELAYED BY SIX MONTHS Why? Because the world slowly realized that the potential surge in oil prices would tip a world already on the verge of a recession even deeper…… »

A Greek exit from the euro would pose a significantly smaller risk of contagion to the rest of the currency area than two years ago before Greece asked for aid, two lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkels party said. … read full news Published: Fri, 13 Jan 2012… »

Chinese CPI at +4.1%yoy and PPI+1.7%yoy were both as expected and markets reacted by Risk-On trading with copper rising on the expectations of RRR cuts. Both Spain and Italy had successful short dated auctions that drew strong demand and significantly lower rates than auctions in December. EUR… read full news Published: Fri, 13 Jan 2012… »

On the day when Greek 1Y yields broke above 400% for the first time, a consideration of just what Greece would look like post-exit is perhaps fruitful. Looking at hypothetical forward rates (generated from covered interest rate parity between EURUSD FX and EMU sovereign interest rates), MSCI has an… read full news Published: Fri, 13… »

Securities traders and restaurant staff will protest outside the Hong Kong stock exchange offices today over the bourses plan to reduce its lunchtime trading break. As many as 1,000 protesters will gather at the Statue Square in the citys central business district at 4:45 p.m. and walk to the … read full news Published: Fri,… »