The most disturbing thing of all about the QE3 from the Fed, is the governors seem to be taking action in the face of mounting evidence of strong secular headwinds opposing their QE actions and risk taking. Read More
Is China’s GDP the New Libor?
A further sign of lower systemic risk, five year credit default protection on the four biggest banks in France and Spain has dropped anywhere from 10-20bps over the last week. Socgen has improved by over 100bps the last two months. While economically sensitive names like Caterpillar CAT, AK Steel AKS, Advanced Micro Devices AMD, Yum Brands YUM have moved wider by 35-200 bps in the last 45 days. Read More
Washington Week Ahead: January 30th–February 3rd
Courtesy of DC Tripwire Major Actions This Week: White House · On Wednesday, President Obama is expected to give remarks on the economy during a speech in northern Virginia. Senate · On Wednesday, Senate and House conferees will meet to consider the payroll tax/unemployment insurance/”doc fix” extension (HR 3630). House · Next week, the House [...]
Bernanke has “Finger on Trigger” for New Bond Buys
Article by Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer, Reuters The Federal Reserve has moved closer to embarking on a new round of its controversial money-pumping after the central bank and its chairman Ben Bernanke highlighted a grim outlook for the U.S. economy. Bernanke on Wednesday opened the door a bit wider for the Fed to return [...]
State of the Union: Highlights (and Lowlights) from Obama’s Speech
Article by Jody Shenn, Lorraine Woellert and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg President Barack Obama answered Ben S. Bernanke’s appeal for more action to fix the U.S. housing market that’s restraining the economic recovery by proposing a plan to help borrowers reduce their monthly mortgage payments. Obama is sending Congress legislation that would allow homeowners to tap record-low borrowing costs, potentially boosting [...]
Washington Week Ahead: January 23rd-27th
Courtesy of DC Tripwire Major Actions This Week: White House On Wednesday, the Obama Administration announced that they would not approve the Keystone XL pipeline. Yesterday, President Obama traveled to Orlando, FL, to announce his initiative to promote tourism in the U.S. as a part of his “We Can’t Wait” campaign of executive actions. Senate [...]
IMF Seeks $500B to Lending Resources
Article by Simon Kennedy, Bloomberg The International Monetary Fund is proposing to raise its lending capacity by $500 billion to insulate the global economy against any worsening of Europe’s debt crisis, according to a person familiar with the talks. The Washington-based lender currently has about $385 billion available to lend and wants to lift that to $885 [...]
Disapproval of Congress Hits New High: Poll
Article by JoAnne Ellen, Reuters A record 84 percent of Americans say they disapprove of the way the Congress is doing its job compared with just 13 percent who approve of how things are going, according to a Washington Post/ABC News public opinion poll published on Monday. The disapproval rating for Congress inched up two [...]
Washington Week at a Glance: Dec. 5th – Dec. 9th
Major Actions This Week: White House On Monday, President Obama hosted European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, and High Representative Catherine Ashton at the White House to discuss economic and national security issues. On Tuesday, the President hosted Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands at the White House to discuss trade, investment, [...]
Washington Week at a Glance: Oct. 24th – Oct. 28th, 2011
Major Actions This Week: White House From Monday through Wednesday, President Obama travelled through North Carolina and Virginia on a bus tour to promote the American Jobs Act. On Thursday afternoon, the President met with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg of Norway. On Friday morning, the President signed free trade agreements with South Korea, Panama, and Columbia, as well as [...]