Post Tagged with: "Britain"
Seven Observations about Commitment of Traders in FX
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission requires futures traders to identify whether they have an underlying business interest (commercials) or if they don’t (non-commercials). Here are seven take-aways from the most recent report that covered the week through January 17th
Chart of the Day: Developed economies’ debt levels by sector
This is a great chart below via the Wall Street Journal. It shows the total debt to GDP ratios for the largest developed economies in the world broken down into four sectors: households, non-financial corporations, financial institutions and government
Euro Slides Ahead of BOE and ECB Meetings
The euro was recovering in early Europe, moving back toward the upper end of its recent narrow range and it reversed course sharply, triggering stops along the way as it dropped nearly a cent to $1.2695. The technical failure yesterday at $1.2820 may also have been more telling. News from the German stats office that its economy may have contracted 0.25% quarter-over-quarter in Q4 is a bit disappointing as some hoped for stagnation
The expansionary fiscal contraction bust
If you argue that austerity works in cutting deficits over the longer-term but the short-term pain is worth it, that’s a different argument than the one Republicans are making – and one not likely to get one elected, which is why they’re not making it
The ABCs of Re-hypothecation in Gold and Securities Markets: What You Need to Know
The downfall of MF Global has exposed yet another patch of the underbelly of the brokerage industry. Practices that are routine and legal – and hitherto largely unknown to most investors – can leave a company vulnerable when abused
A Deep Seated Hostility Towards European Construction?
The British decision to veto the proposed new EU treaty is not surprisingly provoking an avalanche of commentary this weekend. Among journalists, at least, there seems to be a consensus that David Cameron committed some kind of major diplomatic blunder.
Possibly this is so, but given the difficulties presented by having to take this agreement forward outside the formal structure of the EU, it is hard to not reach the conclusion that both Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy have been guilty if not of a similar blunder, then at least a major error of judgment
Three Key Developments
Three events took place last week that will shape the general investment climate in the weeks and months ahead
Risk Off Monday
The US dollar is firm against all the major and emerging market currencies. Equity markets are lower, giving back all of Friday’s gains and more. The euro has dropped 1% and the next level of support is seen near $
Liquidity is the Word
Tomorrow the central banks will auction dollars for the first time under the lower rates. There was some talk that the lower take down at this week’s regular refi operation (about 13 bln less euros than were maturing from last week’s operation) was due to the fact that participants are anticipating taking up dollars tomorrow.
It may seem counter-intuitive, but the larger the participation tomorrow the more risk-on (in whatever limited way ahead of Thursday ECB meeting and Friday’s summit) insofar as banks would secure their dollar funding in a less disruptive way. The smaller the take down, the more dysfunctional the system may appear
News Links: Draghi – If fiscal policy becomes hawkish, monetary policy will be dovish
News links from 2 December 2011 include links on the European sovereign debt crisis, the UK economy, the latest on mortgages and technology as well as other stories.
News Links: European and Chinese Manufacturing Stalls, as US Advances
ISM – ISM Report – November 2011 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® "The PMI registered 52.7 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from October’s reading of 50.8 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 28th consecutive month. The New Orders Index increased 4.3 percentage points from October to 56.7 percent, reflecting the
