Larry's Blog
Bond Market Hysteria: A Japanese Case Study
February 4, 2010
Global financial moments are in the grip of an “enough already” psychology. Risk aversion has spiked because of fear that fiscal deficits have gone beyond the point of safe return and that much higher inflation is inevitable. European peripheral nations like Greece, Spain and Ireland have been the main object of the panic, but concern […] More
Central Bank Watch
Two-Week Czech Repo Rate of 1.0% Retained
February 4, 2010
The Czech National Bank as expected and by a unanimous 6-0 vote made no changes in monetary policy today. A statement from monetary officials projects headline and policy-relevant consumer price inflation near its 2% target during the coming 1-2 years. After dropping 4.3% last year, real GDP is expected to advance 1.5% this year and […] More
Central Bank Watch
No Change in Indonesian Monetary Policy
February 4, 2010
Bank Indonesia’s key interest rate, which has been at 6.5% since a 25-basis point cut in August, was again left unchanged as expected. A statement on the BI website projects a steadily improving domestic economy and in-target CPI inflation this year, that is between 4% and 6%. Real GDP rose 4.3% between 3Q08 and 3Q09, […] More
Central Bank Watch
ECB Press Conference Reveals No Fresh Information
February 4, 2010
The ECB Governing Council left its rate structure unchanged and deferred new details on the gradual phasing-out of unconventional liquidity enhancements to the March press conference. Since May 2009, the refinancing rate has been at 1.0% and flanked by a 0.25% deposit rate and a 1.75% marginal lending rate. Overnight money, aka the Eonia rate, […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of England Did Not Extend Asset Purchase Program at This Time
February 4, 2010
The Bank of England Kept the British Bank rate at 0.5%, its level for the past eleven months. Agreed to maintain the stock of asset purchases funded by central bank reserve creation unchanged at Gbp 200 billion. Such was last raised in November by Gbp 25 billion, and those operations were completed in January. Said […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Greek-Inspired Risk Aversion Hits All Markets
February 4, 2010
The dollar, yen and JGB yields are up. Stocks and commodities are lower. Markets await several central bank policy decisions and fret about long-term fiscal problems in Greece and other countries. Several pieces of weak data were reported overnight as well. The yen rose 0.3% against a dollar that otherwise shows gains of 1.6% against […] More
