gold
March and 1Q12 in Figures
March 31, 2012
The dollar posted strong gains in March against the Australian dollar and yen but was narrowly mixed otherwise. Sovereign bond yields rose, led by a 24-bp in the 10-year Treasury. Three-month euribor rates sank sharply. Most equities performed well, while strong January-February gains in gold and oil prices were reversed partly. 10-Yr Yield 03/30/12 Chg [...] More
Risk Aversion Fanned by Preliminary March PMI Readings
March 22, 2012
In Europe, share prices have tumbled 1.5% in Paris, 1.4% in Germany, and 0.9% in Britain. There were some big tumbles in the Pacific Rim including drops of 1.4% in Thailand, 2.3% in India, and 0.9% in Singapore. But equities rose 1.0% in Taiwan, 0.5% in Australia and 0.4% in Japan. Chinese stocks dipped 0.2%. [...] More
February in Figures
February 29, 2012
February was a replay of January in certain respects, but there will also some notable market differences between the two months. The similarities involved a weaker dollar, stronger share prices and pinned short-term interest rates. One notable shift was the very weak yen in February compared to January when it merely shadowed the dollar. This [...] More
January in Figures
January 31, 2012
January saw gold prices soar more than 11% and the dollar fall across the Board. Oil prices hovered around both sides of $100 per barrel and both opened and closed below that barrier. Great Britain and Switzerland did not partake as fully as some other countries in the generally superlative early 2012 performance of share [...] More
Risk Appetite Attempting to Stage a Recovery
January 10, 2012
Stocks, commodity prices and commodity-sensitive currencies are higher. Share prices rose 3.3% in China, 2.2% in India, 1.3% in Indonesia, and 1.1% in Singapore and Australia. In Europe, the German Dax, Paris Cac and British Ftse have so far risen 2.5%, 2.3%, and 1.2% on the day. Oil and gold prices have climbed 1.6% each [...] More
December, 4Q11, and 2011 in Figures
December 31, 2011
In the final month of 2011, long-term interest rates fell sharply, the dollar mostly rose, and share prices were mostly mixed. Gold prices dived 10.3%, and West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices hovered near the $100 per barrel level. The 3-month Eurodollar-Euribor deposit rate differential shifted by 40 basis points in support of the United [...] More
November in Figures
November 30, 2011
November had uncanny parallels to October. Most of October had seen a rise in risk appetite and associated weakness in the dollar and strength in equities, and in most of November just the opposite had occurred. Former Greek Prime Minister Papandreou’s proposal to submit the October 26 EU rescue package to a referendum caused that [...] More
October in Figures
November 1, 2011
A revival of risk aversion drove equities and commodities higher and the dollar downward over the bulk of October. News of a Greek voter referendum on November 4 that will quite plausibly torpedo the October 26 EU agreement resulted in a significant trimming of these trends on the final trading day of the month and [...] More
August in Figures
August 31, 2011
In August, risk aversion shot up. Gold soared, while share prices and sovereign bond yields fell sharply. Most commodity prices including oil fell, and so did commodity-sensitive currencies. USD/JPY and EUR/USD closed practically unchanged for the month. Swiss officials took steps to reverse the franc’s strength, enabling the dollar to advance 2.5% against the Swiss [...] More
January 14, 2000: A Date to Remember
August 23, 2011
January 14, 2000 is a well-suited statistical benchmark for assessing the U.S. economy. If February 3, 1959 was the day the music died as immortalized in Don McLean’s ballad American Pie, calling January 14, 2000 the day the American economy died is only a slight overstatement because the before-and-after performances around that milestone are so [...] More
