New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Overnight Developments Abroad: Equities Fell in Asia and Europe
August 21, 2008
In Asia, the Japanese Nikkei’s 0.8% drop was eclipsed by stock market declines of 3.5% in China, 2.6% in Hong Kong, 2.8% in Pakistan, 2.0% in Thailand, 1.7% in South Korea, and 1.4% in Taiwan. Australian equities fell 1.1%. In Europe stocks are down 1.4% in France, 1.1% in Italy, 0.9% in Germany and 0.7% […] More
Currency Markets in the News
Brisker Japanese Export Growth
August 21, 2008
The year-over-year growth in export volumes, which halved to 4.9% in the second quarter from 10.1% in 1Q08, rebounded last month to a much stronger-than-expected 7.4%. Export values increased 8.1% despite an 11.5% on-year drop in shipments to the United States. Such was more than offset by exports to neighboring Asia, which expanded 12.7% overall […] More
Bank of England Minutes Suggest No Rate Change in September, Either
August 20, 2008
Faced with the twin shocks of higher energy prices and tightening credit conditions, the Bank Rate has remained at 5.0% since April, down from a peak of 5.75% before December. Both the July and August policy meetings ended with a 3-way split decision (seven voting for no rate change and one vote each for an […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Developments Abroad: Dollar Back in Forward Gear
August 20, 2008
After a brief correction Tuesday, the dollar has risen 0.7% against the Swiss franc, 0.6% versus sterling, 0.5% relative to the euro and 0.3% against the yen, Canadian dollar, Australian dollar and kiwi. One exception to this advance has been the yuan. China’s currency recorded its best gain in 3 weeks after U.S. Treasury Secretary […] More
Larry's Blog
How The U.S. Economy Performed Under Democratic and Republican Presidents
August 19, 2008
During the forty years from 1961 through 2000, the United States had a Democrat as president half of the time (1961-68, 1977-80, and 1993-2000) and a Republican president for the other twenty years (1969-1976 and 1981-1992). Power was shared, and the switch-overs occurred infrequently, so that it is fair to associate performance with the ruling […] More
Central Bank Watch
Different Signals From the Central Banks of Australia and Japan
August 19, 2008
Australia and Japan are both flirting with a recession, and each economy has excessive inflation that is likely to climb further before cresting. But statements released overnight in these two economies had different tones. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s minutes from this month’s earlier policy meeting accentuate the risks of a “deep slowdown” in growth, […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
New Developments Abroad: Equity Markets Tumble
August 19, 2008
Many bourses have suffered losses of at least 1%. Japanese Nikkei -2.3%. Australia -2.4%. South Korea -1.7%. Indonesia -2.1%. Germany -1.2%. France -1.4%. And Britain -1.0%. The yen firmed 0.4% against the dollar, as the BOJ signaled that a rate cut is doubtful despite recessionary conditions now. The U.S. currency otherwise advanced by 0.7% against […] More
China: Not Everything is Rising
August 18, 2008
It is remarkable that the fourth largest economy in the world would still be recording real economic growth of marginally more than 10%. When an economy joins the upper tier in world rankings, potential economic growth generally declines, and the global environment was poor in 2Q08. Nonetheless, among monthly data released last week, retail sales […] More
Currency Markets in the News
Euroland Reports a Third Trade Deficit in Four Months
August 18, 2008
Euroland posted seasonally adjusted trade deficits in four months during 1H08, including three of the last four. A gap of EUR 3.0 billion in June was the largest deficit so far this year. The unadjusted deficit swung from a surplus of EUR 8.7 billion in 1H07 to a deficit of EUR 12.6 billion. The deterioration […] More
Canadian Portfolio Capital Data Also Misleading
August 18, 2008
Canada reported securities transactions today covering June. There was a whopping net inflow of C$ 16.75 billion, as foreigners bought C$ 7.25 billion of net Canadian securities, while Canadians sold C$ 9.50 billion of foreign securities. The net inflow of C$ 8.25 billion per month in 2H08 was nearly four times greater than the average […] More
