New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
All Quiet Except in Korea
December 23, 2010
The dollar has lost 0.7% against the yen and 0.5% versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars but is otherwise very steady with no change against the euro, yuan, and Canadian dollar, a 0.1% uptick against the Swiss franc and a 0.1% downtick versus sterling. Japanese markets were closed to commemorate the Emperor’s birthday. North […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
December 22, 2010
This is only the sixth time since the dollar floated in 1973 when Christmas Day and New Year’s Day fall on a Saturday. That’s the most disruptive of configurations, because some countries have extra market closures before the holiday but other like Britain and Japan celebrate afterward. Wednesday will be the only normal day for […] More
Central Bank Watch
Polish 7-Day Repo Reference Rate Left at 3.5%
December 22, 2010
Officials at the Narodowy Bank voted to leave its interest rate structure unchanged, which was the result analysts were anticipating. The key 3.5% key reference rate has already been at this level for a year and a half, following six reductions totaling 250 basis points from October 2008 through June 2009. A statement from the […] More
Central Bank Watch
Czech National Bank Leaves Interest Rates As Such Were
December 22, 2010
The key two-week repo rate was left at 0.75% as widely expected and will continue to be flanked by a 0.25% discount rate and a 1.75% Lombard Rate. At a press conference today, officials made several points. Eight cuts from August 2008 through May 2010 reduced the two-week repo rate by a cumulative 300 basis […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Policy Board: No Further Changes in Stance
December 22, 2010
After meeting on Monday and Tuesday for a combined six hours and forty minutes, the Policy Board released a statement yesterday that by a 9-0 vote Reaffirmed an target range of zero to 0.1% for the uncollateralized overnight call rate. Announced that a program to buy 35 trillion yen of various financial assets and longer-term […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
China Help for European Debt Crisis?
December 22, 2010
The dollar has lost 0.7% against the Swiss franc, 0.4% relative to the Canadian dollar, 0.3% against the euro and yen, 0.2% versus the Australian and New Zealand dollars and 0.1% against the yuan. The greenback is up 0.1% against sterling. The dollar poked above 1.3100 per euro on indications that China may buy some […] More
Deeper Analysis
U.S. Migration: Trading Places
December 21, 2010
The U.S. 1910 census found 60.6% of the population to be living in either the Northeast or Midwest. One hundred years later, 60.4% of Americans live in either the South or West. Fifty years ago, the split was 53.7% in the Northeast and Midwest versus 46.3% living in the West and South. Copyright Larry Greenberg […] More
Larry's Blog
U.S. Core CPI Inflation, GDP Growth and Unemployment
December 21, 2010
One complaint against the Fed’s QE2 program is that such is needlessly taking risks of squandering a “hard-earned” restoration of price stability that took more than a generation to accomplish. Defenders of the Fed stance have by and large argued against the assumption that quantitative easing will create higher inflation. QE1 didn’t do that, nor […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Stocks Up on Lessening Korean Tensions
December 21, 2010
Solid stock price advances have occurred in the Pacific Rim and Europe. Gains amounted to 2.2% in China, 1.9% in Indonesia, 1.5% in Japan, 0.9% in India, 0.8% in South Korea and Australia, 0.7% in Thailand and Taiwan and 0.6% in New Zealand and so far in France and Germany. The British Ftse is trading […] More
Deeper Analysis
Multi-Decade Bull Market in Fixed Income Securities
December 20, 2010
As 2010 draws near its end, many analysts are proclaiming the end of a multi-decade bull market in fixed-income securities. The power of that bull market is can be seen in the table below, which presents sequential five-year averages in 10-year sovereign debt yields for the United States, Germany, Japan, Britain and Canada. Average yields […] More
