Central Bank Watch
Bank of Israel Interest Rate Benchmark Stays at 2.5%
May 28, 2012
The Bank of Israel left its key interest rate unchanged. From a post-Great Recession low of 0.5% through August 2009, the benchmark was lifted by 75 basis points over the rest of 2009, 75 bps in 2010, and 125 bps in four steps during the first half of 2011, but three cuts of 25 bps […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Dollar Down and Share Prices Up
May 28, 2012
U.S. markets will be closed for Memorial Day, and Whit Monday observances held down activity in Europe and selected other regions. There’s been a bit of a respite in the degree of risk aversion. Greek opinion polls over the weekend indicated that Greek voters are have second-thoughts about Grexit, fearing that abandoning the euro might […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Next Week
May 25, 2012
On Monday, U.S. markets are closed for Memorial Day, and selected areas of Europe will observe Whit Monday. Central banks in Israel, Hungary, Turkey and Brazil have scheduled interest rate policy meetings next week, minutes from the Bank of Japan meeting are being released. Manufacturing purchasing manager indices will be released for a slew of […] More
Foreign Exchange Insights and Next Week
Entering the Summer Season of Currency Trading
May 25, 2012
The summer season for currency market participants, which lies between the U.S. Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, has a wholly different feeling from the winter/spring or autumn trimesters. Because of the comings and goings of vacationing dealers, summer volume tends to be more volatile, depriving the marketplace of the depth, breadth and resiliency found […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
Bold Talk from Europe about Averting Grexit
May 25, 2012
It’s amazing that European politicians would retain any credibility with the markets. Nonetheless, the euro and German Dax are firmer following comments from Italian Prime Minister that most EU members support joint euro bonds and that he believes that a way will be found to keep Greece in the EU. There were reports overnight, too, […] More
Deeper Analysis
Worrisome German GDP Growth
May 24, 2012
Germany has been the bright jewel in a dismally performing continent. But after data released today, the rest of Europe seems to be infecting Germany rather than having the German economic success lift other members to better times. German first-quarter GDP grew by a decent 2.1% at an annualized rate between the final quarter of […] More
Central Bank Watch
South African Reserve Bank: No Rate Change as Expected
May 24, 2012
The 5.5% repurchase rate since November 18, 2010 was left unchanged. The key central bank interest rate had been cut during the world recession from 12.0% prior to December 2008 to 7.0% by August 2009 and three more times by 50 bps each during 2010. In leaving monetary policy unchanged again today, the monetary policy […] More
New Overnight Developments Abroad - Daily Update
No Breakthrough at EU Summit on Greece
May 24, 2012
EU leaders in Brussels produced no fresh ideas on Greece. Germany still is resisting euro bonds, yet uncertainty over the status of Greece and the risk of contagion is hurting Germany’s economy more discernibly. Stocks are higher in Europe, nonetheless. The British Ftse, Paris Cac, and German Dax have so far rebounded by 1.2%, 1.0% […] More
Larry's Blog
Krugman, Brooks and Zuckerberg
May 23, 2012
Paul Krugman and David Brooks, regular OP-ED columnists for the New York Times, disagree so widely, frequently and precisely in their presentations that their by-weekly commentaries read like a point-counterpoint debate, as if each is inspired by what the other has written recently. In his other capacity as a Princeton professor, Krugman is one of […] More
Central Bank Watch
Bank of Japan Retains Existing Policy Settings
May 23, 2012
A statement from the BOJ Board affirmed by unanimous vote existing policy settings. The overnight uncollateralized interest rate has been zero to 0.1% since October 5, 2010. The target hasn’t been greater than 0.5% since September 1995. The asset purchase plan wasn’t changed either after having been enhanced on April 27 by 5 trillion yen […] More
