On the heels of the Commodity Futures Trading Commisions’s (CFTC) release of the long awaited regulations that will govern the spot forex market, today we see this is a beast that seems to only grow. Earlier, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) released the results of their triennial survey of the forex market. The study found that the average daily turnover in forex had grown by 20% in just the last three years to an astonishing $4 trillion. No other market can even come close. What’s more, that growth happened in the midst of a global recession, in case anybody forgot.
Archive for the ‘economy’ Category
Forex can grow in a recession. Can it under regulation?
Wednesday, September 1st, 2010Housing freefall, will it return?
Thursday, August 26th, 2010The economic crisis we are in started with housing so it would only make sense that a recovery in the housing sector is what is needed to bring us out of it.
Unfortunately all of the news on housing has been pretty grim. It started Tuesday with word that existing home sales for July dropped 27.2% from July of 2009. And July of 2009 wasn’t a really good month. Wednesday it was reported that new homes sales in July drop 12.4% from June and 32.4% from July 2009.
China: We’re #2
Monday, August 16th, 2010Markets are reacting today to the news that China has taken over Japan as the second largest economy and will surpass the United States as the world’s largest economy within 20 years. Jon Nadler pointed out in his metals update this morning that the U.S. dollar was lower and the euro gained, while gold was up a bit. He also said that Japan and China could flip-flop for the number two spot in the economy as seasons and metrics used to calculate GDP change. (more…)
The Fed reinvests
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010In its rate decision today, the Federal Reserve held interest rates as expected, but announced it would reinvest in mortgage-backed securities, or, as Phil Flynn predicted in his energy report this morning, “the fearful Fed may just pump that cash back out there and buy more MBS or bonds to try to inspire some economic activity and maybe even some job creation.”
Waiting on the number
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010What happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object? I am not sure but I think we may be facing this paradox as it relates to the markets and this week’s employment situation report. Most economic reports over the last month have indicated a soft economy and we hear more and more talk of a double dip recession. While a double dip recession is not likely, the consensus seems to be that we will run out of stimulus spending before the recovery begins in earnest. Yet equity markets have skyrocketed in July. The Dow is up more than 1,000 points since it hit a nine-month low following the release of the June employment report on July 2.
Bummer from Bernanke
Monday, August 2nd, 2010In a speech in South Carolina today, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gave another subdued forecast for the economy. He said that while “the financial crisis appears mostly behind us…we still have a considerable way to go to achieve a full recovery in our economy” due to persistent unemployment, foreclosure and lost savings for many Americans.
Can we make tough choices?
Thursday, July 29th, 2010Last week I attended an interesting forum at the University Club of Chicago. It was entitled “America’s Fiscal Futures: Making Difficult Choices.”
The forum was put on by the MacArthur Foundation and included a discussion with Dr. John Palmer and Rudolph Penner. The two speakers, who come from different sides of the political spectrum, recently co-chaired a joint National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Public Administration committee that produced the report “Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future.”
Too big for shallow debate
Friday, July 16th, 2010Thursday the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 passed the Senate and soon will be signed into law. The reaction has been mixed as you might suspect but the bigger issue seems to be the same stale rhetoric is being used even after all we have been through.
No double dip, says Fed
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010The Federal Reserve released the minutes of its June meeting today. Here are their predictions, which contrast with what many experts are predicting (namely, a double-dip recession) as economic data on housing and employment remains grim. In the minutes, the FOMC said it “continued to anticipate a moderate recovery in economic activity through 2011.” However, due to current financial conditions “most participants revised down slightly their outlook for economic growth, and about one-half of the participants judged the balance of risks to growth as having moved to the downside.” (more…)
The economy: How Canada got it right
Tuesday, July 13th, 2010If America wants to learn something about economic prosperity, they might find it by looking to the north. The LA Times featured this interesting piece about the lessons the United States could learn from Canada on the economic front. The United States is still recovering from economic collapse, but the effects of 2008′s market meltdown on Canada have been much milder in comparison.
