Posts Tagged ‘economy’
Thursday, August 4th, 2011
As our political leaders were patting themselves on the back for averting a crisis — albeit with both sides of the debate frustrated they didn’t get everything they wanted, even those who got almost everything — a strange thing was happening in the markets. Equity indexes continued to tank.
Perhaps some analysts and pundits breathed a big sigh of relief when equities rebounded after a huger sell-off on Wednesday to close higher. No relief was in sight today as the Dow dropped more than 500 points and the S&P 500 dropped 55 pushing both indexes into the red for 2011. (more…)
Tags: Congress, Dow Jones Industrial Average, economy
Posted in Debt ceiling, Markets, economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
The other day we pointed out how a market was developing for credit default swaps on U.S. government debt. The Bloomberg story which we referred to indicated that the market was pricing in a higher likelihood of a default and how volume had grown in the contract as more institutions looked to hedge their exposure to such an event.
While interesting, what perplexed us given the scope of government and Federal Reserve activity over recent years, is how the mechanics of such a transaction would play out. While minor fluctuations in this CDS could be hedged and traded, if a real default becomes likely it is doubtful the markets would be allowed to decide.
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Tags: economy
Posted in Credit crisis, Debt ceiling | No Comments »
Friday, July 15th, 2011
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor’s roiled the markets yesterday with a pronouncement that it has placed the United States of America’s “’AAA’ long-term and ‘A-1+’ short-term sovereign credit ratings on CreditWatch with negative implications.”
This comes on the heels of a possible Moody’s downgrade announcement a day prior. “Moody’s Investors Service has placed the Aaa bond rating of the government of the United States on review for possible downgrade given the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default on U.S. Treasury debt obligations.”
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Tags: bailout, economy, Financial Regulatory Reform
Posted in General, creidt crisis | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 24th, 2011
If you come to a fork in the road, take it. — Yogi Berra
Tags: dodd-frank, economy, Housing, regulation
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was subjected to journalists questions for the second time yesterday when he hosted the second post-FOMC press conference. As was expected going into the meeting, the Fed made no change to the Federal Funds rate or their plans to alter the second round of quantitative easing. This came as no surprise given the recent bout of bad economic numbers in nearly every sector.
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Tags: Ben Bernanke, Economic outlook, economy, Fed, Federal Reserve
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 21st, 2011
The Big Bad Wolf got a lot of bad press in fairy tales — just look at the story of the Three Little Pigs. This guy has some lung capacity to go around blowing houses down. Nothing could stop him, until he came to the brick house built on a solid foundation. Based on what’s happening in the U.S. housing market over the last year, maybe we have our own big bad wolf at work. (more…)
Tags: economy, Housing
Posted in General, economy | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
While the recovery is beginning to take root, jobs still are an ongoing concern. A number of analysts have talked about how the U.S. government’s accommodative monetary policies are to blame. According to Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D, IL), they’re all wrong. He says we only need to look as far as the iPad to explain where all the jobs have gone. (more…)
Tags: Apple, economy, employment, iPad
Posted in General, economy | No Comments »
Thursday, March 24th, 2011
“The greatest tragedy would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen again…. It falls to us to make different choices if we want different results.”
These are the words of the task force that wrote the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report released in January. These 10 commissioners were tasked by Congress to determine what caused the 2008 financial meltdown. After hearing about possible exemptions of certain firms from the Dodd-Frank Act by those in Congress, I read this report. It irks me that some of those responsible are the loudest naysayers of reform. Even the task force notes: “Some on Wall Street and in Washington with a stake in the status quo may be tempted to wipe from memory the events of this crisis….” So let’s have at it…what were the group’s main conclusions? (more…)
Tags: bailout, Congress, dodd-frank, Economic outlook, economy, Federal Reserve, financial crisis inquiry report, Financial Regulatory Reform
Posted in Regulatory/actions, economy | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Talk abounds about releasing crude oil from the Government’s strategic oil reserves to provide motorists some relief at the gas pump.
Never mind that the Middle East dust-ups have had little effect on domestic crude oil supplies. Ignore that U.S. energy companies are reporting huge profits (one to-remain-nameless company had NET PROFIT over $9 billion in its 4th quarter alone). And forgive the media for swallowing the analysts’ trick of implying cause-and-effect with statements like “Gas prices soar as the Middle East smolders.” True, but the inference of economic connection needs critical review.
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Tags: economy
Posted in economy | No Comments »
Thursday, December 23rd, 2010
Everyone knows or should know that the large budget deficits and burgeoning debt in the United States is a big problem, many refer to it as a ticking time bomb.
A group of experts who spent two years on the problem and produced the report “Choosing the Nation’s Fiscal Future” have agreed to some serious points on the deficit: A) it is unsustainable and will limit our flexibility the longer it is not seriously addressed and B) the size and scope of it is too large to solve simply through an increase in revenue or spending cuts. The cuts would be too deep and painful even for the most conservative and the tax increases too punitive for the most liberal.
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Tags: economy
Posted in economy | 1 Comment »
