A couple of minor technical problems called “business” and “life” have now intruded on my increasingly bogged down publication schedule that, in the interest...
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Fed near limit on scope to help jobs: KocherlakotaReuters| RAPID CITY, South Dakota (Reuters) - A rise in inflation over the past year suggests the Federal Reserve has little firepower left to boost employment, a top Fed official said on Wednesday. Une...
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From the excellent Binyamin Applebaum at the NY Times: One part of the economy that’s growing rapidly is the Federal Reserve. These are boom times for the central bank, which persuaded Congress to expand its responsibilities significantly in the wake of the financial crisis. And with greater responsibility comes a larger budget. If not...
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Spiegel OnlinePremier Wen Says China to Focus More on Growth, Xinhua ReportsBloombergChinese Premier Wen Jiabao said the government will focus more on bolstering growth, indicating policies may be loosened further as inflation moderates. China will “...
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CANADA FX DEBT-C$ rallies on risk recovery, inflation surpriseReuters* C$ hits session high of C$1.0139 vs US$, or 98.63 US cents * 2-yr bond yield climbs after stronger-than-expected inflation * Total inflation 2.0 pct annually By Claire Sibonney TORO...
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Novinite.comU.S. Consumer-Price Index Unchanged, Core Rate Climbs 0.2%BloombergA measure of the US cost of living was unchanged in April, restrained by a drop in energy prices and supporting the view of some Federal Reserve policy makers that inflation...
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India inflation posts surprise 7.23 percent jump (via AFP) India’s inflation unexpectedly accelerated in April to over seven percent as food bills soared, data showed on Monday, diminishing chances of swift interest rate cuts to boost a stumbling economy. The closely watched Wholesale Price Index rose to 7.23 percent in April from the same...
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The GuardianPMI shows split as global manufacturing ticks upReuters| LONDON May 2 (Reuters) - Global manufacturing activity picked up pace last month but there remained a marked divergence between the United States and the euro zone, a report showed on...
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Philly Fed President Charles Plosser said in a speech in San Diego: “You may know that I dissented from the FOMC decisions in August and September because it was not clear to me that increasing monetary policy accommodation was appropriate then. After all, inflation was higher and unemployment was lower relative to the previous...
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The fact that this writer is still relying on the Case Chiller shows that he’s a bit clueless, but I found it interesting that prices were back to 1955, 1986 and 1895 levels in real terms. That seems like an argument to be bullish on house prices, not bearish. By Jack Hough When will...
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BloombergLacker Says Fed May Have to Tighten With Unemployment at 7%BloombergFederal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the central bank needs to be ready to raise interest rates even if joblessness exceeds 7 percent. Speaking in an...
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PIMCO's Gross cautions against inflation and credit "ocean"
Reuters – 2 hours 8 minutes ago.. .
By Sam Forgione
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Central bank policies will induce growth in developed countries this year but will create inflationary risks down th...
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CNBC.comFed Hawk and Dove Agree: No More EasingCNBC.comTwo top Federal Reserve officials — one with a dovish, employment-focused bent, and the other a self-avowed inflation hawk — on Monday both said they see no need for the US central bank to ease...
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Don't look now but there's another giant bubble out there. It's so big it rivals subprime.
I'm talking about the student loan bubble.
Recently, the outstanding volume of student loans passed $1 trillion. What's more bothersome is that the average individual amount owed by...
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In their "final" revision of their estimate of the fourth quarter 2011 GDP, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) found that the annualized rate of U.S. domestic economic growth was 2.97%, down a mere 0.01 percent from their last estimate for the f...
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The consumer confidence index showed expectations for high inflation in the next six months has reached its highest level in six months. The MIT survey has been updated and shows inflation tilting back up. I really wonder about prices and quality of...
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Charting gasoline prices against income and GDP provides some interesting results.
Since rapidly rising gasoline prices are in the news, let's look at some charts of gasoline and the economy, courtesy of frequent contributor B.C. These depi...
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.Self-Serving Accounting
There’s been an ongoing row about changes in lease accounting. Big players in the leasing industry (think GE) have been fighting the changes tooth-and-nail. This article had some interesting data on the consequences of the n...
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Yesterday, the Fed announced that it will continue to keep interest rates low "until late 2014 or until we all get fired, whichever comes first." The market immediately rallied, as hopeful investors cheered the news that the Fed&nb...
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Since "to QE3 or not to QE3" is once again the big question on investors minds, I'm going to share my thoughts on this before we get to the charts.
The Federal Reserve Board meets next week, and as has become somethi...
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The January 2012 numbers for Social Security (SS) show a mixed picture. The results mirror what is going on in the economy. There is clear evidence that revenues at SS are recovering; there is equally clear evidence that America’s social expenditures...
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By Phil of Phil's Stock World This chart from the NYTimes pretty much says it all: The average annual inflation-adjusted return for the S&P 500 has been in decline since the late 90s, the decline only paused in the 00s and that fooled us into thinking it was a recovery...
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It’s been about a week since the Federal Reserve announced its new policy of providing information to the public regarding the direction of US interest rates. The new policy is not, generally, a surprise. The Wall Street Journal’s Jon Hilsenrath to...
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January 6, 2012
A Historical Cycle Bodes Ill for the Markets
By FLOYD NORRIS
AT the turn of the last century, it was widely accepted that American stocks were virtually certain to be good long-term investments. Now, far fewer people are confident of...
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SPX, RUT, Silver Updates: The Ongoing Power of the Bernanke Put
On Monday, Bernanke emerged from his lair and jawboned QE3 into virtual existance, again sending the market skyrocketing. Before I go much further, I want to put up a chart I stole from Zero Hedge, who stole it from Strategas Resea...
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