The Social Security Trust Fund (SSTF) 2012 report to Congress is now out (link). It’s 242 pages and contains a great deal of information. I have reviewed a number of sections in the report that I consider to be key measures of SS’s health. Not one …
America’s Export-Import Bank (Exim) is tapped out. Its authority runs out on May 31 and Congress has to agree to some form of extension. Exim has $100 billion of borrowing authority, none of which shows up on the federal balance sheet. It may have al…
There will be some drama, and few splashy headlines out of the G-20 meeting in D.C. this weekend. Europe is cracking up (again), and the IMF and big guns of the G-20 will spout about “expanded firewalls” and “global co-ordination” in the final …
Some much needed rain is headed to the East Coast for the weekend. The question is, “Will it be enough to end the drought”?
I look after a five-acre pond that’s thirty miles north of NYC. There’s not much to it. I keep the sluice clean, maint…
The Senate torpedoed the Administration’s Buffet Rule.
This was a dumb piece of legislation. The joke was that it would have only raised $5b a year. That’s chump change. It never had a chance of passing. It was a show pony for the November …
Janet Yellen, Bernanke’s soul mate (and mouthpiece) spoke last week. She argued that the Federal Reserve’s Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) should be maintained for another three years.
Tim Geither, Obama’s side kick, had a completely different take …
The ‘risk off’ trade is commanding the markets. A subtle, but interesting example is the EURCHF.
For four days the EURCHF has held to 1/8th percent away from the official 1.2000 peg. It sits at 1.2016 as I write.
Wherever you look, from China to…
On Monday and Tuesday the market’s attention will be on the USA and the negative economic implications of the Nonfarm payroll (NFP) miss. Market eyes will also be focused on the bond markets in Italy and Spain. As of last Thursday, Europe seemed to b…
I got a chuckle from this article in the Economist: (Link)
For several years I have been pushing against all of the voices saying that it was essential that financial derivatives be banned or that their use be dramatically curtailed.
It isn’t tha…
There was a mini flash crash in the EURCHF cross this morning. Two charts on the price move:
(Link and Link)
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I was watching markets on a screen. When I saw the EURCHF price break I called a lady I know on an FX desk. She picked up t…
