Analysis Topic: Interest Rates and the Bond Market
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Sunday, October 03, 2010
Crisis of US Monetary Policy, Quantitative Easing Doesn't Work / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Ed Yardley notes: Two economists, Seth B. Carpenter and Selva Demiralp, recently posted a discussion paper on the Federal Reserve Board's website, titled "Money, Reserves, and the Transmission of Monetary Policy: Does the Money Multiplier Exist?" [Here's the link.]
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Sunday, October 03, 2010
The Bernanke Treasury Bond Market Put / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
According to Market Edge: “After four weeks of impressive gains, stocks took a breather last week as both the DJIA and the NASDAQ ended the period with minor losses. The DJIA started the week with a 48.22 point (-0.4%) loss which was just the fifth losing session in September. Traders bought the dips throughout the week as the DJIA saw triple digit intra-day swings on both Tuesday and Thursday. Despite several disappointing economic reports, traders kept a bullish outlook throughout the week. For the period, the Dow lost 30 points (-0.3%) to close at 10829, snapping its four week win streak.&r
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Saturday, October 02, 2010
QE2 Money Printing, Why This Time Is Different / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Since the Fed’s most recent meeting, everyone seems to have an opinion about another round of extraordinary monetary stimulus and the economic and market reactions such a move could leave in its wake.
Many believe “this time is different” … words that tend to have a very poor track record of coming true.
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Saturday, October 02, 2010
Irish Financial Crisis Worsens, Peter Sutherland and Ireland’s Sovereign Wealth Fund / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2010
Last week, on “black Thursday” the Irish government in essence finally nationalized Allied Irish Bank. In response to the horrific national financial picture painted by Mr. Brian Lenihan, Ireland’s finance minister, Peter Sutherland, former Irish attorney general, hit the media road. Mr. Sutherland’s mantra was similar to that previously presented by his acolyte Mr. Honohan (head of the Irish Central Bank). This mantra stated that though the figures were lamentable they were “manageable.”
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Friday, October 01, 2010
Regime Uncertainty and Treasury Bond Yields / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Regime uncertainty has gained increasing recognition as the current economic troubles have persisted with little or no improvement since the economy reached a cyclical trough early in 2009. As described in my 1997 paper, regime uncertainty pertains to the likelihood that investors' private property rights in their capital and the income it yields will be attenuated further by government action.
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Friday, October 01, 2010
World Sovereign Debt Map / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis
Debt creates problems. It is seldom known to solve problems, especially in the long run. Countries with high debt are vulnerable to currency weakening as debt drives assets out of those countries towards low risk, high yielding countries.
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Thursday, September 30, 2010
How Bar Chart Patterns Signal High-probability Trade Setups / Interest-Rates / Learn to Trade
There's a little known joke among the trading community that goes like this: "A trader walks into a bar... pattern: 'Ouch!' "
Fact is, if you don't know what you're doing, price bar analysis can be a bit "painful." Finding a discernable pattern in their grouping can feel like finding a hair in a hay stack.
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Wednesday, September 29, 2010
U.S. Debt Options of Default or Hyperinflation / Interest-Rates / US Debt
The big financial myth-buster of the week is that the alleged deleveraging of the US consumer has in fact been a giant myth. According to the Wall Street Journal, if you account for defaults, US consumers have only pared down their debts by an annual rate of 0.8% since mid-2008.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Could Debtflation Cause Gold's Big Sell Off? / Interest-Rates / US Debt
David Galland, Managing Editor, The Casey Report writes: We recently received the following comment in our Q&A Knowledge Base.
Read full article... Read full article...Investors should be prepared to sell gold as either increased inflation expectations or doubts around debt sustainability force a sharp increase in US Treasury bond yields. Simply put, in an environment of high real interest rates, the allure of gold could disappear as quickly as it did in the early 1980s when Paul Volcker took control of the Federal Reserve.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
The Risks of Buying U.S. Treasury Bond Funds / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
A number of us here at Weiss have been warning you about the dangers of buying bonds in this ultra-low-interest-rate environment, especially longer-dated U.S. Treasuries.
But as I recently told my Dad’s Income Portfolio subscribers, I think mainstream investors are still ignoring the risks they’re taking with bonds, particularly when it comes to fixed-income mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Bank of England Confirms Policy of Stealing Savers Wealth via Negative Real Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / Savings Accounts
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England Charlie Bean effectively told savers to forget about receiving inflation beating interest rates and therefore should seek to spend their savings to boost the economy. The BoE's strategy continues to transfer wealth from savers to borrowers, with more than £20 billion transferred to date by means of negative real interest rates which typically pay savers half the rate of inflation CPI (3.1%) and 1/3rd the rate of the more recognised RPI inflation rate (4.7%) with the trend not relenting as rates continue to be cut all the way towards the bank base rate of just 0.5%.
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Monday, September 27, 2010
Are German Bunds Recovering? / Interest-Rates / International Bond Market
The story of the Bund throughout much of September was one of decline as traders first took profits and then went short. The Bund had enjoyed a long rally as traders fretted over the global economy and more specifically the US economic recovery, but sentiment changed early in September. Why was that?
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Saturday, September 25, 2010
Leveraging Junk Debt Off the Charts / Interest-Rates / US Debt
The massive door of the Mogambo Bug-Out Bunker (MBOB) was locked, and I was taking a little break, leisurely looking through the periscope/range finder/fire-control module, calmly reconnoitering the perimeter and keeping an eye on the neighbors, watching them acting like they are innocently mowing their lawns and washing their stupid cars, but who are actually spying on me, like I am too stupid to notice their treachery and perfidy.
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Friday, September 24, 2010
Fed Money Printing a Definition of Insanity, Doing the Same Thing and Expecting a Different Result / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
This week, Federal Reserve officials did it. They jumped the shark. Crossed the Rubicon. Bought a ticket on the express train to financial Never Never Land. Whatever you want to call it.
I say that because Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the rest of the members of the Federal Open Market Committee opened the door to a new round of quantitative easing, or “QE2.” Specifically, they said (with the important passages bolded by me):
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Friday, September 24, 2010
U.S. Money Printing Presses at Warp Speed, Stealth Monetization of U.S. Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Gonzalo Lira writes: Insofar as money is concerned, governments and central banks should be kept as far away from one another as a pedophile from Dakota Fanning. If ever the twain should meet, very bad things would happen. This is because of the disparate natures of government, on the one hand, and the central bank, on the other.
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Friday, September 24, 2010
Long Term Bonds, Inflation and Deflation / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Been thinking about Bonds, inflation, deflation, etc recently. Everyone seems to have a different opinion these days. Checking around all I could find on long term Gov't Bond rates was at the St. Louis FED. Could not find anything elsewhere. After reviewing the charts of Long Term Gov'ts since 1925, Moody's AAA since 1919, and Moody's BAA since 1919 ... I found a pattern.
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Thursday, September 23, 2010
Have You Considered International Bond ETFs For Income and Diversification? / Interest-Rates / International Bond Market
In these turbulent times, plenty of investors just want steady income. Others realize they need to look outside the U.S. as they ride out the storm. Yet in a world where some once-stable economies are starting to look like emerging markets, they also see the need for diversification.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
PIMCO's Bill Gross' $8.1 Billion Bet on Inflation / Interest-Rates / US Bonds
Dr. Steve Sjuggerud writes: "Bill Gross's PIMCO made an $8.1 billion wager," Bloomberg news reported last week.
Bill's bet is simple: He's betting inflation will return to the U.S. in the next 10 years. And he's willing to risk billions on the idea.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
FOMC Policy Statement, Fed's Level of Uneasiness Up Several Notches, Postpones Action / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
As expected, the target federal funds rate was left unchanged. President Hoenig of Kansas City cast the lone dissenting vote; he has taken the opposing stance in all meetings year-to-date.
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Wednesday, September 22, 2010
UK Debt Interest Spiral Time Bomb Explodes in August / Interest-Rates / UK Debt
The UK government borrowed a record amount of £13.3 / £15.9 billion in August (public sector net borrowing requirement), which brings total public sector net debt to £823 billion, 56% of GDP (excluding financial interventions - bank capital injections) / £935 billion (including financial interventions) 64% of GDP, which puts the economy within touching distance of breaking above £1 trillion for December 2010.
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