Analysis Topic: Interest Rates and the Bond Market
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Friday, October 23, 2015
ECB Putting Federal Reserve in a Bad Spot / Interest-Rates / ECB Interest Rates
Friday, October 23, 2015
Europe Admits QE Has Failed, Promises More Of It / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
New Age monetary policy has begun to resemble the form of insanity in which a patient repeats the same behavior while expecting a different outcome.
Throughout the developed world, interest rates are at record lows and central banks continue to pump out newly-created currency. Yet growth remains tepid, inflation is nonexistent and debt of every type continues to mount. And instead of recognizing that somewhere in their guiding theory lurks a fatal flaw, governments and central banks just keep upping the ante. Today it was Europe, where central banks have been expanding their balance sheets (i.e. running the printing presses) aggressively…
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Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Insane “Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin” Option Ruled Out By U.S. Treasury To Avert New Debt Crisis / Interest-Rates / US Debt
The silly and somewhat insane uber Keynesian “Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin” appears to be now firmly off the table.
The US Congress has once again ruled out the possibility of issuing a “trillion dollar platinum coin” floated as a possible solution to the looming US Debt Crisis.
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Friday, October 16, 2015
Can the Fed Really Print Money? What Would Negative Interest Rates Do? / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Most people believe the Fed can print money. Caught on tape, former Fed chair Ben Bernanke once admitted the Fed prints money.
However, in Hoisington's Third Quarter 2015 Review, economist Lacy Hunt makes the claim the Fed cannot print money. Let's take a look, emphasis mine.
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Thursday, October 15, 2015
What the 'Junk-Bond Crisis' Means for Muni Bonds / Interest-Rates / International Bond Market
Dr. David Eifrig writes: It could happen next week... or next month...
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
US Interest Rate Hike Odds For March 2016 Fall Below 50% / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
3rd Quarter GDP Forecast Slips to 0.9%
Following today's retail and business sales reports, the Atlanta Fed GDPNow Forecast for third quarter GDP slipped 0.1 percentage points to 0.9%.
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Brainard's Wake-up Call to Fed on U.S. Rate Hike Calls / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
The growing inverse correlation between the frequency of Fed speeches and uniformity of the message on monetary policy action cannot be ignored. The newest member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors hasn't made too many speeches, but her message has been on point since her first speech in June.
In her speech yesterday, Lael Brainard, Federal Reserve Governor since June of this year, dealt a prominent blow to the hawks at the Fed, by contradicting three major premises upon which calls for a 2015 rate hike are built. Having served as Undersecretary of the Treasury for International Affairs for over three years, she knows a few things about international developments. Here are some of the central points of her speech:
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Tuesday, October 13, 2015
The Mindless Stupidity of Negative Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
MoneyMorning.com By Lee Adler, Editor's Note: We're sharing this Wall Street Examiner column with you today because negative interest rates are destroying trillions of dollars in wealth in Europe right now, cheered on by some of the "smartest" economists in the world – who want to bring NIRP here. Here's Lee Adler with some facts that show why negative rates are a horrible idea…
There are troubling signs that the doves at the Federal Reserve are considering a negative interest rate policy (NIRP) as a way to handle "the next crisis" – and there's always a next crisis…
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Monday, October 12, 2015
Move over ZIRP... Here Comes NIRP! / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Precious metals prices enter the new week looking to extend the rally that began Oct. 2nd. Silver has gained nearly 10%, and gold is up almost 3.5%. The notion that the Federal Reserve governors may have missed their window to raise interest rates is beginning to sink in with investors.
In fact, if the U.S. economy should fall into recession, investors may see central planners move from zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) to the launch of negative interest rates.
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Monday, October 12, 2015
IMF Fears $3 Trillion Credit Crunch; Lagarde Warns 'IMF Credibility at Stake' / Interest-Rates / Global Debt Crisis 2015
IMF head Christine Lagarde says "IMF credibility is at stake". She blames the US for that development, and calls on US to give more voting power to China to solve the problem.
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Sunday, October 11, 2015
Negative Interest Rates Tantalizing Stupidity and the Case for Gold / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Financial Repression Insanity
Purportedly the Fed is ready willing and able to go to next step of financial repression insanity.
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Thursday, October 08, 2015
What Trump and Other Pessimists Don’t Understand About U.S. Debt / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Alexander Green writes:I received still more blowback from my last few columns about Donald Trump and the economic pessimists.
Some readers are in no mood to hear anything positive about the state of the country or our current economic situation.
Others realize that the economy is growing, the dollar is strong, inflation is low, American corporations are reporting record profits and U.S. household net worth just hit an all-time high.
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Wednesday, October 07, 2015
Summers Grades Janet Yellen's Fed Performance 'Incomplete' / Interest-Rates / US Federal Reserve Bank
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers joined hosts Stephanie Ruhle and David Westin on Bloomberg TV's new flagship morning program, Bloomberg <GO>. He discussed the economy, the 2008 financial crisis, and Janet Yellen's job performance as Federal Reserve Chair.
On what grade he would give Janet Yellen, Summers said: "I'd give her an incomplete because the term is not yet over. But she's done, as I say, I've got great respect for Janet Yellen."
Wednesday, October 07, 2015
QE3 is Over Get Ready for QE4 / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
As the world economy falters and sinks into the abyss of fiscal deflation, the banksters need a new game plan to rescue their debt created monetary system. Notwithstanding, the Federal Reserve would be hard pressed to introduce negative interest rates in the United States as has been tried and tested abroad. Maybe under circumstances of a total meltdown such desperate measures would be forced upon the public, but as conditions presently exist, another dose of quantitative easing is more likely.
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Monday, October 05, 2015
Financial Repression – Governments Boost their Coffers and Hold Down Interest Rates / Interest-Rates / US Debt
Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said the government will run out of money to pay its bills sooner than previously thought around November 5, 2015. Lacking sufficient cash, it would be impossible for the United States of America to meet all of its obligations for the first time in our history.
Again, another year, to increase the USA debt limit by the government. Will monetary and fiscal policy ever return to “sanity”? Will the political leaders ever become brave enough to quit spending more of the taxpayer’s monies than they bring in without fear of losing elections? Will Americans ever elect someone who doesn’t just promise them more and more “stuff,” and who will just start acting responsibly with the nation’s treasury?
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Monday, October 05, 2015
Fed Interest Rate Hike: "I don't care. It doesn't really make much of a difference" / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Steve Schwarzman, CEO, The Blackstone Group, joined hosts Stephanie Ruhle and David Westin for the debut of Bloomberg TV's new flagship morning program, Bloomberg <GO>. Schwarzman discussed the Federal Reserve, Volkswagen in the wake of the pollution controls scandal,2016, and Ohio State Governor John Kasich.
On whether there will be a rate hike from the Federal Reserve this year, Schwarzman said: "I don't care. It doesn't really make much of a difference. Interest rate hikes of 25% that people have been talking about for 2-1/2 years, I mean really. If you haven't discounted a lot of this stuff, they've got the issue that raising interest rates is probably a good thing. However their problem is that because the US currency has appreciated against almost everyone in the world, in effect, we've had the impact of an interest rate increase already through slowing of the economy."
Monday, October 05, 2015
U.S. Jobs Report Moves Fed One Step Closer to QE IV / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
The September Non-Farm Payroll Report came in with a net increase of just 142k jobs. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.1% and the labor force participation rate dropped to the October 1977 low of 62.4%. Average hourly earnings fell 0.04% and the workweek slipped to 34.5 hours. There were significant downward revisions of 22k and 37k jobs for the July and August reports respectively.
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Saturday, October 03, 2015
U.S. Interest Rate Hikes Keep On Slippin' Into the Future; Treasury Yields Sink Again / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Treasury Yields Drop Again
Curve Watcher's Anonymous notes a further plunge in yields today following the disastrous payroll and factory order reports.
Yield on the 30-year long bond fell to 2.80% from 2.85% yesterday. Yield on the 10-year note once again sports a 1-handle at 1.97%, down from 2.03%.
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Friday, October 02, 2015
U.S. Rake Hike - Fed Must Thank China and EM / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
The US September jobs report deals a significant blow to the notion of a 2015 Fed hike--against which we consistently disagreed throughout the year - as it achieved the gloomy feat of disappointing across the board -- headline rate (first back-to-back months of sub 200K in 18 months), downward revision in prior months (-59K), notable decline in average hourly earnings, and the unchanged unemployment rate was offset by the decline in the participation rate to a fresh 38-year lows.
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Friday, October 02, 2015
U.S. Three Month Treasury Yields Turn Negative, Recession Warning? / Interest-Rates / US Interest Rates
Curve Watcher's Anonymous points out 3-month treasury yields dipped briefly negative on several days recently.
Yield on the 3-month bond was negative again today. Here is a table I put together with Treasury Yield Quotes from Bloomberg.
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