Archive for November, 2013
Monday, November 18th, 2013
Prices of Treasury coupon securities have manifested only very small changes in overseas trading. Against that background the largest moves have been in the 10s and 30s and those changes are quite marginal. Reports I have received indicate that there was active trading in the narrow range. In Asian time ...
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Sunday, November 17th, 2013
In an earlier post I wrote about the Volcker Rule and the Dodd Frank Bill. That seems to be the au courant topic for financial writers as the NYTimes Dealbook posted a story on the same topic. Enjoy.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on More on Volcker Rule
Sunday, November 17th, 2013
Marginal Revolution has an interesting post on the differences on a dove/hawk between those appointed by Democratic President and Republican Presidents. According to a study by economist Julio Suarez there is not much difference between them. Click on the link to the Washington Post story as there are some interesting ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Politics and the Fed
Sunday, November 17th, 2013
The Volcker rule as incorporated into the Dodd-Frank bill is not the brainchild of Paul Volcker but is the mutant offspring of apparatchiks serving on the House and Senate Committees which crafted Dodd Frank. The initial Volcker proposition would have banned speculative investments by banks and if I recall correctly ...
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Saturday, November 16th, 2013
I have recently posted three separate pieces on the topic of holiday season retail sales. The conversation began with a Gallup Poll report that consumers had ramped down estimates of what they thought they might spend this holiday season. I also commented on comments from Walmart officials that they expected ...
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Christmas Spending Conversation Continued
Friday, November 15th, 2013
According to a story in the WSJ, insurance company United Health Care has dropped thousands of doctors from its Medicare Advantage networks in recent weeks. The company cited "significant changes and pressures in the health-care environment." An official at UNH stated that ""It's no secret that we are under substantial ...
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Friday, November 15th, 2013
Earlier I posted pieces on consumer spending and the upcoming Christmas season. The salient point of the WSJ piece and the Gallup Poll result was than one should not expect a robust spending season. One reader commented that retail companies are hiring and that is a better indicator of what ...
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Friday, November 15th, 2013
I spoke with an options trader today and he offered the opinion that volatility is cheap. In his opinion the resting position in that market is a short vol trade and he thought that hedge funds and money managers own the trade. The logic is that we will be contained ...
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Friday, November 15th, 2013
Earlier in a post with catchy Merry Christmas headline I wrote about a Gallup poll which showed that consumers were planning to retrench on holiday gift spending this season. The WSJ has a blog called the CFO Journal and it reiterates the point.
Via the WSJ CFO Journal
By David Hall
News Editor
The ...
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
Friday, November 15th, 2013
Dealers reporting better buying of long bonds as market rebounds following a very weak Empire Manufacturing report. It looks as though nearly every component piece is lower. If I am reading it correctly the only sub category which increased is Technology Spending while ten other categories declined.
Posted in Uncategorized | Comments Off on Some Buying