Archive for April, 2015

What to Watch For Today

Monday, April 20th, 2015

Via the good folks at Bloomberg: WHAT TO WATCH: * (All times New York) * Economic Data * 8:30am: Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index, March, est. 0.1 (prior -0.11) * 8:30am: Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index, March, est. 0.1 (prior -0.11)</li></ul> * Central Banks * 10:05am: Bank of Canada’s Poloz speaks in New York * 12:00pm: Reserve Bank of Australia’s ...

(A Very Long ) FX

Monday, April 20th, 2015

Via Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman: Drivers for the Week Ahead - The US dollar's strong advance ended a month ago, yet we caution against getting too bearish the US dollar - The decline in oil prices, interest rates, and the euro was widely understood to give the regional economy better traction - ...

Emerging Angst Over Emerging Market Debt

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

Via the WSJ: By Carolyn Cui April 19, 2015 3:58 p.m. ET 2 COMMENTS Emerging-market bonds are being submerged in investors’ worries. Facing rising corporate defaults from Brazil to China to Ukraine, some portfolio managers are selling debt issued by emerging-market companies. Since 2009, the market for emerging-market corporate bonds denominated in dollars and other hard ...

Mighty Greenback Shaves Profits

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

The FT reports that this might be a rough week for equities as several large mutinationals report Q1 profits this week and the strong dollar should trim profits for the group. Via the FT: Dollar’s rise casts shadow on US earnings By Nicole Bullock in New York and Eric Platt and Roger Blitz ...

Hubris Meets Chutzpah

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

The WSJ reports that Jon Corzine whose career collapsed with the bankruptcy of MF Global several years ago is contemplating entering the hedge fund business. I guess the more spectacularly one flames out the higher the probability that one can collect money for a new venture. John Merriweather who guided ...

Then They Do Ease

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

Via the WSJ: By William Kazer Updated April 19, 2015 6:27 a.m. ET 0 COMMENTS BEIJING—China’s central bank cut the reserve requirement on bank deposits in a move to let banks lend more of their funds to struggling companies as the economy slows. The People’s Bank of China said on Sunday it was cutting the ...

China Has Room To Ease

Sunday, April 19th, 2015

Via Bloomberg: --  Bloomberg Bullet Pts and story  -- *PBOC GOVERNOR ZHOU XIAOCHUAN SPEAKS IN INTERVIEW IN WASHINGTON *CHINA HAS EASING ROOM, WON'T NECESSARILY USE IT: PBOC'S ZHOU *CHINA HAS MORE ROOM FOR EASING THAN OTHER NATIONS: PBOC'S ZHOU *CHINA HAS EASING ROOM IN RESERVE RATIO, INTEREST RATES: ZHOU *CHINA NEEDS TO ADJUST MONETARY POLICY CAREFULLY: ...

Positioning

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

Via Cheng Chen of TDSecurities: Treasury market net shorts saw a substantial decrease in the latest week, declining to $9.2B from $20.7B the week before. The biggest changes in positioning occurred in the 5yr and 10yr sectors with longs in both maturities rising substantially as shorts remained steady. Net longs in both ...

Merrill Lynch Research on the Impact of Higher Rates

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

Via Merrill Lynch Research: Companies in the rate hiking cycle. Our big picture theme is that there are important consequences (intended and unintended) of six years of extreme US monetary policy easing that included QE and ZIRP. Then as we move into the rate hiking cycle these consequences will be unwound. ...

Thoughtful Barron’s Piece on Low Interest Rates

Saturday, April 18th, 2015

Via Barron's: Up and Down Wall Street Low Interest Rates: A Self-Defeating Strategy Instead of encouraging spending and boosting the economy, low rates can lead people to squirrel more money away to meet their retirement or other goals. By Randall W. Forsyth April 17, 2015 10:14 p.m. ET When I think back on all the crap I ...