Archive for April, 2016

Greece in News (Again)

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via the FT: 16 minutes ago by: Mehreen Khan It’s nearly the summer, which must mean it’s time to worry about Greece again. Fears over the country’s future as part of the eurozone have flared up as Athens’ leftist government has been at loggerheads with its creditors over passing legislation on new reforms, agreeing ...

Robust Labor Market in Germany

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Number of jobless fell for seventh straight month in April Unemployment rate remains at record low level of 6.2% German joblessness extended its decline, underscoring the strength of the labor market as Europe’s largest economy seeks to absorb a wave of refugees. The number of people out of work fell by ...

Norway Wealth Funds Takes Hit

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via the FT: 16 minutes ago by: Richard Milne Norway’s $870bn oil fund recorded its third quarter of negative returns in the past year as weak stock markets from China to Europe weighed on its results. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund had a negative return of 0.6 per cent in the first quarter, ...

FX

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman: Central Banks Roil Markets The Bank of Japan defied expectations and its economic assessment and left policy unchanged. The FOMC failed to alter investors’ skepticism about a June hike The US reports weekly initial jobless claims and the first estimate of Q1 GDP The ...

FX

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via Kit Juckes at SocGen: <http://www.sgmarkets.com/r/?id=h10613a4e,16c59d8f,16c59d90&p1=136122&p2=2fa44b726dbd07cfd3f24c786623195f> The US economy isn't healthy yet and the Fed is not heading back to easy-money rehab. The RBNZ is on hold but only temporarily and the BOJ's policy-making looks increasingly uncertain. The result is a 3% appreciation by the yen, a 2% appreciation by the Kiwi ...

Standing Pat

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Keeps three key tools unchanged; majority forecast some action Policy makers delay forecast for reaching 2% inflation goal The Bank of Japan held off on expanding monetary stimulus, as Governor Haruhiko Kuroda and his colleagues opted to take more time to assess the impact of negative interest rates. The move ...

Aging Baby Boomer Alert

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Lawyers suing members of rock supergroup Led Zeppelin say their client is willing to settle a lawsuit over the band's most famous song--a claim potentially worth millions of dollars--for just $1. The catch is that band members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page would have to give dead rocker Randy California a writing credit on ...

FX

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Via Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman: Two Issues Loom Large Today - Soft Australia CPI and FOMC The FOMC statement is the North American highlight; March trade data will allow economists a last minute opportunity to adjust forecasts for Q1 GDP The short-term market was caught the wrong-footed when Australia ...

Worried About Leverage

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Via the FT: 6 hours ago by: John Authers Corporate America is swimming in cash. There is no great news about this, and no great mystery about where it came from. Seven years of historically low interest rates will prompt companies to borrow. A new development, however, is that investors are starting to ask ...

Public Pension Fund Accounting

Wednesday, April 27th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Darrell Preston Neil Weinberg April 27, 2016 — 5:00 AM EDT When Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin proposed his budget in January, he told lawmakers the teacher retirement system had $13.9 billion less than needed to cover promised pension benefits. The state’s audited financial statements earlier estimated the shortfall was about 55 percent ...