Archive for July, 2016

Dudley Speech

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley spoke this evening in Indonesia. He created a gaggle of headlines. Here is a link to the speech.   Here are some of the headlines: *        01-Aug-2016 09:15:00 AM - NEW YORK FED'S DUDLEY SAYS U.S. CENTRAL BANK SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS IN ...

Aging Baby Boomer Alert

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the great Beatles album "Revolver". It followed the even better "Rubber Soul"and preceded one of the greatest rock albums ever, "Sgt.Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band". Hard to believe that was half a century ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolver_(Beatles_album)  

Oil Patch Angst

Sunday, July 31st, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Oil Giants Find There’s Nowhere to Hide From Doomsday Market Joe Carroll Exxon posts worst profit in 17 years, missing estimates Chevron’s third straight loss capped longest streak in decades   Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc this week reported their lowest quarterly profits since 1999 and 2005, respectively. Chevron Corp.’s third ...

Apple Floods Market With Debt

Saturday, July 30th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: July 29, 2016 — 1:13 PM EDT Debt investors’ irrepressible appetite for Apple Inc. turned the company into the biggest corporate-bond issuer in the world as it raised more than $80 billion in just four years. Now, some analysts are asking whether that’s too much, too fast. On Thursday, Apple sold ...

Bullish on Gold and Bearish on PHD Economists

Saturday, July 30th, 2016

I always enjoyed reading the well written and erudite Interest Rate Observer by Jim Grant. It certainly had its share of miscues but it was always quite logical and it stimulated one's thinking in an unconventional way. Barron's interviewed Grant this weekend. Via Barron's: For the past 33 years, Grant’s Interest Rate ...

More GDP

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Via Chris Low at FTN Financial: The economic landscape looks very different this morning after the GDP report and annual revisions. The slowdown from peak growth in 2014 is more apparent and growth lately is downright weak, averaging just 1% in the past three quarters. In the second quarter, growth rose to ...

Weak GDP

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Via Millan Mulraine at TDSecurities: US: Economic Recovery Stuck in First Gear  ·         GDP advanced at a very paltry 1.2% q/q in Q2, disappointing the market consensus for a more robust 2.5% q/q advance. ·         Consumer spending, however, was one of the bright spot of this report, though the buoyant spending performance was ...

FX

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Via Marc Chandler at Brown Brothers Harriman: Kuroda Hesitates, Yen Advances, Focus Turns to Europe and North America The BOJ increased its ETF purchases from JPY3.3 trillion a year to JPY6 trillion There was a last minute private sector attempt to buy Monte dei Paschi, Italy's troubled bank The European bank ...

Surfeit of Oil

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Via WSJ: By Sarah McFarlane and Jenny W. Hsu July 29, 2016 5:31 a.m. ET 0 COMMENTS Oil prices extended their recent slide on Friday, as a deluge of oil and refined products in the market weighed heavily, keeping prices near three-month lows. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, fell 1.2% to $42.71 a barrel on ...

Stiglitz Calls Apple Tax Accounting a Fraud

Friday, July 29th, 2016

Via Bloomberg: Nobel laureate tells Bloomberg TV tax law needs to be changed Apple has defended its practices, called for tax code overhaul Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz said U.S. tax law that allows Apple Inc. to hold a large amount of cash abroad is “obviously deficient” and called the company’s attribution ...