Because of the linearity that is presumed a fact of cyclicality, economists and the media continue to be shocked that what seemed like improvement one month doesn’t mean much for the economy in the coming months. And so time and again we find where conditions appear to progress and are thus extrapolated into the long sought after rebound from “transitory” [...]
In 1991, economist Ronald H. Coase was awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, colloquially referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics. His lecture that December given while collecting it was notable in good part not just for his contributions but rather how he saw why such contributions were actually necessary. As he said [...]
Jeffrey Snider: The Great Recession Wasn’t a Recession at All According to Alhambra Investment’s Jeffrey Snider, it was a depression. BUFFALO- In an exclusive conversation with Real Vision TV, Jeff Snider, head of global research and a chief investment strategist for Alhambra Investment Partners, reveals the real reason policy responses from central banks aren’t working. The investment researcher, who [...]
For October 2014, the ISM estimated that its Chicago Business Barometer was a blistering 66.2. Encompassing much of the Midwest and a good deal of auto and parts production, that level seemed to make sense. As any economist would say then, the US economy was on the verge of a breakout and according to the labor statistics maybe even one [...]
The most remarkable aspect of the WTI crude oil futures curve this month has been its amazing ability to maintain its shape no matter which direction or by how much. Previously, as “dollar” pressures either built or ebbed, the futures curve would either steepen at the front (liquidation pressure) or flatten toward more normal backwardation (easing of the “dollar” difficulties). [...]
The massive wildfires in Alberta earlier this year had a tremendously negative effect upon not just the oil sector but all of Canada. Not surprisingly, Canadian GDP released today was abysmal. Falling 1.6% in Q2, that was the worst quarter since 2009. Fortunately for the Bank of Canada who had been “stimulating” again since last July when it cut the [...]
Repo fails in the past two weeks (the week of August 17 the most current figures) were both more than $192 billion. Though that level is highly elevated, those were actually the fewest fails since mid-June, and the fewest in consecutive weeks since early May. The 8-week average remains about $245 billion, a noticeable increase from even last year’s “dollar” [...]
A eurodollar futures contract affords the buyer the opportunity to obtain a $1 million eurodollar deposit for a three-month term at the expiration and execution of the contract. The rate to be paid for that deposit is 100 points minus 3-month LIBOR for spot settlement on the 3rd Wednesday of the contract month. If 3-month LIBOR on June 20, 2018 [...]
For a central bank, deflation is the starting point which makes inflation the emphasis. So long as there is a “small” amount of positive inflation then economists have suggested deflation, thus depression, becomes impossible. The reason for that belief is twofold, first having to do with the margin for “error”; that is a small positive inflation rate acts as a [...]
The only economic data of note today was the notoriously unreliable personal income and spending figures. The data series contained within the suite are subject to not just major benchmark revisions but significant revisions within just the high frequency time frames. Perhaps the most pertinent example of this is the personal savings rate which has been revised all over the [...]
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