Economy

1984 + Bono = Life Imitating Art

By |2018-09-24T17:06:08-04:00September 24th, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

It was never trade wars. Geopolitics draws the online clicks, real answers were always something else. In a world where populism is the rising political strain, you would think there would be honesty in trying to assess its roots. It would require, however, honest thinking. That’s been in short supply for a very long time. Last week, CNBC reported the [...]

Eurodollar University Collateral; May 29 – We Know Who It Wasn’t

By |2018-09-24T17:16:11-04:00September 24th, 2018|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

At one time, economics actually cared about eurodollars. Maybe it was because the thing was so new, it was a hot, sexy topic, the kind of strange and unusual deviation from the norm that can grasp someone’s attention and hold it. Perhaps it was the way in which it all began, an entire monetary system clandestinely sorted together out of [...]

Eurodollar University Toronto; Hierarchy, Money, and Consequences

By |2018-09-24T11:53:17-04:00September 24th, 2018|Alhambra Research, Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

Eleven years apparently isn't near enough. For the occasion of yet another year passing since August 9, 2007, and nothing much having been done about it, in partnership with MacroVoices I published a second series of Eurodollar University. Whereas Season One focused on the history and buildup of shadow money, where it came from and why, Season Two moved on [...]

Monetary Hierarchy, Independence, And Shaming Greenspan Yet Again

By |2018-09-21T17:30:01-04:00September 21st, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

In June 2003, while discussing the vote that would take the federal funds rate to its then-lowest point, 1%, Alan Greenspan committed what may have been the greatest monetary sin of modern times. The focus for much of the discussion was Japan, that country’s central bank pioneering at that early date all the things the Fed and other majors would [...]

Not Stealth Taper, Scared Taper

By |2018-09-21T15:49:14-04:00September 21st, 2018|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

Just like Jay Powell is surely hoping for some help from Mother Nature, the central bankers at the BoJ have to be wishing for more on their side of the Pacific. The US Federal Reserve will be looking for a repeat of last year’s Harvey and Irma effects out of Florence. It looks like they’ll need them. Japanese officials have [...]

Synchronized Again?

By |2018-09-21T12:14:10-04:00September 21st, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Last year around this time, the tropics provided some unintentional basis for what would become hysteria. Hurricane Harvey by soaking a major metropolitan area with a biblical amount of rainfall delighted Keynesians everywhere. So much destruction, so much economic growth potential on the rebuild. Then Irma flirted with the Gulf Coast spine of Florida for good measure. For several months, [...]

Housing Slump Continues

By |2018-09-20T18:00:36-04:00September 20th, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) today picks right up where we left off yesterday. The Census Bureau had reported another month suggesting a rough spot in real estate. More recent housing data isn’t encouraging, either. The lower the unemployment rate goes, the main emphasis of this “boom”, the worse the housing market becomes; not because one follows inversely the [...]

Processing Powell’s Rout

By |2018-09-19T17:53:47-04:00September 19th, 2018|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

The US is going it alone. The rest of the world isn’t so synchronized like it was, purportedly, in 2017. No matter, at least for Americans. Even Europe, last year’s poster boy for what this upswing was going to accomplish, has thoroughly disappointed. The United States is just going to have to leave everyone else behind with no regrets. The [...]

New(s) Housing

By |2018-09-19T16:22:26-04:00September 19th, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Back in March, the Kansas City branch of the Federal Reserve stated the obvious. US home construction was stuck near the lowest level in the 60 years of records being kept. Despite a decade having passed since the prior bust turned to boom, and with the economy booming, it was apparently worth mentioning. Obviously, it wasn’t obvious to everyone since [...]

Brazil Money Math

By |2018-09-19T12:41:14-04:00September 19th, 2018|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

On June 10, 2013, Brazil’s central bank announced an allotment of 40,000 currency swap contracts at auction. This was the second operation carried out in short order that month, following weakness in the real, Brazil’s currency (BRL), against the dollar. In order to forestall any further declines, central bank intervention has long been a frontline tool in EM arsenals. But [...]

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