dollar

(No) Dollars And (No) Sense: Eighty Argentinas

By |2020-03-30T17:46:41-04:00March 30th, 2020|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

India like many emerging market countries around the world holds an enormous stockpile of foreign exchange reserves. According to the latest weekly calculation published by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, that total was a bit less than half a trillion. While it sounds impressive, when the month began the balance was much closer to that [...]

Vital Lessons Still Not Learned: Be Careful About GFC2

By |2020-03-27T16:41:55-04:00March 27th, 2020|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

It’s one of those crisis-level-of-illiquidity things that if you heard about it in normal times it would make you shake your head in disbelief. During a full-blown meltdown maybe it’s not standard stuff, but given the chaotic conditions it doesn’t seem so preposterous, either. Negative convexity is an otherwise benign phenomenon in fixed income that when combined with a lack [...]

Collateral Shortage Goes Global, Hinting At The Way The (euro)Dollar Reaches Its Eventual End

By |2020-03-25T18:56:44-04:00March 25th, 2020|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Government securities have become so scarce that it is driving down repo rates. A collateral shortage that has become so acute, money dealers won’t part with their stock of government securities no matter what the price. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. Except, we’re talking about Japan and JGB’s here rather than UST’s. The trick is that both types [...]

Is GFC2 Over?

By |2020-03-17T19:47:28-04:00March 17th, 2020|Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

Is it over? That’s the question everyone is asking about both major crises, the answer is more obvious for only the one. As it pertains to the pandemic, no, it is not. Still the early stages. The other crisis, the global dollar run? Not looking like it, either. Stocks rebounded because of “major helicopter stimulus” or because that’s just what [...]

At The Worst Times, The Dollar Goes Down When It Goes Up

By |2020-03-09T18:57:31-04:00March 9th, 2020|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Is the dollar rising, or falling? Does it matter? In one sense, obviously it does. The way in which the dollar behaves dictates how everything else goes. The potential mix-up and confusion start when we have to define exactly what we mean by “dollar.” Or rising. The rising dollar doesn’t always rise. If we are talking about the US currency’s [...]

The Black (Eye) Curve

By |2020-03-09T12:04:02-04:00March 9th, 2020|Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

An honest-to-goodness oil crash. For a time this morning, the front month WTI futures contract had fallen into the $20s for the first time since Euro$ #3. Up to now, that prior outbreak had been the more (in)famous as far as crude prices have been concerned. Over the intervening years, it was thought that supply and demand had been made [...]

The TIC of CNY and China’s 2020 Risks

By |2020-02-19T17:23:14-05:00February 19th, 2020|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

What’s going on in China? It’s a question that is on everyone’s mind. While most attention is focused on the unfolding human tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic, the potential for it to be compounded by any economic fallout makes for even more urgency. The sad truth is that China was in rough shape heading into the coronavirus. How rough, though? [...]

The Dollar’s Demise And All That

By |2020-02-12T19:51:00-05:00February 12th, 2020|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Back last June, the dollar had broken its upswing. DXY, one major dollar index, had fallen sharply as had most if not all of the rest. This one had given up most of its “gains” in a relatively short period. That said, to some, the greenback had definitely hit its high. All downhill from there. It didn’t help, supposedly, that [...]

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