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Tangible Benefits Are Conspicuously Absent

By |2013-03-26T15:56:45-04:00March 26th, 2013|Markets|

There should be much closer scrutiny on attaining success through monetary means. As with the Federal Reserve in the United States, the ECB seems to be judged solely on the asset prices of a select group of asset classes. But somewhere, someone should be monitoring the actual efficacy of all of these interventions. I think it tends to get lost [...]

It’s Never Different ‘This Time’

By |2013-03-26T11:25:00-04:00March 26th, 2013|Markets|

It was only a few months ago that everyone was told to move on, the euro was fixed and the Eurozone was on its way to recovery and eventual prosperity in uniform political solidarity. There was some apprehension because that proclamation was the third made in as many years, but this time was supposed to be different because there were [...]

Europe’s Debtor Prison

By |2013-02-20T17:07:15-05:00February 20th, 2013|Markets|

Last November, the Spanish government withdrew €4 billion from the state’s Social Security reserve fund to pay pension obligations. That followed a €3 billion withdrawal just two months before, in September 2012, to cover “unspecified” needs at the Spanish treasury. It was also disclosed that the Social Security fund had allocated over 90%, about €65 billion, into Spanish sovereign debt. [...]

As The Euro Turns (Again)

By |2013-02-07T15:27:48-05:00February 7th, 2013|Markets|

Financial markets in Europe have been a sea of tranquility since last summer. The ECB and Mario Draghi’s promise for unlimited interventions began another quieting period that suppressed bond spreads that has led to the premature “euro crisis is over” sentiment. During that time, the Greek settlement (or third default) on December 10 seemed to have abated the heavy pressure [...]

Now They Tell Us

By |2012-11-15T12:24:48-05:00November 15th, 2012|Markets|

I suppose there is some benefit to having an "official" recession period - standardizing comparison periods and all. But this is not truly a newsworthy announcement by any means. Some economists expect Germany to remain on the plus side of GDP growth throughout, but recent data does not really offer much hope for that hope. "Word that both France and [...]

Judgment at Karlsruhe

By |2012-09-09T16:30:34-04:00September 9th, 2012|Currencies, Economy|

By Brian Cronin: Before starting on the issues this week, let me take a moment to observe that next Tuesday is the 11th anniversary of 9/11. That fateful day, also a Tuesday, saw close to 3,000 souls lost. 88% of them were Americans with the remaining 12% foreign nationals coming from over 90 countries. I was working in New York [...]

September Song

By |2012-09-03T13:07:45-04:00September 3rd, 2012|Currencies, Economy|

By Brian Cronin Before starting off on another trip around Europe, let me remind regular readers that about a month ago in my essay on Spain, “The Impossible Dream” (which you will find in Alhambra’s archives if you didn’t keep it), that Spain has 17 semi-autonomous regions who run their own finances, and for some of them, none too well. [...]

Fed, ECB Do Nothing, Markets Don’t Crash

By |2012-08-06T10:40:43-04:00August 5th, 2012|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Taxes/Fiscal Policy|

There's an old saying on Wall Street that the market will always act in a way that frustrates the majority of market participants. If that is true, then it goes without saying that the majority must be bearish because this market has had ample opportunities to move lower and steadfastly refuses to do so. Coming into last week the conventional [...]

Runaway Train

By |2012-07-29T17:55:01-04:00July 29th, 2012|Currencies, Economy|

From friend of Alhambra, Brian Cronin: Cards on the table: I consider myself a euroskeptic. You may already have gathered that if you’ve read enough of these essays. Having lived in the UK when Britain decided to join itself to the European Union in 1973 and seeing after that the creeping effects of what that meant for ten years before [...]

Drugged By Draghi

By |2012-07-30T06:57:02-04:00July 29th, 2012|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy|

Stock markets took off in the middle of last week as Mario Draghi promised to save the Euro: Within our mandate, the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. And believe me, it will be enough. To the extent that the size of the sovereign premia (borrowing costs) hamper the functioning of the monetary policy transmission [...]

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