One of the most deceptive stumbling blocks to figuring this whole thing out has been the rigidly binary approach to whatever any central bank does. The public is given one of only two choices: either monetary policies have been Goldilocks, just right; or, the message from critics, it is always ever in danger of being too good. That’s it; those [...]
Maybe it’s just me, but if you’re going to scream about everyone screaming about inflation it’s probably not a good idea to use Janet Yellen’s face as this idea’s avatar. Even if most in the public likely don’t know why, this can’t help your credibility with the rest who absolutely do. And by “the rest”, who do I mean? A [...]
Since we’re still on the topic of Treasury auctions, here’s another one to take a closer look at. Yesterday, Treasury sold $18 billion in 5-year TIPS – the inflation protected security (91282CCA7) – and though there were plenty of bids they came in at prices somewhat out of whack with the secondary market. This left two-thirds of the offering to [...]
Sell-off. No, rout. Heck with that, Armageddon! It really had been that hysterical at times, and not just because it was declared a foregone conclusion. Certainly a big part of it, the faux certainty, more than that the gross overhyping of what really had been a relatively small change; the whole mainstream was afire with an inflationary mountain fashioned from [...]
Tomorrow represents the 6-month mark for the Treasury market. On August 4, 2020, nominal benchmark 10-year yields declined to their absolute closing lows. Over the half-year since, rates have generally been on the rise which should be a long enough period by which to categorize our interpretations of what it all means.Most mainstream commentary places any upward trend (of any [...]
The company isn’t bankrupt, it just doesn’t have the right currency in its reach to repay debts coming due. YPF is Argentina’s (former) gold mine, in this case the black gold of energy exploitation. State-owned, the business has obviously close ties to the ruling powers-that-be and a privileged place to go along with them. Its formal name, Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, [...]
Blame Milton Friedman for this one, too. The economist made many significant contributions to the advancement of economic understanding, but perhaps an equal number of extreme errors. For one thing, that whole bout with bank reserves and “high powered money” (what became QE) recommended in the late nineties to cure Japan of its obvious monetary illness. This followed from the [...]
On Monday, November, 9, pharma company Pfizer announced that in partnership with Germany’s BioNTech the pair had finally come up with the answer. The world infested with COVID could breathe easier safe in the knowledge a vaccine had been discovered, proven, and already close to approvals and production. “Today is a great day for science and humanity. The first set [...]
Even though it was everywhere, one of the primary things that struck me about the peak period for Reflation #3 was how ridiculous it got. If you have a strong argument, there’s no need for so much hyperbole. But it wasn’t just that, it had become openly ridiculous. Interest rates had nowhere to go but up, “they” said. Fine, it [...]
Rate cuts will be insurance against whatever “trade wars” will throw at the global economy. That’s the current line from monetary officials in the US, anyway. The real question to ask is, how would they know? Starting with trade wars. Is that really what’s behind all this? The evolution of the curves told you everything you need to know, and [...]
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