wholesale funding

How We Got Here: The Fed Warned Itself Part 2

By |2015-10-30T10:59:23-04:00October 30th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Part 1 can be found here Long before Bear Stearns, there was Countrywide and a glimpse into the yawning abyss. But there was also Northern Rock, a UK bank, and a series of tremors and earthquakes rumbling across Germany. It was an entirely surreal period, as the once-mighty German system ground to a spectacular halt on, of all things, US [...]

How We Got Here: The Fed Warned Itself in 1979 And Then Spent the Next Four Decades Studiously and Intentionally Avoiding the Topic

By |2015-10-29T13:42:26-04:00October 29th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Written Tuesday Oct 27 It bears repeating and re-emphasizing, but had the guts of the actual global financial system been fully appreciated in a timely manner the current state of the global “dollar” would be cause for celebration. It would matter not that the eurodollar is in full and often violent retreat because that is the exact method by which [...]

And Back to Oil Again

By |2015-10-29T13:33:24-04:00October 29th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Written Tuesday Oct 27 Even though oil production inside the United States has declined over the summer, it’s as if oil supply is all that continues to matter. With oil prices down significantly today, as well as since mid-October, the incessant appeal of oil supply blooms yet further even though there is so much more than that to take into [...]

Growing Sense of the Inevitable

By |2015-10-26T12:26:20-04:00October 26th, 2015|Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

With the ECB openly admitting worries about its own QE trying to justify more of it and then China on Friday adding its own mix, the third consecutive “double shot” just since June 27, you can be forgiven for considering the idea that all this talk about a global economic downside is finally starting to be taken seriously. A little [...]

Direct Links

By |2015-10-20T11:03:12-04:00October 20th, 2015|Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Earlier this year, not unlike China’s monthly variation, US manufacturing appeared to be shaking off the third straight extra-cold winter. By count of the ISM Manufacturing PMI, the sector was determined (by conventional assessment) to be weak but solid and forward. That rebound contributed to both the dominant recovery idea (anything down is anomaly) as well as Yellen’s “transitory” admonishments. [...]

Gold(man) Simplicity

By |2015-10-16T15:05:34-04:00October 16th, 2015|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

Goldman Sachs just reported an extremely rough quarter, and not just for a bank that has earned a reputation as being on the “right” side of trading. The bank’s (and it is a bank, now) annualized return on equity put it next to BofAML and below Citigroup, of all indignities. The reason, as always, is FICC. Reported revenue there was [...]

Now the Franc

By |2015-10-13T14:14:19-04:00October 13th, 2015|Bonds, Commodities, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

With Chinese trade figures for September threatening a further reset, it is worth noting (yet again) that “dollar” funding isn’t much changed in October. In fact, there are several additional references to resuming the downward slide. Gold has been steadily bid since the September payroll report on October 2, while the eurodollar futures curve behaves much as it did (almost [...]

Swap Spreads Implicate Huge ‘Dollar’ Divergence

By |2015-10-09T17:41:56-04:00October 9th, 2015|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

You wouldn’t know it from stock trading or commodities, but when China reopened after its latest Golden Week holiday there was an obvious effect. Stocks have continued to surge while commodities overall have had a good week (copper up another $0.07 today, with WTI at about $50). Inside the money markets, however, China’s open was met with far less enthusiasm, [...]

Payroll Reports Sink ‘Dollar’ Further

By |2015-10-02T12:58:13-04:00October 2nd, 2015|Bonds, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets|

The doubts about the payroll report were taken as no doubts at all in “dollar” trading. The three indications I gave yesterday in terms of representing liquidity were all pushed farther after the jobs data essentially confirmed the direction where this is all likely heading. While the yen may have been more muted, and the “shock” wearing off in later [...]

Not Much Change in ‘Dollar’ Liquidity

By |2015-10-01T14:28:22-04:00October 1st, 2015|Bonds, Currencies, Economy, Federal Reserve/Monetary Policy, Markets, Stocks|

It never fails when you issue a stark liquidity warning that in the day right after almost everything enjoys a nice rebound: stocks were up, including REM slightly, while even copper was bid almost $0.10 higher. There is, in all seriousness, no account for timing which is beyond any attempts here. In describing liquidity what we are taking into account [...]

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