The Kansas City Fed Symposium was steeped in boredom as all the hype failed to live up to the expectations of the media. The excitement centered around Mario Draghi potentially dropping hints about the beginning of quantitative tightening (QT). Rick Santelli spoke with former FOMC Governor Mark Olson, who rightfully predicted Chair Yellen would not reveal any sense of Fed intentions but he was dead wrong about Draghi. Olson opined that Yellen put the spotlight on President Draghi, but the ECB President must have suffered stage fright as he very bland when speaking to concerns about the Trump administration’s move to economic nationalism. There was not a single word about ECB policy.
Archive for the ‘Regulation’ Category
Notes From Underground: It’s All About the Narrative
August 27, 2017Notes From Underground: Warren Knocks Out Mnuchin
May 18, 2017In Thursday’s testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin took a beating from Senator Elizabeth Warren over the issue of Glass-Steagall. There are many policy issues in which I disagree with Senator Warren but when it comes to Wall Street regulation, she is one of the most knowledgeable people in the Senate and far beyond those walls. During the Great Financial Crisis she appeared regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg television networks. While merely a Harvard law professor, she offered great insights and understood the depths of the problems that caused the crisis. If Jamie Dimon had not blocked her appointment as head of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (a wild conjecture on my part), she would not be a U.S. Senator. After president Obama caved in to Wall Street pressure, Warren ran for the Senate in Massachusetts in 2012, defeating Scott Brown.
Notes From Underground: Just a Song Before I Go
February 14, 2017We had to get back home
And when we opened up the door
I had to be alone
Notes From Underground will be taking a short break. I will be relaxing unless something major breaks, in which I will chime in with commentary. I will also be reissuing previous blogs related to Greece and the IMF from these dates:
Every now and then I like to revisit the 1,200 or so blogs I have written since December 2009 and take a measure of their relevance in today’s world. WordPress has a high quality archive so my readers can scroll back and look to see where we have traveled since the inception of Notes From Underground.
Now, let’s look at Tuesday’s testimony from Fed Chair Janet Yellen before the Senate Banking Committee, as well as other news tidbits.
Notes From Underground: The FED IS WAY OFF BASE — A RATE HIKE IS NOT NEEDED
August 24, 2016Janet Yellen and company are discussing the wrong issue. A FED FUNDS rate hike has already taken place due to the increase in LIBOR rates, which has led to a pricing of the December eurodollar futures contract, currently trading at 99.08–an effective six month yield of 92 BASIS POINTS. This due to the Oct. 14 regulatory compliance deadline for money market funds. In order to ensure there’s enough liquidity to protect against unknown outflows, institutional prime funds are shortening the maturities of their commercial paper, CD holdings, pushing up the CP/CD rates and LIBOR with it. Some prime funds have converted to government-only to circumvent the impending regulations, which has created more demand for U.S. Treasuries. (According to the SEC’s July money market report, govt funds had inflows of $77 billion while prime funds saw outflows of $41 billion.) As a result, the TED spread has widened 15 BASIS POINTS during the past two months. The September eurodollar/fed fund futures spread is trading at 53 basis points. WHAT THE FED HAS TO DO IS BEGIN SHRINKING ITS BALANCE SHEET BY 100 BILLION ASSETS A MONTH. Why?
Notes From Underground: Let’s Deflate the Cult of Personality and Media-Inflated Infallibility
August 18, 2015Some follow-through from yesterday: The DAX,Dow and Russell 2000 closed below their 200-day moving averages but it is early in the week so while a negative it is not definitive of any sustaining activity. Just another effort to be attentive to global developments. The Chinese markets were under assault last night, which led to a selloff in copper and silver prices although GOLD remained firm. Some analysts maintain that the selling in copper and silver was due to having meet margin calls with account collateral being liquidated. I have no argument with that analysis but if so silver should regain itself above 15.10 and GOLD should rise above its recent highs. If China’s recent market developments is the onset of global deflation the world’s central banks will be forced into renewed crisis mode and the precious metals will again be viewed as a “reliable haven.” Let the market be your guide for theory confirmation and have your technical levels ready especially for GOLD resistance.
Notes From Underground: Who Knows What Lurks In the Mind Of the BOE, the Shadow?
July 9, 2014Tomorrow the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee meets to decide interest rates. Governor Mark Carney has recently confused markets by saying that interest rates would probably rise sooner than forecast. Then Mr. Carney changed directions by following the FOMC and suggesting that the slack in the labor market would allow the BOE to stay the present course and keep interest rates at present levels for an extended period. Overnight rates are currently at 0.50% and with the British pound strengthening against most currencies the BOE is expected to maintain the status quo.
Notes From Underground: The peripheral nations are trying to get ahead of the inflation curve … with CAUTION
July 29, 2010Last night, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand raised the overnight interest rates as expected from 3.00 percent from 2.75 percent. This was no surprise as the market widely had anticipated it. The move by the Central Banks of India and Israel was also expected, although the probabilities of the Israeli move were less than the others. So New Zealand raised rates and the currency was sold off, which has significantly weakened on the crosses. The market had a very negative reaction to RBNZ Chief Alan Bollard’s very cautious comments about rates going forward. With KIWI inflation running at an annualized rate of 2 percent, the RBNZ feels it is now ahead of inflation and will watch global growth and see how it effects New Zealand. Bollard expressed concern about the recent strength of the Kiwi and in his statement said:
“The New Zealand dollar has appreciated in recent weeks.This appreciation is inconsistent with the softeningin the New Zealand’s economic outlook …”
Notes From Underground: G-20 is waste of time and energy; finreg is just a waste
June 27, 2010Germany added liquidity but it was all directed at the British goalie David James–nothing austere about their World Cup peformance. The news from the G-20 was as expected: Nothing short of a waste of time and the resulting communique will be the paradigm of vacuousness. The Chinese took center stage in that they spoke up for the developing nations, stating they wanted input in the discussions about global problems. We agree with the Chinese that the G-8 is an atavistic appendage of a past colonial world and is merely the delusional forum for those wishing to hold onto a past that left the arena long ago. Yes, we are sure that Russia, Brazil and the others that make up the most robust members of the emerging world want to advise the likes of Italy, Spain and France who have certainly failed to get their own economic houses in order.
Notes From Underground: The G-20 is in disarray no matter how much spin is applied (but it’s making us dizzy)
June 22, 2010The British released their budget today and it was pretty much as advertised. George Osborne, the U.K.’s chancellor of the exchequer, announced VAT tax raises and other revenue enhancers in an attempt to trim the British budget. The discussion now turns to whether the budget will be too AUSTERE for the times. The fact that economic growth in the developed nations is anemic, at best, is raising concerns that the Brits and Europeans are removing fiscal stimulus at a time when the economic recovery is still too fragile.
Notes From Underground: G20 Dead as Geithner comes up short in effort to criticize the German austerity measures and the ban on shorting and naked CDSs
May 27, 2010Oh well, another day of market volatility emanating from the four corners of the globe. The Korean Peninsula sits on edge, the Chinese say that they are still investing in Europe, the U.S. Congress is still in the throes of financial regulation, and Treasury Secretary Geithner stops in Europe to add to confusion to a muddled mess. The Chinese denial of the SAFE rumor led to a sharp equity rally and in general a market profile of risk on: the dollar sells off as money searches for return rather than safety. The financial world is truly the soap opera “As the World Turns.” Volatility is here to stay and the most important task is to find the dynamic that is in play at any one time. Is it LIBOR, commodities, easy money? Which ultimately drives the risk-on/risk-off drama?