As I covered in NOTES yesterday, the three-ring circus was coming to town Thursday and the show was so fantastic that it dazzled investors worldwide. The RIKSBANK began the show by cutting its rate by 25 basis points to get the audience in a festive mood. Mervyn the Magnificent from the Bank of England did his laying down and going limp act so as not to be sawed in half by the by those magicians of the slight of hand. The BOE left everything as is and presented a very benign statement that offered up very little as to its rationale for maintaining the present rates as well as the same ASSET BUYING PROGRAM. The market was gawking at the rising financials in Europe when in the center ring, Marvelous Mario dropped his cape and headed out on the high wire in which the safety net was pretended to be removed or was totally transparent.
Posts Tagged ‘Fiscal Austerity’
Notes From Underground: Unemployment was softer then expected; and CFIUS must not have read the G-20 communique
July 5, 2010Friday’s unemployment number was close to consensus but the average hours worked and average hourly wages were a little on the soft side. Yes, the unemployment rate fell to 9.5 percent, but that was due to the amount of people that left the work force as the ability to find work is causing workers to leave the job search in frustration. The rate itself is not important at this point because a higher jobless rate with a more robust economy would signal that people were returning to the labor force–a good thing.