Remember the good old days when China suffered the wrath of the toothless tiger of International Organizations and their worthless photo ops and selfies? The Germans are the target of the policy makers struggling to combat global financial imbalances as the German current account surplus as percentage of GDP far exceeds that of China, making the Germans the target of the world’s slings and arrows for creating such outrageous fortunes.
Posts Tagged ‘non-performing loans’
Notes From Underground: ECB’S Mario Draghi Dances, DOLLAR LONGS SEARCH FOR AN EXIT
June 6, 2013In a “flash,” the LONG DOLLAR positions of the taper crowd came a crashing down upon committed U.S. dollar bulls. The position unwinding started during President Mario Draghi’s press conference. I was a very attentive listener to the Q&A session and am very hard pressed to see anything positive about Europe in Draghi’s answers. In fact, the EURO began its rally just after said that the ECB was “… technically ready for negative rates.” It seems that the ECB council was again discussing the possibility of having EONIA go negative in an effort to unlock the bank deposits currently sitting at the ECB. The fact that the ECB has drawn up plans for “GOING NEGATIVE” is not a bullish EURO indicator. The most bullish and honest statement from President Draghi was he maintained that the ECB has been the most conservative of all the central banks.
Notes From Underground: Mario Draghi Sings Castrato At The Frankfurt Financial Opera House
June 5, 2013Tomorrow brings two central bank interest rate announcements. First, at 6:00 a.m. CST the Bank of England will deliver its last decision under the guiding hand of Governor Mervyn King. Consensus calls for no change in the 0.50% lending rate or the current BOE asset purchase program. Governor King has been in favor of increasing the quantitative easing amount but has been outvoted by his board three consecutive meetings. It would be silly to affect a policy change before the new governor takes his place. Forty-five minutes later, the European Central Bank will announce its decision and it is expected to hold rates at 0.50%–the ECB cut its rate by 25 basis points at its last meeting.
Notes From Underground: Touring Europe With Rose Colored Glasses
May 29, 2013The Bank of Canada left interest rates unchanged and even maintained its “tightening bias” in the announced released this morning. It cited strengthening in the U.S. economy and the Japanese stimulus as positive global signs but noted that, “Europe, in contrast, remains in recession.” It is amazing that every central bank notes the weakness in Europe as a drag on global growth, but investors maintain a positive outlook on the European investment picture.” My glasses do not have a rose-colored tint and therefore I remain very skeptical about the ability of Europe to achieve any economic growth.