Today, CNBC‘s Steve Liesman interviewed San Fran Fed President John Williams. In a swipe at Fed gallows humor, President Williams presented Liesman with a T-Shirt that said the Fed was DATA DEPENDENT. The humor part was Williams’s effort to cut-off Steve Liesman’s well choreographed question which amounts to: “Come on, John, share your inside view about the possibility of a RATE RISE at the next FOMC meeting (just between us, John).” So as to make sure that Liesman understands the consistent answer: It is data dependent. If the FED wants to create some jobs it can send everyone with a bank account a free “Data Dependent” shirt, compliments of their regional Federal Reserve. All sarcasm aside, President Williams’s view puts added importance now to the inflation data on Friday and of course the retail sales input on Wednesday. The consensus on the CORE RETAIL SALES is 0.3% increase so a strong number would be above 0.6%. If the theory of data dependence holds then it should be the SHORT END of the curve that gets sold and here is my reasoning: The 2/10 and 5/30 parts of the yield curve have steepened dramatically during the last two months as the market accepts the fact that the recent bout of weak economic data has pushed the FED further away from raising rates.
Posts Tagged ‘PBOC’
Notes From Underground: Christine Lagarde Is Quietly Raising Her Voice
October 14, 2012The IMF took center stage during the last four days as its meeting in Tokyo became the central focus of the global macro world. As usual, the IMF communique promised much via the usual platitudes but as investors and traders we are left in the lurch as much is promised but no real substance is revealed. Probably the most important element in the communique is the line, “WE NEED TO ACT DECISIVELY TO BREAK NEGATIVE FEEDBACK LOOPS AND RESTORE THE GLOBAL ECONOMY TO A PATH OF STRONG,SUSTAINABLE AND BALANCED GROWTH.” Why is this simple statement so critical? In last week’s IMF-produced “World Economic Outlook,” it revealed that the IMF‘s model is probably flawed when measuring the impact of fiscal policy on economic growth.
Notes From Underground: Central Bank Poker–After the AUSSIES CHECKED, the BOE BET; the ECB CALLED
July 5, 2012Notes From Underground: Laugh, Laugh, I Thought I’d Die
February 19, 2012Two big issues have been the rage of financial news during the weekend. First, the Chinese Central Bank lowered its reserve requirements by 50 BASIS POINTS in what is being termed an effort to engineer a “soft landing” and prevent a drastic fall in GDP. This is my first laugh as the raises in the reserves during the last 18 months did little to slow the economy. Besides, if the Chinese Politburo wants to install pro growth policies it has control of the credit creating mechanism. As the markets are looking for anything that sustains the recent global equity rally, why not the Chinese reserve ratio?
Notes From Underground: What Do Greece and the Federal Reserve Have in Common?
February 15, 2012As rumors about Greece run rampant, it is apparent that Greek FINANCE MINISTER VENIZELOS has stepped to the fore to try to influence his hand as the leader of Greece. THE COURT-APPOINTED LUCAS PAPADEMOS HAS BEEN QUIET OF LATE AND IT IS VENIZELOS LASHING OUT AT GREECE’S EUROPEAN “BENEFACTORS.” The fact is that there are so many microphones in EUROPE in search of an expert that all the media reports prove to be worthless. Timelines of action are void as soon as they are presented yet the markets continue to be affected by random noise.
Notes From Underground: The Chines raise interest rates and the GOLD makes all-time highs climbing a GREAT WALL OF WORRY
April 5, 2011The FED released the minutes of the last FOMC meeting and there was very little that hadn’t already been revealed and digested by the market. In tonight’s reading, some in the media are trying to raise an issue that there is a rift between voting members. Readers of the NOTES will know the answer: There is no rift. Yes, between meetings there is a plethora of dissenting speeches but as the FOMC MINUTES are clear to record, the vote to stay the present course was unanimous. The thing that seems the most transitory to the FED is the lack of dissension when gathered at the same table. To paraphrase PUDD’NHEAD WILSON, WHEN ALL THE EGGHEADS ARE IN ONE ROOM, WATCH THE ROOM CLOSELY.