Dollar On Thin Ice

The dollar put on another weak showing on Thursday as it struggles to maintain critical support at the 200-day moving average. If it were not for the Bank of Japan’s intervention to weaken the yen the previous day, it seems the dollar would be well on its way down through a technical breakdown. *Chart created … Read more

Sold My TIPS to the Fed – A Review of the Current TIPS “Debate”

Last week, the iShares Barclays TIPS Bond Fund (TIP) surged to a fresh 2-year closing high on the same day the Federal Reserve issued its latest monetary policy statement. (TIPS = Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities – I will refer to “TIPS” when discussing the actual bonds and use “TIP” to refer to the ETF that uses … Read more

The U.S. Dollar Tries On A Relief Rally

The U.S. dollar rallied into the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on monetary policy. This move seemed to launch (finally) the start of a relief rally that I have tried to anticipate as the dollar approached its support at the 200-day moving average (DMA). The uncertainty over the outcome of the Fed decision encouraged me to … Read more

Stockman Takes Umbrage with 40 Years of Republican Fiscal Policies

If David Stockman, former director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Ronald Reagan, created the political party of “Fiscal Conservatives,” I might have to give serious consideration to signing up. For now, I have to settle for non-partisan organizations like the Peter G. Peterson Foundation who work hard to promote fiscal discipline … Read more

How My Doubts About Stimulus Were Eased – A Little

I decided to take the plunge and read “How the Great Recession Was Brought to an End” by economists Alan Binder (Gordon S. Rentschler Memorial Professor of Economics, Princeton University) and Mark Zandi (Chief Economist, Moody’s Analytics). Binder and Zandi conclude that the various stimulus programs and creative use of montary policy over the last … Read more