ONE-TWENTY TWO: Trading Financial Markets
Exploring the poetry in financial markets for students of money and economy since the year 2000.
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on January 12, 2012. Click here to read the entire piece.) Mainly thanks to a plunging euro (FXE), the U.S. dollar index (UUP) now sits at 52-weeks highs set in January, 2011. When the Federal Reserve telegraphed its second round of quantitative … Read more
This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha on December 20, 2011. Click here to read the entire piece.) Last week, Joy Global (JOY) reported its fourth quarter and 2011 operating results and provided some valuable details on the outlook for commodities in 2012. JOY blames inventory destocking for the … Read more
(This is an excerpt from an article I originally published on Seeking Alpha. Click here to read the entire piece.) The Australian dollar has fallen so far, so fast over the past month that I failed to notice a major change in tone from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on monetary policy until now. … Read more
Bullard Says Fed Could Ease Further – Bloomberg St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said the Fed is prepared to ease policy should the U.S. economy weaken, while keeping an eye on inflation risks. “The Fed has potent tools at its disposal and is not now, or ever, out of ammunition,” Bullard said today … Read more
Finally, silver re-awakens. After a near straight-line recovery from August’s lows, silver broke out with a gap up to new highs for the month. Source: stockcharts.com The ETF for silver, iShares Silver Trust ETF (SLV), is of course following a similar pattern. With silver (and gold) being one of the few assets working on the … Read more
On July 24, British Business Secretary Vince Cable was interviewed on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. During this interview, Cable made the case for further quantitative easing (QE) if consumer demand in the UK continues to weaken. While he was quick to point out that the Bank of England runs independently, he provided a ringing … Read more
Central Banks' First-Half Gold Buying Surpasses 2010 Total – CNBC Central banks have bought more gold in the first half of this year than in all of 2010 as a long-anticipated reversal in so-called "official sector" sales gathers pace, a gold group reported on Thursday. (tags: gold central_banks)
“Fed May Launch New Round of Stimulus.” So rang the headlines. The Federal Reserve seemed poised to launch another round of quantitative easing if only it had a weak economy to generate the proper excuse. An Associate Press article about steel stocks suggested that the market’s rally was specifically about the prospect of potential stimulus: … Read more
(Originally appeared in Inflation Watch) The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis just published an article written by James Bullard, a non-voting member of the Federal Reserve and President of the St. Louis Fed, called “Measuring Inflation: The Core Is Rotten.” It is based on a speech Bullard delivered two months ago to the Money … Read more
On June 15, Bank of England Governor Mervyn King spoke at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet for Bankers and Merchants of the City of London at the Mansion House. The speech covered very familiar themes for King and the Bank of England. King first acknowledged the squeeze on the economy in the United Kingdom: “The challenge … Read more