// Wikipedia
40 years ago, following the advice of Milton Friedman, President Richard Nixon ends the Gold Standard and terminates the Bretton Woods system.
Source: The Economist.
Tag Archives: Federal Reserve System
Financial Calendar – Week 26
3 Jul
// The U.S. National Archives via Flickr.
Monday, July 4th:
Independence Day: All U.S. markets are closed.
Tuesday, July 5th:
10:00 AM ET: Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for May.
Wednesday, July 6th:
7:00 AM: The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) will release the mortgage purchase applications index.
10:00 AM: ISM non-Manufacturing Index for June.
Thursday, July 7th:
8:15 AM: The ADP Employment Report for June.
8:30 AM: The initial weekly unemployment claims report will be released.
Friday, July 8th:
8:30 AM: Employment Report for June.
10:00 AM: Monthly Wholesale Trade: Sales and Inventories for May.
3:00 PM: Consumer Credit for May.
Transfer To The Calculated Risk Blog For Charts, Estimates And Details On The Schedule For Week Of July 3rd.
$1 Billion That Nobody Wants
28 Jun
//Wikipedia
From NPR’s Planet Money:
«Politicians in Washington hardly let a few minutes go by without mentioning how broke the government is. So, it’s a little surprising that they’ve created a stash of more than $1 billion that almost no one wants.
Unused dollar coins have been quietly piling up in Federal Reserve vaults in breathtaking numbers, thanks to a government program that has required their production since 2007.
And even though the neglected mountain of money recently grew past the $1 billion mark, the U.S. Mint will keep making more and more of the coins under a congressional mandate.»
Financial Calendar – Week 26
26 Jun
Image by dok1 via Flickr.
Key Data For The Week Ahead:
Monday: Personal Income And Outlays For May.
Tuesday: Case-Shiller House Prices For April.
Wednesday: Pending Home Sales Index for May.
Thursday: The Initial Weekly Unemployment Claims Report, Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for June.
Friday: ISM Manufacturing Index, Auto Sales.
The Rest Of The Busy Economic Schedule For Week Of June 26th.
Financial Calendar – Week 25
19 Jun
The Key Economic Events Of The Week:
Bernanke Dollar // Gage Skidmore, Flickr.
Tuesday: Existing Home Sales, And The Fed’s FOMC Hosts A 2 Day Meeting.
Wednesday: Ben Bernanke Holds A Press Conference Following The FOMC Announcement.
Thursday: New Home Sales.
Friday: Durable Goods, And The Final Estimate For Q1 GDP.
Better Luck Next Time
14 Jun
The cyber-group «Anonymous» calls for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s resignation. In addition, the group would seem to demand the break up of the Federal Reserve and other large banking institutions. The anonymous group allegedly claims that the Federal Reserve is guilty of crimes against humanity, and encourages protests, starting on June 14th, until demands are met.
Financial Calendar – Week 23
5 Jun
President Obama confers with Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, following their meeting at the White House // Wikipedia
The Week’s Key Economic Reports:
Tuesday: Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, Is Set To Speak.
Wednesday: Fed Reveals Their Beige Book.
Thursday: The Trade Balance Report.
Details From Calculated Risk.
Financial Calendar – Week 20
15 May
Key Economic Reports Of The Week Ahead:
- Monday: May Homebuilder Confidence.
- Tuesday: April Housing.
- Wednesday: April Existing Home Sales.
Full List Of Events From Calculated Risk: Schedule For Week Of May 15th.
Financial Highlights – Week 18
1 May
The key economic reports this week:
- Monday: The ISM Manufacturing Report.
- Tuesday: Automakers Report On Vehicle Sales.
- Wednesday: ISM Non-Manufacturing Report.
- Friday: April Employment Report.
Make sure you visit the Calculated Risk Blog for the complete Schedule for Week of May 1st.
Gem From The Past: Financial Anlayst At «Britains Got Talent»:
Financial Events – Week 17
24 Apr
The key economic reports for the week ahead:
- Monday: New Home sales.
- Tuesday: Case-Shiller house prices and FOMC‘s 2 day meeting starts.
- Wednesday: FOMC press briefing.
- Thursday: Q1 advance GDP report.
Full Schedule for Week of April 24th from Calculated Risk. U.S. Markets Outlook from MarketWatch here and CNBC here.
Cartoon from Jim Morin on the S&P downgrade. HT: Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture.
The Industries Sitting On The Most Cash
19 Mar
From the Business Insider (Surprise, Surprise):
«Goldman Sachs is out with a new report predicting a lot more M&A ahead. The firm likes cash-rich sectors.»
Financial Calendar – Week 11
13 Mar
- Tuesday, March 15th: The Federal Reserve FOMC meeting. Housing; the NHAB housing market index.
- Thursday, March 17th: Industrial production and the consumer price index.
Full list of releases from Calculated Risk: Schedule for Week of March 13th.
Tuesday’s Financial Focus
1 Mar
President Barack Obama confers with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke following their meeting at the White House. Image via Wikipedia
Economic events:
- Bernanke Gets Drilled on Capitol Hill.
- Automakers February sales numbers.
- Trading is set to resume on Egypt’s Stock Exchange.
- ISM Manufacturing Survey.
- iPad2: The Wednesday unveiling of a second-generation has gadget geeks and investors alike searching for clues.
More from CNBC here.
Earnings expected:
Bullish For Risky Assets
14 Feb
Scott Grannis writes about what the rise is commodity prices is due to and why it may imply a rally in risky financials:
a) a strengthening global economy and/or b) a lagged response to the monetary stimulus that has been applied in the form of QE2. In either event; this rules out deflation as a concern, and it stokes the fires of recovery, and that ends up being bullish for risky assets in general.
More here.
Five Reasons To Hold Chinese Currency
15 Jan
On Tuesday the Bank of China said it would enable yuan trading for US investors. The Wall Street Journal’s «Return On Investment» Column provides these claims supporting investments in Chinese yuan:
1) It’s very unlikely to go down.
2) It’s very likely to go up.
3) You won’t miss out on a lot of interest elsewhere, as nowhere else is paying a lot of interest.
4) It will diversify your portfolio.
5) It may offer a hedge against the decline of the U.S. economy.
Details here.
Federal Financials – Still Grim, But Improving
13 Jan
«If this keeps up the budget could be balanced in 5 years if spending were frozen at current levels. And there’s no reason that revenues can’t continue to grow at a 10% annual rate. In fact, that’s very typical in the wake of recessions.»
The rest of the pundit Grannis’ latest post here.
Extreme Economic Forecasters: Wrong An Awful Lot
12 Jan
Nouriel Roubini by Esthr via Flickr
Just consider New York University professor and household name Nouriel «Dr. Doom» Roubini who predicted the financial meltdown in 2006; what few know is that he also called for this:
«In October 2008, he predicted that hundreds of hedge funds were on the verge of failure and that the government would have to close the markets for a week or two in the coming days to cope with the shock. That didn’t happen. In January 2009, he predicted that oil prices would stay below $40 for all of 2009, arguing that car companies should rev up production of gas-guzzling SUVs. By the end of the year, oil was a hair under $80, Hummer was on its way out, and automakers were tripping over themselves to develop electric cars. In March 2009, he predicted the S&P 500 would fall below 600 that year. It closed at over 1,115, up 23.5 percent year over year, the biggest single year gain since 2003.»
The Boston Globe has the commentary here: That guy who called the big one? Don’t listen to him. So why is much of main stream media glorifying these forecasters as if they were iconic gods? Go figure. Newmark’s Door offer this piece of advice for aspiring analysts:
« - If you must forecast, forecast often. And: If you’re ever right, never let them forget it.»
Index Funds Beats Active Managers
9 Jan
Random Walk by Burton Malkiel. Image via Wikipedia
Burton Malkiel, Princeton economics professor and author of the legendary book A Random Walk Down Wall Street, hasn’t changed his investment advice since the first edition in 1973:
Spread your investments among various asset classes and countries; keep fees low; and favor index funds over active managers who claim they can beat the market.
This is from a teriffic interview with Malkiel on investing - Excerpt:
«You’ve long been an advocate of index funds, but I keep hearing people say this is now a “stockpicker’s market” that favors active managers. They say the concept of buy-and-hold investing is obsolete.
I don’t think the data show that. Two-thirds to three-quarters of active managers are beaten by a low-cost index fund. And the one-third or so who may win in one year are not the ones who win in the next year. The old lessons are not dead. When you try to time the market, which many people do, you’re more likely to do it wrong than right. If you were diversified with the asset classes I recommended, you actually just about doubled your money even in this horrible lost decade.
Everybody says we know diversification doesn’t work. When all hell breaks loose—as it did in late 2007 and 2008—everything goes down together. That still doesn’t negate the idea that you’re better off being diversified. In 2008—this horrible year when everybody lost money—you made between 5 percent and 6 percent in a total bond market index.
So the key arguments of Random Walk haven’t changed. But what is new about the 10th edition of the book?
Nobody can market-time, but once a year I suggest that one rebalance. [Rebalancing is adjusting a portfolio's mix to certain preset benchmarks, often by selling assets that have gained value while buying those that have lagged.] I’ve got an increased appreciation of rebalancing and have done a lot of work on it. It won’t always give you an extra return, but in volatile markets it will keep your risk low or consistent with the [level right for you]. And in very volatile markets, it will tend to increase your returns.»
The 2011 vs 2007 recommended asset allocation is located in this post. The full Q & A can be reached over at BusinessWeek here.
U.S Wealth Facts
27 Nov
By wallyg via Flickr.
If you’re wealthy – there’s lots of good news from the Business Insider here.
Opening Bell Gospel
17 Nov
Barron’s: Bond Vigilantes Ride Again. After real interest rates rise, equities and commodities tumble. Take that, Ben.
Via Wikipedia
BBC: China to tackle food price rises. China’s premier Wen Jiabao has said the government is preparing new measures to stem double-digit food price inflation.
Bloomberg: M&A Drives Rise in London Financial Job Vacancies, Survey Says. Job vacancies at London’s financial- services firms climbed 5 percent last month, helped by a jump in mergers and acquisitions and a recovery in the British economy, according to a survey by a recruiting firm.
BusinessWeek:Morgan Stanley’s Meeker Sees Online Ad Boom. Dot-com “Queen of the Net” Mary Meeker will tell today’s Web 2.0 Summit that Internet advertising will reach $50 billion and mobile commerce will outpace traditional e-commerce.
CNBC: Fast Money Traders: Are 2010 Market Gains Done? Stocks sold off sharply Tuesday with investors punishing commodities, tech and banks, broadly.
Forbes: 2011 Predictions For Google, Microsoft, Oracle And More. Analysis of what’s ahead for tech’s heavy hitters.
MarketWatch: This year, you decide. We’re asking the readers to choose the 2010 MarketWatch CEO of the Year. Take a look at the five nominees and vote.
Reuters:Upsized GM IPO could be biggest deal ever. General Motors Co is boosting the size of its common stock offering by more than 30 percent to $15.5 billion, two people familiar with the matter said, potentially making its landmark IPO the largest U.S. offering ever.
The Business Insider: Now Everyone Is Blaming Everyone For The Spiraling Eurozone Crisis. But is Europe less divided than the US?
The Economist: Socially challenging. Psychopathy seems to be caused by specific mental deficiencies.
The Financial Times: Women at the Top: FT ranking of top 50 women in business.
The Guardian: Osborne – UK will help Ireland through debt crisis. Chancellor vows to help restore stability as European finance ministers gather for meeting.
The New York Times: Findings: When the Mind Wanders, Happiness Also Strays. Using an iPhone app calledtrackyourhappiness, psychologists at Harvard contacted people around the world at random intervals to ask how they were feeling, what they were doing and what they were thinking.
The Telegraph: The world’s best places to live.
The Wall Street Journal: Bring On the Fat—and Taste. Celebrity chefs have slaved in haute cuisine kitchens and mastered the world’s most complex dishes. Today, they’re dedicating their culinary brain power to another challenge: How to cash in on the burger craze.
Emerging-Market Returns In U.S. Stocks
12 Nov
By Steve Webel via Flickr
Stockpickers can capture overseas growth by buying U.S. companies with big operations abroad. The strategy pays off.
More here.
Oil At $100 Next Year
12 Nov
Ppemex oil refinery via Wikipedia
Oil could top $100 a barrel next year, as the weakening dollar could trigger a steady rise in the price of crude.
More from BusinessWeek here.
WSJ Markets
- Jefferson County Debt Plan Is CostlyThe plan by Jefferson County, Ala., to emerge from bankruptcy protection hinges in part on the sale of $1.9 billion of new debt this fall to refinance debt tied to its troubled sewer system. But some observers are calling terms of the new debt onerous.
- Thai Rice Aid CriticizedThailand's government took a step toward revealing the full cost of its contentious rice-price support program, saying it had lost $4.4 billion on the subsidy from fall 2011 to September 2012.
- KPMG Ex-Partner Is ArraignedFormer KPMG LLP senior partner Scott London was arraigned here Monday in federal court, where a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf, although he is expected to plead guilty once certain procedural matters are resolved.
- Co-op Bank Plans a Novel 'Bail-In'Co-operative Bank said it would ask subordinated bondholders to take heavy losses in an effort to raise £1.5 billion ($2.36 billion) in fresh capital and stave off a potential collapse.
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