Last week, the 10-year Treasury dipped below 2% for the first time since November 2016. Six months ago the most bullish Treasury prognosticator was predicting a 2.50% rate and the consensus view was ...
Natixis SA, the large French bank, plunged almost 14% yesterday after MorningStar cited concerns about the “liquidity and appropriateness” of some corporate bond holdings in a fund owned by the Bank. Natixis’s woes added to the rising liquidity fears following the ...
The Federal Reserve left borrowing costs unchanged and signaled an openness to future cuts based upon trade and economic activity. There was one dissent, voting to move the target range to ...
Will there be a change in monetary policy announced today at the conclusion of the FOMC meeting? At the end of May’s meeting the Committee lowered the interest rate the Fed pays on excess bank reserves for the yield was ...
Last week I wrote it is human nature to extrapolate the current into infinity. What we think we can foresee is often nothing more than what we have recently seen. “More of the same” is the sensible default prediction in politics, baseball and...
Will this week be of great significance? As widely known the Fed is holding its June meeting. The prevailing market narrative is the economy is edging towards a considerable slowdown and the market is suggesting ...
Was yesterday a day of significance? Oil advanced over 2% as several oil tankers were attacked in the Gulf of Oman. As widely noted, oil has plunged since sanctions were levied on Iran as inventories have surged. Many, including me, expected inventories...
Equities fell for a myriad of reasons. Technology stocks just posted their best six day stretch in 7 ½ years—up nearly 9%--fell about 1.5%. The reasons for the decline varied but a major catalyst were reports that Facebook was aware of privacy issues, did...
In my view there is a disconnect between Main Street and Wall Street. Utilizing May’s NFIB small business optimism index [aka Main Street], economic activity is robust. May’s readings was the highest since October, hiring plans rose to the greatest level since ...
Always expect the unexpected. Late last week the 10 year Treasury traded to a 2.07% yield down from a 3.23% yield registered in late November. According to the WSJ, the lowest 2019 projected yield from a late 2018 survey of the largest Wall Street firms...