Daily Comment
Daily Comment (June 16, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The last eight years have been full of unusual events. We have seen ZIRP, NIRP, QE of all stripes, massive increases in central bank balance sheets, collapses in monetary multipliers, low inflation, consistently wrong forecasts of higher interest rates, massive borrowing in China, flash crashes, commodity… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 15, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] BREAKING NEWS: Nigeria announced it is moving toward a market driven exchange rate policy, likely taking steps toward allowing its currency, the naira, to float. Although the Central Bank of Nigeria has allowed more flexible exchange rates recently, allowing a full float will likely lead to… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 14, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Risk markets remain soft this morning in the wake of the German 10-year yield dipping under zero. (Source: Bloomberg) It is historic enough that we now have the German yield curve below zero going out 10 years. A total of 75% of German bonds now carry… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 13, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Week of meetings: the Federal Reserve, BOJ, BOE and SNB all meet this week. None are expected to change policy, although if one might, the BOJ would be the most likely. The JPY has been on a tear and the Abe government would like to reverse… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 10, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] We are seeing a continuation of yesterday’s market activity, with equities coming under pressure and sovereign bond yields falling around the world. Commodity prices are falling with equities, and the dollar is strengthening along with the yen. The weakness we are seeing in equities isn’t anything… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 9, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Signs of a growing rebellion against negative interest rate policies (NIRP) were evident this morning. The front page story in today’s FT is “Negative Rates Stir Mutiny with Bank Threats to put Cash in Vaults.” The report indicates that major banks in Europe and Japan are… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 8, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] It was another quiet overnight session. As we note above, equity markets are mixed while U.S. equities continue to slowly trend higher. Commodity prices are continuing to show impressive strength. Several factors are lifting prices. The weak employment data has put downward pressure on the dollar… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 7, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] Chair Yellen’s speech yesterday was about as we expected; she didn’t say too much and did work hard to give her and the FOMC ample space to raise or not raise rates. She did paint a view of the economy that was reasonably upbeat but also… Read More »
Daily Comment (June 6, 2016)
by Bill O’Grady and Kaisa Stucke [Posted: 9:30 AM EDT] The big news for today is Chair Yellen’s speech at 12:30 EDT today in Philadelphia. This talk has been widely anticipated but will get even more attention following the much weaker than expected employment report for May, which was released last Friday. Jon Hilsenrath of the… Read More »