Now, as anticipated, a debt ceiling agreement has been reached and the wait is on to see whether the major rating agencies — Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service, and Fitch Ratings — will reaffirm or downgrade the US’ triple-A status.
[Read more...]Two Potential Flaws in Selling Swiss Currency for Swedish
July 5, 2011 By Leave a Comment
In at least half the instances when asked, your editor’s friends and family forget whether he’s been in Sweden or Switzerland over the past couple of years. Something about the “sw”-starting sound… and, well, perhaps blond locals. That said, investors retreating from the many perils of the quantitatively-eased US dollar and the GIIPSed-out euro should avoid the same mistake.
[Read more...]Portugal Requests a Bailout
April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment
There was BIG news from the Eurozone yesterday afternoon, so let’s get right to it, and discuss the ramifications… And don’t forget that the Bank of England (BOE) and The European Central Bank (ECB) are both meeting this morning… It’s time to put up or shut up for the ECB, and their president, Trichet…
[Read more...]More Stimulus?
September 7, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today has seen a return to risk aversion, after watching the currencies have their way with the dollar, yen (JPY), franc (CHF), and Treasuries on Friday. Remember on Friday when I told you that in the “old days? you could bet a dollar to a Krispy Kreme that if the Jobs Jamboree was bad, the dollar would get sold, and if it was good, the dollar would rally, but that had changed during the financial meltdown… And so it was on Friday… The labor report wasn't as bad as it was thought to be, but the dollar got sold.
[Read more...]The Bailout Era
May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Renaissance. The Age of Enlightenment. The Industrial Revolution. The Gilded Age. The Cold War. The Information Age.
The Bailout Age?
The printing press already has its own prominent place in history, so were not sure what else to call the first couple decades of the new millennium. But after this mornings news, theres little debate: time to fire it up!
[Read more...]What Civil Unrest in Greece Looks Like
May 5, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today, some 18,000 Greeks took to the streets in intense and violent protest against the new austerity measures recently launched. Greece, to lock in EU and IMF support, has instituted measures including reduced salaries for public workers, pension freezes, and increased sales tax.
Bloomberg reports that despite the presence of about 1,700 police officers, a fire started at Marfin Egnatia Bank SA spread quickly and tragically resulted in three deaths.
[Read more...]FOMC Rate Hike Unlikely
April 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Today marks 1-week since Ive been back writing the Pfennig… I simply love writing the Pfennig each day, and boy did I miss it when I was unable to write. Vacation is one thing, those are well-deserved breaks, but to not be able to write is another. So… Im thankful that Im able to write again…
[Read more...]China Reduces Treasury Purchases for 5th Straight Month
February 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Front and center this morning, we saw quite the rally in risk assets yesterday, all day, and all night! It was like the sea parted, the stars aligned, and the karma began to flow… The global economic recoveries came back into the thoughts of traders and investors, and the fears of Greece waned… It was as if none of the sky is falling theatrics had gone on the past month!
[Read more...]
China’s Currency Flirting With Highs on US Credit Rating Downgrade
As most people with access to a TV — living under a rock and otherwise — are aware, US debt was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s late Friday night from AAA to AA+.
Since the US credit rating downgrade the Chinese yuan is flirting with 17-year highs.
[Read more...]