Economic Conditions

Credit Rating Agencies have been a lot in news ever since the US Subprime Mortgage Crisis 2007. Later, Europe blamed them for making matters worse for individual countries by downgrading Greece and Cyprus to ‘junk’ status. Over a period of...

The powerful bout of long dollar liquidation, spurred by optimism that the new Greek government had moved away from its posturing about debt forgiveness, has largely faded today. The ECB is reportedly rejecting Greece's request to expand its T-bill offering...

The US dollar is mixed.  It has recovered from an early spike to JPY116.65 in early Asia to test the JPY117.80 area.  The euro briefly dipped below $1.1300 before Spanish and Italian PMIs surprised on the upside.  Sterling bounced on...

When we think about income and wealth inequalities we are tempted to lay blame on the old way of doing things. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty picks out inherited money as a driver of unsustainable disparities between...

Reasonable people can debate some of the details, but there was little doubt that last week's big event, the ECB's asset purchases, was widely anticipated.  Nevertheless, what is striking is the repeated surprises by officials over the past several months. ...

The US dollar's strength is a product of both the expected trajectory of Fed policy and the fact that ECB and BOJ are still in aggressive easing modes.  Both sides of the equation are being driven home.  The Wall Street...

Modern capitalism has a massive structural flaw in one of the cornerstones of its existence. The corporations which form the predominant business structure and which are the main instrument for dividing wealth have been operating on a false premise. Modern...

Brent oil is off another 3% today, taking its decline since the end of last year to 20%.  This is overshadowing other macro-economic forces.  With the Federal Reserve among the least likely central banks to respond, the dollar is firm,...

The US dollar began the New Year with strong gains against both major and emerging market currencies.  Comments from the BOJ's Kuroda and ECB's Draghi underscore the divergence between the US and other high-income countries.  The former discussed other tools...

As the 24-hour session has progressed, the US dollar and equities have stabilized and turned higher.  Indeed as US traders prepare to return, stocks and the dollars are trading near session highs.  Oil prices are also trading higher.  Core bonds...

The markets have been subject to large moves in recent days.  Some, including the dollar, were counter-trend moves.  Some, like oil, were accelerations of the existing trends.  There have been a number of surprise developments today, including the less dovish...

If there was one report to count on to shake up markets, it was the monthly US jobs report.  Part of the issue was that of all the economic data that the US reports, economists had the greatest difficulty in...

The strength of the US employment report is seeing the dollar jump across the board.  The divergent theme is out in relief.  The 321k rise in non-farm payrolls is the strongest print of the year and is the second monthly...

Throughout the last few months, we have identified three forces that are shaping the investment climate:  the economic and monetary divergence that favors the US, the decline in commodity prices, and a slowing of China. These forces remain intact.  If...

The capital markets are mostly quiet, amid a light news stream, and ahead of three key events in the coming days, with U.S. markets closed tomorrow and light participation expected on Friday.  These events are tomorrow's OPEC meeting, the flash...