March 2011

With the jobs numbers coming out tomorrow, it bears noting that the official U.S. data have been marred by low labour participation rates. The reality is that while the jobs picture is improved, many of the long-time unemployed have dropped…

By Marc Chandler ECB President Trichet is signaling a rate hike and the market debate seems to be between April and May. While the monetary setting may be too easy for Germany, the peripheral countries, where the debt crisis has been…

By Marc Chandler Trichet has stayed true to form and issued relative hawkish signals. Two key points--"strong vigilance" is needed and no reiteration of the mantra that "interest rates are appropriate". He explicitly…

Initial jobless claims fell to 368,000 in the last week. This is the lowest level in nearly three years and demonstrates that the sluggish employment market is slowly improving. Yesterday, the private payroll company ADP said that the…

With yields on Portugal now above 7.4%, many are predicting Portugal will soon need a bailout because it cannot reduce its debt load with yields that high. Portugal simply cannot grow its economy fast enough to pare debt with yields that…

from the BBH Currency Strategy Team Highlights The US dollar is consolidating some it weekly losses versus some of the majors ahead of today’s ECB meeting and tomorrow’s jobs reports. The euro, however, maintains a firm tone as the…

This thing is pretty cool. Steve Jobs definitely is staying ahead of the pack with the new iPad. It's the same price as the old one but with a dual processor ad faster graphics, dual cameras and all the bells and whistles. Here's a spec…

Andy Lees writes: https://www.energybulletin.net/node/11901 suggests that Norway is sitting on 3trn tons of coal on the Norwegian shelf which compares with today’s 900bn tons of proven world reserves. “By injecting oxygen we can…

By Marin Katusa, Casey’s Energy Report The oil picture is always complex, but right now things are about as complicated as they can get. The unrest in Egypt has settled for the moment, but the future there is not yet clear as the…

Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner doesn't think so? Yesterday, he spoke on CNBC Europe about why he sees continued housing stagnation in the UK. Gardner says an improvement in the labour market is what the UK needs to see the…