March 2011

BBH CurrencyView North American Update US dollar mostly weaker versus majors USD/JPY reaches record low as uncertainty remains elevated; G7 to discuss Swiss franc stronger on safe haven bids; SNB remains on hold…

By Warren Mosler As previously discussed, the US should outlaw the use of libor by its banking system. It makes no sense to allow US dollar rate setting for our banks to be set overseas by the BBA. Setting our banking system’s dollar…

The Japanese Yen reached a new all-time high against the U.S. dollar fuelling speculation that the Bank of Japan will forced to intercede to ward off speculators. With the prospect of repatriation of profits back to Yen, the currency has…

Marc Chandler wrote a good piece on the politics of nuclear in Germany and elsewhere in Europe. I want to piggyback on his comments with some of my own thoughts and questions regarding what this could mean for the energy space. This is a…

This is just in from CNBC's John Carney: a key advisor to U.S. President Obama will leave the Federal Housing Authority where he is a regulator of the mortgage industry and make a beeline straight for the industry he once oversaw. When…

By Marc Chandler The Japanese nuclear accident has implications for Europe. The EU wants to have stress tests on members nuclear plants. The tests are not mandatory, but may be difficult to refuse. Switzerland has halted its nuclear…

Rising agricultural produce prices helped boost U.S. export prices, while oil boosted import prices. Exports were +8.6% and imports +6.9%.

Moody’s cut Portugal by two notches to A3 and kept a negative outlook despite the recently announced fiscal tightening and despite the tentative plan to expand the EFSF. This downgrade really shouldn’t come as any surprise. As we wrote just…

By Marc Chandler The FOMC tweaked their economic assessment and recognized the sharp rise in commodity prices in recent months, but believes that longer-term inflation expectations remain anchored. It specifically says that it expects…

Ray Dalio spoke to Barron's in an interview that appeared in the weekly this past weekend. The themes of the conversation were the following: The world is on a dual track with emerging markets doing much better than developed…