Markets

By Marc Chandler The ECB meets tomorrow. There is much consternation among many observers over the ECB's reluctance to recognize what they see as a potent deflationary threat. With the US economy gaining momentum and GDP per capita set to…

During the month of December large money managers have been once again beefing up their long bets on crude oil. What's driving this push into crude? This drawdown in crude was the result of US refineries firing on all cylinders,…

By The Brown Brothers Harriman Currency Strategy Team We call attention to four recent items in China: First, central bank deputy governor penned an article yesterday saying that China will expand the opening-up of the foreign exchange…

As I was preparing to write my annual "Outlook and Forecast" for 2014, I read many different views from major Wall Street firms to get a general feel of the consensus. However, during the course of my research I read one piece of work in…

The treasury yield curve remains quite steep by historical standards. Typically such steepness is driven by expectations of higher inflation in the future. But as discussed earlier, that is not the case in the US. Instead it is the…

US corporate credit is outperforming other forms of credit assets such as commercial real estate. A good way to see that outperformance vs. global risk assets is in the components of the Credit Suisse Risk Appetite Index. For the first time…

For the fourth quarter of 2013, 103 companies in the S&P 500 have announced negative earnings revisions. Only nine have disclosed positive profit assessments. The ratio of negative-to-positive, 11.4:1, exceeds the previous high…

Since the Fed announced the reduction in securities purchases ("small taper"), the treasury curve has undergone some strange adjustments. Why would the 5-year note sell off the most while the long bond rallied?

Niels Jensen: How to spot a bubble? Being closer to the exit point does not, however, imply bubble behaviour. Yes, there are signs of excesses creeping back in to the markets. however, I do not see much in terms of the classic signs of…

The internationalization of the Chinese yuan has been a major story this year. We have been suspicious that much of what passes for the internationalization yuan has been the "Sino-ificiation of Hong Kong and symbolic measures like…