bonds

The S&P 500 volatility index - the VIX - is a measurement of volatility expectations. It has fallen 50% since the (latest) agreement to save the euro was announced. If the VIX falls to 18, call options are worth considering.

Understanding the financial agreement within the context of that rivalry is more important than what it means for the future of the dollar as the world's more important reserve currency, invoicing currency and vehicle currency. Nor will…

US dollar is softer vs. majors Friday as markets head into holiday mode; sentiment improving a bit in the absence of any major negative euro zone developments. France Q3 GDP revised weaker, Italy confidence lower than expected; euro zone…

The end of year is usually a good time for markets. There was a lot of angst about the European situation a few weeks ago, but there is less of that now because we're hitting year-end (tape painting). Does that mean the credit crisis…

The key question remains what the banks will do with the newly acquired funds. We suspect that to the extent banks buy sovereign bonds, they will purchase their own sovereign's bonds rather than their neighbor's. More details of the nuances…

I thought I should highlight that Marshall Auerback was on Fox Business yesterday since he writes here occasionally. I wish it were more often! Marshall was on message regarding the euro zone debt crisis. His point: Additional liquidity is…

The last post by Randall Wray below is an interesting one because it points out how the world has changed since the end of the gold standard and why the sovereign debt crisis is centered in the euro zone. While I have an Austrian bias…

It seems to have been none other than Paul Krugman who made it safe for others to adopt MMT. He shined his headlights on the obvious: the reason why interest rates on government debt are not exploding in countries like Japan, the US, and…

Let’s see how it is really done in the US—where the Treasury really does hold accounts in both private banks and the Fed, but can write checks only on its account at the Fed. Further, the Fed is prohibited from buying Treasuries directly…

Following the 1-year repo in June 09, there had been market talk of the money going into the short-term Italian and Spanish bonds. Yet we don't expect as much of new carry trades some officials might wish. The lion's share of the funds LTRO…