Europe

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…

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…

Oil prices are on the march higher again today. Brent is trading above $115 a barrel. While WTI is now above $100. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke does not believe the recent rise in oil prices will cause the U.S. recovery to buckle…

The Absolute Return Letter, March 2011 By Niels Jensen “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes” Oscar Wilde A remarkable month Two remarkable events unfolded during the month of February. One cleared…

If you thought this year was off to a challenging start for investors, fasten your seatbelts. March could very well turn out to be the most important month of the year. This does not mean there is easy money to be made or low-hanging fruit…

The German strategy appears to be rudderless at the moment. It is not clear what concessions it can elicit in exchange for offering a "comprehensive" solution to the debt crisis. Getting rid of wage indexing,a constitution amendment to…

By Win Thin Portugal remains in the market spotlight as its 10-year yield remains above 7% for the 10th straight day. Furthermore, today Portugal’s 5-year yield broke above 7% for the first time and continues the pattern that we saw with…

from the Brown Brothers Harriman Currency Strategy Team Highlights The dollar is largely confined to narrow trading ranges, with sterling one of the day’s top performers following BoE’s Sentance comments that the inflation report…

This is the excellent video of Edward Hugh at the London School of Economics this past Monday speaking about the intersection of finance, macroeconomics, housing and sovereign debt in the Credit Crisis. (hat tip afoe). The topic is on how…