monetary policy

The BOJ intervenes aggressively to weaken yen; we do not see any major G7 initiative. The euro zone periphery remains under pressure as ECB meets; Spain borrowing costs rise. Global equity markets are lower as growth risks, sovereign risks…

The S&P 500 completes its worst run in a long time returning to levels not last seen since March, when we thought we had to write off the entire Japanese economy as a nuclear wasteland. So, is it all back to square one for the already…

US growth concerns and downgrade risk remain in play after budget deal. Euro zone periphery remains under pressure as ECB meets Thursday. SNB takes action against strong CHF; spike in EUR/CHF offers good entry point to go long CHF.

On July 13, 2011 Chairman Bernanke explained: "The reason people hold gold is protection against tail risk, really, really, bad outcomes. To the extent that the last few years have made people more worried about the potential of a major…

A stalemate could mean selective default. However, my sense is that the bonds themselves will be paid first. Other government expenditures will not get paid and that means a hardship for those who expect the money, whether companies doing…

Felix Zulauf spoke to Barron’s Alan Abelson about his thoughts on the European sovereign debt crisis now that Greece has received its second 100 billion euro bailout. Here I discuss what Abelson says about the conversation and why I think…

Comstock Partners argues that while the stock market seems ready cheer any agreement that increases the debt ceiling and avoids a default, such cheering may be extremely short-lived as the economy sinks further under the burden of…

The Bank of Japan held a private briefing with a small group of analysts from leading financial institutions in their NY rep office. The Director-General of the Research and Statistics Department led the presentation. This column…

This post is a prelude to a BBC interview on the sovereign debt crisis. I am not going to answer financial Armageddon questions about "what oif it all goes pear-shaped" here because to understand where things are headed you need to know how…

You tell me.