United States

The following are today's prepared remarks of the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the US Congress by US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. While the totality of Chairman Bernanke's remarks are not new, we have underlined and…

The contrast between the US and European auto markets is stark and captures the significant divergence of the two economies. June auto sales in Europe slumped from a year ago to their lowest level since 1996. In June, US auto sales reached…

Glass-Steagall is dead. Rather like Soviet-era Communist leaders, it has been officially dead since 1999, and actually dead for much longer. Though there was no state funeral, the body was not embalmed or put on display and few people…

Daily Comments for 15 Jul 2013

T-Mobile USA announced a plan to allow customers to upgrade mobile handsets every six months in the latest instalment in its Uncarrier strategy to brand itself as the customer-focused mobile telecom operator in the US. I believe the…

US equity markets are continuing to price in higher premiums for bank shares relative to the overall market. The increased steepness of the yield curve will mean higher net interest income, as banks borrow at historically low rates from…

I have been fairly sanguine about some of the market turbulence in 2013. From the fiscal cliff to the sequester to the Japan rate rise to the Fed tapering, I haven't seen a trigger for wholesale risk repricing. I want to flag student loans…

In the wake of the selloff in stocks and bonds after the Fed laid out its timetable for tapering, markets are looking to see whether they have misread the Fed. Fed Presidents Bullard and Kocherlakota have spoken and both were pretty dovish.…

Paul Krugman penned a New York Times Op-Ed, "Et Tu, Bernanke?", referencing the famous Shakespeare quote "Et tu, Brute" which is generally used to signal betrayal from someone unexpected. Krugman meant to say that the Fed has betrayed the…

Last week I wrote about the asset-price fuelled boom fading. Back then the biggest worry for the market was Japan and Abenomics. However, in reality the biggest concern is emerging markets. I gave you some reasons why last week. Here are a…