Posts Tagged ‘ZIRP’
Yellen Fed & Monetary Policy: “Running it Hot”
The September Fed meeting issued few surprises; fed funds were not hiked, as was telegraphed by the Brainard speech. While the Fed maintained interest rates, in the press conference, Yellen once again, found a way to interject incremental dovishness, driving interest rates lower, and asset prices up. The playbook of the Yellen Fed for the…
Read MoreValuing the Yellen Put
The Yellen Put, follows a line of Federal Reserve inspired put options, valuable to market participants of specific Fed Chair eras. The rationale behind the Fed Chair put is simple; with the Federal Reserve so vigilant to support any downtick in the economy and/or markets with interest rate cuts (Greenspan), quantitative easing (Bernanke), and ZIRF…
Read MoreISM sinks to post-2009 lows; Industrial Economy Recession a Catch 22 for Fed
November ISM sank to the lowest level since 2009. Stunning, that the ISM (Institute for Supply Chain Management) survey, formerly known as NAPM (National Association of Purchasing Managers), printed 48.6, the lowest level since the throes of the financial crisis. For perspective, the last time the ISM printed sub-48, in June 2009, the S&P was 900. Today,…
Read MoreGlobal Growth Scare + High Valuations = Bear Market Dynamics
It’s been a difficult market since the dog days of summer. After 10-months of exceptionally low volatility, a fierce downdraft set in during mid-August. Lower stock prices, and volatility, will persist, simply because the conditions to go right back to the old dynamic aren’t in place. There isn’t enough global growth to support stock prices…
Read MoreSuper Dovish Fed Persists
The Fed’s lack of policy response, and subsequent press conference, evokes memories of a scene in Bronx Tale… What’s going on here? Now you can’t leave. I will never forget the look on their faces. All eight of them.Their faces dropped. All their courage and strength was drained from their bodies. They had a reputation for breaking up…
Read MoreChina in Recession; Yuan Depreciation Imminent
China is at the end-game of its great economic transformation. Multiple iterations of 5-year plans, and flawed central economic planning, created a massive build-up in debt that can no longer be continued. China’s debt fueled growth is understood, but the impact of the deleveraging phase is becoming evident in real time. Various estimates of China…
Read MoreStanley Fischer’s Jackson Hole Speech: Fed Determined to Lift-Off
Stanley Fischer delivered a critical speech this weekend at the Jackson Hole, Economic Symposium, outlining the Fed’s forward looking view on inflation and the potential for a lessening of factors that dampen inflation. This speech signals the Fed is staying the course and determined for rate hike lift-off on the advertised time-table. CJF interprets this…
Read MoreEmerging Market Doldrums
Not out of the woods yet – no way. The world has changed in the past week, and unmistakably, extreme volatility (mostly of the down kind) is back within financial markets. The potential of Fed rate hike cycle, in the not too distant future, is wreaking havoc. An unintended consequences of the extended period of…
Read MoreNegative German Yields – Implications for Risk Averse Financial Markets
On Monday, Germany gained entrance to a rarified club of sovereign nations paid to borrow money. This US accomplished this feat during the depths of the financial crisis. Now Germany is able to achieve the same feat during the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis. In a debt auction on Monday, Germany was able to sell 3.9B…
Read MoreOn Paranormal – A Review of the “New-New Normal”
PARANORMAL: beyond the range of normal experience or scientific explanation, not in accordance with scientific laws. A great friend of mine, and incredibly savvy investor, recently pointed me to Bill Gross’ January 2012 Investment Outlook: “Towards the Paranormal”. He suggested it was an intriguing, provocative, and worthwhile read. After reading the four page monthly I…
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