Category Archives: Policy

Chart of the Day: Sovereign Debt and Capital Flight

Posted on November 8, 2010 by macromon

We thought this to be a very informative chart, which shows the percentage of a country’s sovereign debt held by domestic and foreign residents.   In general, the more a country’s debt is held by foreigners the higher the risk of … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, Commodities, Credit, Currency, Fiscal Policy, News, Policy, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bank of Japan Outlines Nikkei ETF Purchases

Posted on November 4, 2010 by macromon

After yesterday’s FOMC action and Ben Bernanke’s Op/Ed in the Washington Post essentially stating the Fed is targeting the stock market, we now get the Bank of Japan’s outline for asset purchases. Next week the BoJ begins buying Nikkei and … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Commodities, Gold, Monetary Policy, Policy | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

GIDDY-FRICKIN-UP!

Posted on November 4, 2010 by macromon

Was it Bernanke’s piece in today’s Washinginton Post that a higher stock market is the economy’s healing balm? This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest … Continue reading →

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Beijing, China 2030 AD

Posted on November 4, 2010 by macromon

What would Krugman think?  

Posted in Black Swan Watch, China, Fiscal Policy, Geopolitical, Monetary Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

What the Fed did and why – Ben Bernanke

Posted on November 3, 2010 by macromon

Ben Bernanke published an Op/Ed piece in today’s Washington Post explaining the FOMC’s action.  Here are the money quotes, The FOMC decided this week that, with unemployment high and inflation very low, further support to the economy is needed. With … Continue reading →

Posted in Equities, Monetary Policy, News, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Sovereign Debt: Not So Risk-Free

Posted on November 1, 2010 by macromon

Joseph Cotterill over at FT Aphaville has a great post on how some European corporate bonds are trading through their sovereigns.   Not surprising it taking place in countries without access to a printing press to monetize deficit spending, Markit pointed … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, Currency, Fiscal Policy, Geopolitical, Monetary Policy, Policy | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Gold and the QE War?

Posted on October 31, 2010 by macromon

This is going to an interesting week for gold.  We expect some currency fireworks as the Bank of Japan draws a line in the sand for the Yen around the 80 level.  Will the Japanese respond to QE2 with more … Continue reading →

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The Yoke is Hard and the Debt Burden is Heavy

Posted on October 30, 2010 by macromon

We found this table from Brookings very interesting.  The net public debt per worker of the Advanced Economies in the G20 has increased from US$33K in 2007 t0 US$50.2 in 2010, an increase of 50 percent and projected to grow … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, BRICs, China, Fiscal Policy, News, Policy, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Robert Prechter’s 100 Predictions – 7 years later

Posted on October 28, 2010 by macromon

Here are 100 predictions that Elliot Wave Theorist, Robert Prechter, made in October 2003.  As my econ professor once said, “if you’re going to forecast, forecast a lot and forecast often.” No mention of the rise of Apple or the … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, China, Commodities, Currency, Equities, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics, Sovereign Risk, Whales | Tagged , | 10 Comments

China to Resume Shipping Rare Earth Minerals – NY Times

Posted on October 28, 2010 by macromon

The NY Times is reporting China has ended its Rare Earth export embargo just shortly after Secretary of State Clinton announced she would question the policy on her upcoming visit.  Interesting, China never admitted to export restrictions. As expected the … Continue reading →

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