Category Archives: Policy

Irish Opposition Balks At Bank Bailout, Moody’s Downgrades

Posted on February 11, 2011 by macromon

The Irish Times is reporting this morning that the two main opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour, want to delay the banking system’s recapitilasation until April, when the stress testing of lenders is complete. The Labour Party is taking an … Continue reading →

Posted in Euro, PIIGS, Policy, Politics, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Sarkozy and G20 to Crackdown on Food Specs

Posted on February 10, 2011 by macromon

The following is an excerpt from the recently released European Commission report on commodity derivatives   The two charts, from the St. Louis Fed,  illustrate the parabolic rise in Commodity Index-Funds  over the past 8 years and the huge increase … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Crude Oil, Food Prices, Policy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Nonlinear Thinking: The Skin Gun

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

We’ve written about our belief of the coming explosion of new technologies.  Go no further than this video.   If governments will balance their budgets, minimize the economic distortions of their actions,  provide quality education,  and stay out of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Nonlinear Thinking, Policy | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Measuring Arab Unrest: The Shoe Thrower’s Index

Posted on February 9, 2011 by macromon

Here’s something interesting from the Economist, An index of unrest in the Arab world IN THIS week’s print edition we ran a table showing a number of indicators for members of the Arab League. By adding a few more and … Continue reading →

Posted in Egypt, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Peru’s Meltdown

Posted on February 7, 2011 by macromon

A  good friend from the hedge fund community and one of the best economists to have ever worked in the financial markets, and who also happens to be from Peru sent over a piece on the Andean glacier melt from … Continue reading →

Posted in Clean Tech, Commodities, Economics, Food Prices, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Elbaradei urges Mubarak to step down

Posted on January 30, 2011 by macromon

The Egyptian Revolt now has a face, Mohamed Mustafa ElBarade, former Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and winner of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.    This would be a very positive development if he becomes the … Continue reading →

Posted in Egypt, Geopolitical, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Japan: Risk of Sovereign Interest Rate Shock – IMF

Posted on January 27, 2011 by macromon

In the context of S&P’s recent sovereign downgrade of Japan we thought you’d be interested in this IMF piece published in October.  The basic thesis is that Japanese commercial banks have been the main buyers of JGBs over past few … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Swan Watch, Bonds, Budget Deficit, Chart of the Day, Economics, Japan, Monetary Policy, Policy, Sovereign Debt, Sovereign Risk | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Specs Fuel “Bizarro” World of Live Cattle Futures

Posted on January 19, 2011 by macromon

After reaching a high of $112.375 – the highest for a closest-to-expiration contract since CME launched cattle futures in 1964 – February live cattle futures fell today to the equivalent of $108.80 per hundred points. The price hit a previous … Continue reading →

Posted in Commodities, Monetary Policy, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Graying of Calfornia’s Flower Children

Posted on January 9, 2011 by macromon

Well this is a depressing chart and remember California usually leads the nation.    We fear us baby boomers risk eating all the  “seed corn” and leaving nothing for the younger generations to invest in their future, which the quality … Continue reading →

Posted in Bonds, Budget Deficit, Demographics, Muni Market, Policy, Politics | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Did the Russell 2000 predict the better than expected ADP?

Posted on January 5, 2011 by macromon

Did you notice the better than expected ADP employment report this morning.  It was the largest monthly jump ever in this report, with most of the jobs created in small and medium sized businesses? Recall we wrote on January 3rd … Continue reading →

Posted in Budget Deficit, Currency, Employment, Fiscal Policy, Muni Bonds, News, Policy, Politics | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments