Tag Archives: Monetary Policy

Memo to Wall Street:  The Monetary Cavalry Ain’t Coming

For the past 25 years, markets have depended on central banks to bail them out because of the delusion that “inflation had been vanquished to the dustbin of history.” Even after the Jay Powell smackdown, we still hear talk of … Continue reading

Posted in Inflation/Deflation, Monetary Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 22 Comments

How The U.S. Made Inflation Worse

Not a bad primer video from CNBC on the Fed’s policy mistakes, which we all are now, literally, paying for. I would add that monetary policy is a black box, mainly because we can’t define the money supply, much less … Continue reading

Posted in Inflation/Deflation, Monetary Policy | Tagged , , | 21 Comments

History Is Not On Inflation’s (or the Fed’s) Side

CPI inflation hit 9.1 percent in June.  The FinMedia is quick to point out it was “the highest level in more than forty years,”   We doubt you will hear (at least from them) any context or the rest of the … Continue reading

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Why This QE Is Different In One Chart

Robin Hood traders don’t bother reading. The latest round of central bank balance sheet expansion, which will reaccelerate soon as Biden’s COVID bill is passed, needs some context. By the way, we did some rough approximations late last night and … Continue reading

Posted in Monetary Policy | Tagged | 3 Comments

Markets Have Jumped The Shark

Welcome to the Twilight Zone.    Nothing seems real anymore — not the economy, not the markets, not the politics — and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish the difference between what is and what isn’t.  It truly feels the economy, … Continue reading

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Posted in Monetary Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 18 Comments

The Magical Monetary Policy Mystery Tour

Wow!  Just heard a so-called “banking expert” say that the Fed was reducing reserves on their balance sheet during quantitative tightening (QT), which has led to the current chaos in the overnight repo market.   Not entirely true. Asymmetric Libalibity Balance … Continue reading

Posted in Fiscal Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Why Did Stocks Fall After Rate Cut?

Gravity.  Stock prices are waaay too high. Stocks went down not because the Fed messed up.  If they needed to cut 50 bps and signal more to come because of coming economic weakness, what in heavens name were stocks doing … Continue reading

Posted in Equities, Politics, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

BFTP: How to Become a Trillionaire And Other Thoughts

BTFP:  Blast From The Past Time to repost our piece from January 2017, almost two weeks before the Trump administration took power. We hit the big topics back then which are now making headlines today:  1)  Modern Monetary Theory;  2)  … Continue reading

Posted in Economics, Fiscal Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Fed’s Failure To Communicate, Markets’ Failure To Count

Not to beat a dead horse but the following example just reinforces our last post. What the market perceives, Investors who are hoping the Federal Reserve signals a change or adjustment in its balance sheet policy on Wednesday are likely … Continue reading

Posted in Fed, Monetary Policy, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

How Chair Powell Could Spark A Massive Rally By Doing Nothing

Summary The market is irrationally obsessed with the “$600 billion” annual roll-off in the Fed’s balance sheet The actual reduction in the balance sheet will be much smaller and is determined by the profile of monthly Treasury and MBS securities … Continue reading

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