The Fed’s QE Unwind – “balance sheet normalization,” as it calls this – is accelerating toward cruising speed. The first 12 months of the QE unwind, which started in October 2017, are the ramp-up period...
Following a record injection via the medium-term lending facility yesterday, China’s officials unveiled a set of policies designed to support the weakening economy that soon could face a substantial drag from US tariffs. The effort...
In the wake of US tariffs on steel and aluminum, the EU has made several counter moves and has now raised tariffs of its own on steel imports which exceed quotas based on current levels....
The first doubts over the future of globalization were expressed after 9-11. Many were concerned that the added security costs would make the cross-border movement of goods more expansive. Nearly everyone at the time embraced...
In the minutes of the FOMC meeting on June 12 and 13, released this afternoon, there was a doozie, obscured somewhat by the dynamics of the rate hike plus the indication that there would be...
The global capital markets are trying to stabilize. US equities recovered from early losses yesterday but this was not enough to stop Asian equities from extending recent losses. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index slipped 0.2% for...
What a beautiful sight! Look around at world’s leaders such as Donald Trump or Xi Jin Ping; would you be sorry if you did not get another look at them? And then look at Justin...
China has threatened to forcefully retaliate after the US for escalating the trade conflict by threatening another $200 bln worth of Chinese goods with an additional 10% tariff. Previously, Trump threatened to $100 bln of...
The Markit group that provides many of the PMI surveys noted with today’s reports that the eurozone outlook has “darkened dramatically.” This makes for a poor backdrop for the ECB, which meets next week. However,...
Officials from both sides of the Atlantic were unable to reach a deal to avert tariffs two days before the exemption expires. The EU has said it will announce retaliatory measures shortly. US Commerce Secretary...
So far the US, China, Euro Area, France, Italy, Spain and the UK have reported the first cut of Q1 GDP growth and all are either the same as for Q4 or lower and some...
On the domestic front, Mr Trump’s undoubted major achievement has been to push ‘yuge’ tax cuts though a Republican Congress without conceding savings on federal spending. This certainly boosted equity prices and it seems many...