MUST READ: Recently uncovered and unbelievably accurate: Sir John Templeton’s last predictions – written in 2005 – By: Christopher Ruddy – NewsMax.com
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more on the Big Mac Index: More Chinese Food – … or years now, the Economist has kept tabs on purchasing power parity through the price of a near global commodity, the Big Mac, which is produced in about 120 countries. As the magazine says, “It is arguably the world’s most accurate financial indicator to be based on a fast-food item.” … – Annaly Salvos
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read the job description – Google Is Hiring Bond Traders – Gregory White – … A source who interviewed for one of the positions said that this was a means for Google (GOOG) to make use of its large cash reserves. … Trader, Foreign Government Bonds – Mountain View – This position is based in Mountain View, CA – The area: Finance … – Silicon Alley Insider at Business Insider
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“Geritol Gang” abduct Financial Advisor – In a rather bazarre story, a group of 60-80 year olds abducted their financial advisor for having lost them £2M in the US real-estate market. “Two of his kidnappers are said to have hit him with a Zimmer frame outside his home in Speyer, western Germany, before he was bound up with duct tape, bundled into the boot of a car … During his alleged confinement in an unheated cellar, Mr Amburn, 56, claims he was burned with cigarettes, beaten, had two of his ribs broken was hit with a chair leg and chained up ‘like an animal.’“ … – Surly Trader Blog
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China and U.S. on ‘Collision Course’ Over Yuan, Roubini Says – The U.S. and China are on a “collision course” over the Chinese currency and investors are underestimating the “consequences” for global financial markets, according to Nouriel Roubini. There is a 50 percent chance that the U.S. government will label China a currency manipulator, Roubini, a professor at New York University, wrote in a note to clients. – Bloomberg BusinessWeek
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Gold in US Dollars Correlated to US Sovereign Debt – The fundamentals supporting the long term trend. – Jesse’s Cafe Americain
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charts and logic – As The Fed Runs Out Of Low-Rate Options, The UST Is Likely Considering An Orchestrated Move Of Risky Asset Into Bills – Submitted by Tyler Durden - … as the Treasury rolls down its Bill holdings, as it has been doing, the Fed’s ability to influence rates is getting progressively less and less. Couple this with an ever increasing record amount of total US debt, and you have a recipe for disaster, or as we call it, the curve Black Swan. … – Zero Hedge
The Yen Collapse Has Only Just Started – Submitted by madhedgefundtrader – has trade idea – Zero Hedge
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Why The Yuan Can’t Become The World’s Reserve Currency – Ignacio de la Torre – Far too many things would have to go right in China and wrong in the U.S. – Forbes
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What if it was all just a big bubble? – Tim Iacono – One of the things that many people go through their entire lives without ever realizing is that conditions haven’t always been the way they remember them to be. Due to the length of a typical lifetime and the number of those years that individuals are productive, it’s reasonable to think that someone in their mid-60s could retire today and look back at the last 40 years only to conclude that what they just experienced was normal. But, what if the last 40 years were anything but normal? – The Mess That Greenspan Made
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MysteryHedgie: Swap Spreads 101 – … (2 theories on swaps spreads going negative)
1. The “risk bullish” argument is that corporate debt issuance is so heavy, as customers search for yield pickup, that hedging rate risk into the government market has caused the inversion.
2. The “sovereign risk” argument is that the swap spread condition is occurring because the US government will have difficulty “paying for” the approved healthcare bill, as well as the recognition that the Fed will cease its QE program on 3/31, pressuring government yields higher.
We don’t know the reason, but view this “tail event” as an unintended consequence of government involvement in markets. The violent reaction of the US$ tells us that there are other “tails” worth trading… – more 3 thoughts at Outside The Box Blog
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Why Inflation Concerns Are Overblown: Annual M2 Growth Falls Below 1%, Lowest Rate Since 1995 – Mark Perry – Carpe Diem Blog