Federal Reserve
Every President His Bubble – And Its Aftermath
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Every President His Bubble – And Its Aftermath
During their second term, Presidents become obsessed with “legacy.” One of the yardsticks to measure success is the stock market. Many people can relate to it. Retirement depends on it. It’s mentioned even on NPR several times a day. Outside of a few shorts, everyone wants it to go up. But President Obama must now be biting his fingernails down to the quick.
“The Mother Of All Shorts”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “The Mother Of All Shorts”
The Dow and S&P 500 are stumbling like drunken but determined sailors from one all-time high to the next, despite lousy employment and economic data, and declining corporate revenues. Bonds have done the same, and their 100-year graph has assumed the terrifying shape of open crocodile jaws, worse even than in 1999 and 2007.
The Infallible Fed At Verge Of (Not) Admitting Failure
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Infallible Fed At Verge Of (Not) Admitting Failure
“Labor market conditions are affected by factors outside a central bank’s control,” admitted Richmond Fed President Lacker as the employment report bounced around the world. Yet for years, the Fed has proclaimed that the heroic motivation for its selfless money-printing mania was the deep desire to improve the unemployment fiasco for average Americans.
Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Aftermath Of A Bubble And What Rises From The Ashes
Bubbles are a funny thing. Participants don’t see them. Outsiders shake their heads, then get sucked in themselves. Central banks create them but deny their existence. Money piles in on top of money. Risks no longer exist. Result: mayhem, capital destruction, devastation of the industry…. and a new beginning for the lucky ones. Take natural gas.
“During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “During The Last Crisis, We Had China,” Now We Have No One
There could not possibly be any clouds on the horizon with the Dow and the S&P 500 setting all-time highs, while the German DAX is marching relentlessly towards 8,000 and the Japanese Nikkei is soaring. But just then, a deeply connected representative of the world’s real economy spoils the rosy scenario.
The Fed’s Fear Scale: Holdings of Cold Hard Cash At A Record
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Fed’s Fear Scale: Holdings of Cold Hard Cash At A Record
David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on David Stockman: “Money Printers And Wall Street Coddlers”
I’ve been a fan of David Stockman ever since he got in trouble for speaking the truth as Budget Director under President Reagan. But his new book, The Great Deformation: The Corruption of Capitalism in America—what an awesome romp through the economic, financial, and monetary shenanigans of our times!
Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Wall-Street Craziness Is Back
The craziness on Wall Street, the reckless for-the-moment-only behavior that led to the Financial Crisis, is back. This time it’s Citigroup that is once again concocting “synthetic” securities, like those that had wreaked havoc five years ago. And once again, it’s using them to shuffle off risks through the filters of Wall Street to people who might never know.
Housing Bubble 2 Forms: But This Time It’s Different
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Housing Bubble 2 Forms: But This Time It’s Different
We have seen it for several years now: foreclosure sales—there were 5 million since the peak of the housing bubble—have become the hunting grounds for investors with two goals: hanging on to these homes until the Fed’s flood of money drives up their value; and defraying the expenses of ownership by renting them out. And…