Equities slumped as fresh restrictions to curtail the spread of COVID overshadowed signs that scientists are making fast progress towards a vaccine. The dollar sank to a two-year low, a decline that at this juncture is not a market event. However, a strong case can be made if the decline continues it may become an … Read more
Equities reversed the previous days decline after the President backed a piecemeal approach to aid. The Administration is backing $1,200 stimulus checks, $25 billion to hard hit airlines and $135 billion for small businesses. Some are also stating a reason for yesterday’s advance was Biden’s growing lead in the polls and are now speculating that … Read more
A Bloomberg headline read “A Volatility Doom Loop May Be Taking Hold In US Markets.” The article cited “unnamed SEC officials” talking about the issue of risk parity funds and high volatility funds reinforcing this negative loop amplified by low liquidity. JP Morgan writes the depth in US equity futures is seven times worse than … Read more
President Trump may soon label China a currency manipulator. While I will skip the obvious notion that all countries manipulate their currencies either overtly (devaluation) or covertly (monetary policy), such a declaration may have wide ranging implications. China is an export dominated country, defined as its economic wellbeing is dependent upon the financial health of … Read more
Today is the Inauguration. I vividly recall President Obama’s 2009 inauguration speech. While I did not vote for him, I found his comments hopeful and uplifting, thinking give this guy a chance to see if he can unify and heal the country. Unfortunately I believe President Obama accomplished the opposite for leadership is about making … Read more
Will there be a tectonic change in government? President Trump is considering a 20% cut in the number of federal workers and an outright reduction in federal spending. Historically a government spending cut is a reduction in the amount of a planned increase, not an outright reduction of “X” amount over the previous year’s expenditures … Read more
There was little initial reaction to the Minutes of the December FOMC meeting. Perhaps of significance was the Committee’s fear that the central bank might be forced to quicken the pace of interest rate increases to head off higher inflation. Specifically The Minutes stated almost all the participants “indicated that the upside risks to their … Read more
