Tag Archives: Federal Reserve

Tens of millions of Americans and their employers pour money into pension plans each month, counting on those funds to grow and to be there when needed at retirement. But a time bomb awaits. The bulk of U.S. pension funds are dangerously underfunded, and the assets are often invested in securities that have bleak prospects for providing income that keeps up with a general decline in purchasing power. A pension plan...

For over four decades, many of the planet’s biggest trouble makers and assholes have met each year in Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum with the humble mission of, “Improving the state of the world.” Each year since 1978, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has sponsored a symposium in Jackson Hole on an important issue facing the world’s bankers and their pet politicians and government bureaucrats....

As tumultuous as last year was from a global political perspective on the back of a rocky start market-wise, 2017 will be much more so. The central bank subsidization of the financial system (especially in the US and Europe) that began with the Fed invoking zero interest rate policy in 2008, gave way to international distrust of the enabling status quo that unfolded in different ways across the planet. My prognosis is...

If you thought 2016 was full of market maelstroms and geopolitical gotchas, 2017’s ‘known unknowns’ suggest a year of more mayhem awaits… Here’s a selection of key events in the year ahead (and links to Bloomberg’s quick-takes on each). January Donald Trump will be sworn in as U.S. president on Jan. 20.QuickTakes: Immigration Reform, Free Trade and Its Foes, Supreme Court, Oil Sands, Confronting Coal, Climate Change,...

“The idea that the future is unpredictable is undermined every day by the ease with which the past is explained.” – Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to see a live one hour interview with Michael Lewis at the Annenberg Center about his new book The Undoing Project. Everyone attending the lecture received a complimentary copy of the book. Being a huge fan of Lewis after...

I am finishing the year like I began it, on Bloomberg Television, talking about the dollar and Fed policy. Bloomberg has made two clips of my interview available. In the first clip (here), I discuss the dollar.   I reiterate my forecast for the the Dollar Index to head toward 120.00.  The consolidation between Q2 15 and end of Q3 16 appears to me to be the base of the new leg up that has already begun.[embedded...

Investors are familiar with a broad set of macroeconomic variables that often drive asset prices.  Many are familiar with corporate balance sheets, price-earning ratios, free cash flow, Q-ratio, and the like. However, political factors are more difficult for investors to integrate into their analysis. Therein lies the main challenge in the year ahead.  There will be many opportunities for political factors to overwhelm...

Posted with permission and written by Tim Taschler, Sprott Global I know that I resemble the old guy in this cartoon, standing by helplessly as I watch central bankers experiment with the global economy. Bubbles are blown, again, in several asset classes. Negative interest rates have become an acceptable concept, as if they are just words and have no real economic meaning. Stock markets trade based on the next set...

Trump wins Electoral College vote; a few electors break ranks (Reuters) European Stocks Head for a One-Year High (BBG) Japan's Central Bank Keeps Policy Unchanged, Upgrades Economic Outlook (BBG) Russia and Turkey vow to keep detente on track after murder (FT) The Political Implications of Events in Ankara and Berlin (BBG) Trump condemns Berlin attack, says things 'only getting worse' (Reuters) Merkel: "No Doubt Berlin Crash Was a Terror Attack" (BBG) Gunman in Zurich mosque shooting is dead...

Swiss Franc EUR/CHF - Euro Swiss Franc, December 15(see more posts on EUR/CHF, ) - Click to enlarge Sterling has made steady gains against the CHF over the past month and although the spike has levelled this week, the Pound has certainly gained a foothold. Yesterday’s decision by the US Federal Reserve to raise their base rate from 0.25% to 0.5% did little to shift the value of GBP/CHF but with investors...