The American people now have a censor—North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, and they can thank President Obama’s failure to defend their rights to free speech and privacy. After hacking Sony’s computer network and subjecting its employees to identity theft and public embarrassment, North Korean hackers threatened theater chains with a 9-11 attack if they…
The economy was growing much faster based on the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) 3 month moving (3MA) average – and the economy is now well above the historical trend rate of growth. The three month moving average of the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) – which provides a summary quantitative value for all the economic…
Over the weekend, when looking at the supply dynamics of global Treasury paper, we wrote “Bond Yields Set To Plunge In 2015: Next Year Global Treasury Supply Will Tumble By 20% As ECB Joins The Party.” This morning, Bloomberg picks up on this with “The $6.3 Trillion Frenzy That Vanquished Treasury Bears”, in which author…
Note from dshort: The NYSE has released new data for margin debt, now available through November. I’ve updated the charts in this commentary to include the latest numbers. The New York Stock Exchange publishes end-of-month data for margin debt on the NYXdata website, where we can also find historical data back to 1959. Let’s examine the numbers…
As November came to a close, the market rebound out of the October correction had not only reset over bearish sentiment, but had put it wildly bullish and very unhealthy. Yet the Santa seasonal was oncoming and something had to give. Santa’s rally was not going to generate from such unhealthy over bullish conditions. In NFTRH we…
In case anybody still believed we were doing ok on cybersecurity, Staples just announced that malware deployed at 115 of its stores nationwide gave hackers access to some 1.16 million customers’ payment cards. If news of a Staples hack sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Back in October, the company revealed that it was investigating…
Previous week’s stock action saw shares of OvaScience, Inc. (OVAS) soar nearly 23.2%, or $8.13, following corporate news that the company fully accomplished its 2014 clinical goals. Shares of the Cambridge-based company closed on Thursday at $43.09 with more than 1.9 million shares trading hands. This compares to the company’s three-month average volume of nearly 200,000 shares. The chart…
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS March E-mini S&Ps (ESH15 +0.23%) this morning are up +0.28% and European stocks are up +0.84% as energy producers rose after the price of crude oil stabilized. The Russian ruble rallied up to a 1-week high against the dollar while yields on Spanish and Portuguese 10-year government bonds fell to record lows….
Asian stocks rose Monday, with the regional index headed for its steepest three-day advance in almost two months, as commodity shares climbed amid a rally in crude oil. New Zealand’s dollar dropped while Japanese bonds extended gains. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 0.6 percent by 11:04 a.m. in Tokyo, bringing its gain since Dec. 18…
Can a Central Bank Lend Money to Firms, Individuals or Households? by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101 Or, put differently, can firms, individuals or households borrow from the central bank? The answer for modern central banks is: no. Here is an excerpt from “the Statute”: CHAPTER IV MONETARY FUNCTIONS AND OPERATIONS OF THE ESCB Article 17 Accounts with the…
