Monthly Archives: November 2009

The Debt-Interest Rate Paradox

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 24, 2009

There appears to be a race to see who can warn and downgrade the most from the ratings agencies. Yesterday, Fitch downgraded Mexico’s foreign currency rating to BBB on the ability of the government to meet their fiscal obligations (reduced maneuverability of fiscal accounts) and their increasing debt to GDP. Today, they warned about Japanese banks saying that weaker loan quality may put pressure on Japan’s “mega” banks’ performance and in turn capitalization, which remains somewhat weak by international standards, especially in terms of the “core” capital levels

The FT reports that S&P released a study of the world’s major … …READ MORE

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CNBC Tonight w/Steve Forbes

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 23, 2009

Tonight at 7PM ET, I’ll be appearing on CNBC’s Kudlow Report w/ Steve Forbes discussing the US fiscal deficit and the US dollar.… …READ MORE

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Markets Smell a Country Rat

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 23, 2009

Before everyone gets their underwear in a bundle, the Senate merely voted to start the debate and amendment process for the Reid Health Care bill. The 60 vote barrier was almost pre-ordained before it took place. The fun starts now with several Democratic senators warning they won’t vote again on the bill without significant changes. Make no mistake, this bill has traveled far and wide from it’s original intent of inclusion and improvement that was promised at the start of this process.

Remember, the reason why we started down this path was to bend the cost curve back downwards for … …READ MORE

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Lou Dobbs on Larry Kudlow tonight!

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 19, 2009

http://www.businessinsider.com/lou-dobbs-will-be-on-the-kudlow-report-tonight-2009-11

This will be fun……… …READ MORE

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Ron Paul Day in the House

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 19, 2009

As part of the ongoing reconfiguring and reregulating of the American financial system, the House Financial Services Committee today will take up an amendment that seeks to audit Federal Reserve monetary policy. As so many things are backward in Congress, the vote today is actually a vote on a proposal to retain a ban on audits of Fed interest rate decisions. If it is voted down, then the Ron Paul bill to audit monetary policy could see the light of day.

The Paul bill has 300 cosponsors and clearly has struck a nerve in Congress. I’d go back to the … …READ MORE

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Health Care Weighs In at 2074 Pages!

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 19, 2009

Congratulations Sen. Reid, it’s a 2074 page Health Care Bill! Here are the Fun Facts:

Spending: The cost of the bill is $2.5 trillion over 10 years of full implementation (2014-2023).

Taxes Increases: Taxes will go up $493.6 billion—nearly half a trillion dollars.

Medicare Cuts: Medicare will be cut $464.6 billion—another half a trillion dollars.

Public Option: The bill includes a government run plan and provides states with the possibility of opting out of participating in that plan. According to CBO, the government run plan “would typically have premiums that were somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private … …READ MORE

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Going Rogue NBC Video: Rachel Madow Gets Dusted!

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 19, 2009

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/18/going-rogue-goes-rogue-sa_n_361803.html… …READ MORE

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Fed's Disaster Movie

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 18, 2009

President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis James Bullard said that policy makers may not start to raise rates until early 2012 while facing a “too low for two long” argument that may “weigh heavily” on the central bank. “The main challenge for monetary policy going forward will be how to adjust the asset purchase program without generating inflation and still providing support to the economy while interest rates are near zero.”

This should come as no surprise coming from Bullard. Back on September 1st, Bullard said the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes may be “quite … …READ MORE

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CNBC Tonight at 7PM ET!

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 16, 2009

Tonight at 7PM ET, I’ll be appearing on CNBC’s Kudlow Report discussing President Obama’s trip to China and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s US dollar policy.… …READ MORE

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US Health Care Bill a Concern for the Chinese

By Andrew Busch | Published: November 16, 2009

Over the weekend, China’s chief banking regulator sharply criticized the US Federal Reserve and the monetary policy of the United States. Liu Mingkan said that the U.S. Federal Reserve’s promise to keep U.S. interest rates at extraordinarily low levels for an extended period “has already led to a massive U.S. dollar carry trade and massive speculation.” He said that the weak U.S. dollar and low U.S. interest rates are creating “unavoidable risks for the recovery of the global economy, especially emerging economies” and that the situation is “seriously impacting global asset prices and encouraging speculation in stock and property markets” … …READ MORE

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