Tag Archives: Bernanke

Optimism Week!

By Andrew Busch | Published: September 26, 2011

After several brutal weeks of Risk-Off trading, the markets appear to be set for a week of unstable, but positive (UBP) Risk-On trading. The predominate story emanating from the IMF/WB meetings is the passing of the July 21st EFSF & Greek bailout agreement as well as the potential development of a new structure to increase the leverage of this structure. There has also been newsflow about the potential for the ECB to cut interest rates at their October 6th by 50 basis points.

Also, the calendar sets up well for this UBP Risk-on environment:

Monday: US cloture vote in Senate … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Currency Trade for Next 3 days:

By Andrew Busch | Published: July 13, 2011

Before I got dropped for News Corp breaking news coverage, here’s the trade I’m was going to discuss on CNBC today.

* The FOMC minutes showed a discussion of QE3 and this helped lift US stocks. It also helped temporarily reduce “Risk-Off”.

* Also, rumored ECB and China buying periphery debt rallied the Euro ag the Usd from the lows of 1.3840.

* Soothing comments from IMF and Germany on “crisis” along with China’s strong than expected GDP have helped rally global equities.

However, the European debt crisis is not close to being solved and CDS for Italy and Spain … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , | Leave a comment

Waiting for Superman Bernanke

By Andrew Busch | Published: April 26, 2011

The focus of the week will be on earnings and the Fed with the currency markets taking a back seat. So far, the earnings have been robust with 79% of those reporting beating the analysts’ expectations. Today, we had Ford out and they beat. As far as the Fed is concerned, we all have our questions we want answered. Aside from my jokes, Ben Bernanke will be forced to answer the inflation questions over energy and food. In conjunction with inflation, he will also be asked about what levers the Fed will pull first and the sequence. Since the Fed … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

3 U Nd 2 Knw Now

By Andrew Busch | Published: February 7, 2011

3 U Nd 2 Knw

1. Bank of England. On Thursday, the UK central bank meets to decide on interest rates amidst a rising inflationary environment. Currently, the BOE is holding their asset purchases at 200 billion GBP and their overnight interest rates at 0.5%. The Monetary Policy Committee will struggle to decide if they need to raise interest rates when inflation is about double their 2% target and UK growth might be negatively impacted by government cuts in spending. On January 13th, two members of the committee voted to raise interest rates as they were concerned that inflation would … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Egyptian Risk for Bernanke

By Andrew Busch | Published: January 31, 2011

Back in December, I wrote a piece entitled “Top 5 problems for 2011”. In it, I stated this:

5. Food Inflation. Isn’t this really the most under-reported story of 2010? Since June, wheat is up 60% and corn is up 74%. Food accounts for up to half of all household spending in emerging countries compared to just 10-15% in Europe and the US according the FT. China has increased reserve requirements and raised interest rates because their CPI is running above 5.0% and food inflation is running above 10% and vegetables up 21%. Mexico bought call options on corn this … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , | 2 Comments

Bernanke Admission by Omission

By Andrew Busch | Published: July 22, 2010

I think the most “captivating” part of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was not what he said, but what he omitted. Yes, the unusually uncertain comment captured the essence of why businesses aren’t hiring with European debt crisis, health care, Fin Reg and taxes all creating the miasma.

However, the chairman didn’t address or dwell on the Seinfeld economic theory of a double dip. He brushed off comments asking for details of what the Fed would do to stimulate the economy if it sank again from these levels.

This was the point I was attempting to make last night on … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Eyes of Congress Are Upon You

By Andrew Busch | Published: February 24, 2010

Here’s What the Markets Are Going to Focus on Today:

House Budget
FISCAL 2011 BUDGET: TREASURY DEPARTMENT
10 a.m. Feb. 24, 210 Cannon Bldg.
Full Committee Hearing
House Budget Committee (Chairman Spratt, D-S.C.) will hold a hearing on the president’s proposed fiscal 2011 budget for the Treasury Department.
Witnesses Scheduled: Timothy F. Geithner, secretary of the Treasury

House Financial Services
HUMPHREY-HAWKINS MONETARY POLICY REPORT
10 a.m. Feb. 24, 2128 Rayburn Bldg.
House Financial Services Committee (Chairman Frank, D-Mass.) will hold a hearing on the Humphrey-Hawkins Semiannual Monetary Policy Report, current economic conditions, and the outlook for the financial sector and … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bernanke Vote Today

By Andrew Busch | Published: December 17, 2009

Benigans Part II

Today, the US Senate Banking committee will likely vote to recommend current Federal Reserve chairman for another four year term. This is not interesting. What is interesting is the increasing number of senators that are saying they will vote against him. Clearly, the American public needs a villain or several villains for what happened over the last 2 years. Goldman is one of them. The other appears to be Bernanke. Someone needs to take the blame for the 10% unemployment rate. Middle income voters feel that Bernanke & Co. bailed out Wall Street over Main Street. The … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , | 2 Comments

It's All About Ben!

By Andrew Busch | Published: December 16, 2009

With growth returning and unemployment seemingly peaked, will the FOMC have to exit their massive stimulus. Here are 5 things to ponder for today:

1. A Bernanke Fed has never raised rates in an aggressive manner to combat either inflation or bubbles.

2. Wages are the major factor influencing prices in the United States and Bernanke believes we remain well below levels that will create pressure.

3. Gold and other commodities indicate inflation is a looming problem.

4. Fiscal policy is on a path to a crisis with total debt in the United States growing almost 20% in one year. … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Best Questions For Ben Bernanke

By Andrew Busch | Published: December 3, 2009

Let’s get right to heart of what really matters here for the Fed. Just two questions need to be asked.

1. Why should the Fed have any regulatory oversight considering what a poor job they did in the past?

2. Why should the Fed have a dual mandate?

In his Washington Post editorial, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke breaks down the fourth wall of reporting and brings his case directly to the public. He states relatively quickly and succinctly that, “I am concerned, however, that a number of the legislative proposals being circulated would significantly reduce the capacity of the … …READ MORE

Posted in Front Page | Also tagged , | Leave a comment

  • Recent TWEETS @abusch