S&P, which continues to grant the UK triple-A status, cut France’s rating to double-A last week. We can understand why ratings matter for corporations. The rating agencies may have access to private information....
There are three dimensions to the broader investment climate: the trajectory of Fed tapering, the ECB’s response to the draining of excess liquidity and threat of deflation, and Chinese reforms to be unveiled at the...
The recognition that the Federal Reserve is most unlikely to taper this year succeeded US self-defeating fiscal exercise. However, as the week winds down, it is the monetary policy of China and the Europe that is...
This Great Graphic will likely surprise many. Work by Giovanni Salzano at Bloomberg Businessweek, drew on US Treasury data to show the changes in the debt per capita under different presidential administrations, since...
A last minute deal was struck that re-opens the US federal government and removes the immediate threat of default, but rather than turn the attention from the US, the focus has shifted from fiscal policy to monetary policy....
This Great Graphic shows the international holders of US Treasuries as of July. The graph was posted on CNNMoney. Of the roughly $5.6 trillion worth of Treasuries held abroad, $2.42 trillion, or about 43% is accounted for...
This Great Graphic was posted by Frederik Ducrozet on twitter. It shows that three countries account for vast majority of the remaining LTRO borrowings: Italy, Span and France. Portuguese and Irish banks have some...
This Great Graphic was posted in the Wall Street Journal, which it got from R&D Magazine. It shows research and development expenditure in billions of dollars and as a percent of GDP. Expenditures in dollar...
The Fed clearly disappointed expectations with its decision not to slow its asset purchases, but the Financial Times may go a bit too far with its headline suggestion that the Fed blinked. The Fed did no such thing....
The global capital markets have been feeling the effect for several months and now the cause is at hand. The Federal Reserve is set to decide whether to continue at the same pace the purchases of long-term assets or slow...