Business Section Of Their Newspaper

The Weekly Bottom Line : 05/02/2012 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States U.S. economic indicators for January point to renewed momentum in early 2012. Non-farm payrolls expanded by a vigorous 243K, and the unemployment rate fell to 8.3%. Vehicle sales rose 4.6% to 14.1 million (SAAR) in January, reaching the highest level in over three and half years and surpassing the one-time shot in the arm provided by the cash for clunkers stimulus program. ISM manufacturing and non-manufacturing indexes posted strong gains and, as leading indicators, give hope that January's performance could be maintained in the month's ahead. Despite the positive turn in the data, 2012 will remain a challenging year for economic growth. The housing market and European recession present key ...

For anyone who makes money by making sense of financial markets, 2011 was a confounding year. Whether it was Europe's seemingly intractable debt crisis, uprisings in the Middle East or the political bickering and growing debt burden that cost the United States its AAA credit rating, investors had to be more nimble than ever to stay ahead of swiftly changing sentiment. When the history books are written, 2011 may go down as the year when political risk trumped economics, earnings and interest rates as the main force driving capital markets. "I can't remember a year when politics had such a big impact on capital markets," said Ron Florance, head of investment strategy at Wells Fargo Private Bank, which oversees $157 billion in assets. "Maybe during the crash of 1987, but that lasted for a ...

Yesterday, the Dow rose 109 points. Gold went up $4. The 10-year US note is still trading below 3% yield and oil is still below $95. So, what’s new? The markets seem still to be wondering…waiting…watching to see what happens – just as we are. The Greek premier won a confidence vote in parliament. That seemed to give investors some confidence. The idea is that if the Greeks can act like they know what they’re doing, the rest of Europe can give them some more money. Meanwhile, Japanese officials appear to be taking a direct approach. They are said to be intervening in the stock market, buying when the market heads down. That must give investors confidence too. And back in the USA, everyone seems to be waiting to see what happens when QE2 comes to an end. If stocks and bonds go down, the ...

(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average posted the biggest two-day fall in nearly three months on Friday, as lower commodities prices weighed on energy-related shares and investors worried that China will move to cool its booming economy, the engine of commodity demand growth. China reported its economy grew 9.8 percent in the fourth quarter, even faster than expected, while inflation barely slowed. That raised fears the government will tighten monetary policy to choke off excessive demand and sent prices of oil, copper and gold sharply lower. Renewed worries over China offset the positive impact of a stronger dollar, which remained at a one-week high against the yen on strong U.S. economic data, triggering an anticipated sell-off in equities after the market's gain of 13 percent since the ...

(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average ended the year on a sour note on Thursday, pressured by profit-taking as the yen advanced to a fresh seven-week high against the dollar. The benchmark Nikkei .N225 booked a 3 percent loss for 2010 as the yen's strength over the course of the year stoked worries about the outlook for Japan's export-led economy. In 2009, the Nikkei had gained 19 percent led by a rally in high-tech exporters. Still, Japanese shares have rebounded from the year's lows on buying led by foreign investors, with their recovery having gathered momentum since November following monetary easing by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan. Overseas investors have been major buyers during this recovery on the view that Japanese shares were undervalued compared with those in other ...

(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average advanced 0.5 percent on Wednesday as investors bought on dips amid hopes that Tokyo stocks will stay bullish entering 2011, though a stronger yen limited strong follow-through buying. Stocks started lower due to the firmer yen, but they regained strength by late morning as Chinese shares edged higher and bargain-hunting emerged in thin trade before the year-end holidays, analysts said. Market participants were upbeat heading into next year, as Japanese stocks are still cheap compared with those in other developed markets even after having gained nearly 10 percent in the last quarter of 2010. The index is still down 2 percent for the year. "There is no solid reason to sell Japanese shares actively as the outlook for the market is still bright. Many ...

On precisely the same weekend in November as the Republican victory parties in and around Washington, the Fed celebrated its centennial far away from its DC home at Jekyll Island, Georgia. One hundred years ago, seven US Congressmen and bankers gathered together in secret at this highly remote location to lay the political foundations for what would become, in 1913, the Federal Reserve Act. The ostensible purpose of creating the Federal Reserve was to provide for greater financial stability in the wake of the US banking panic of 1907. So how has the Fed fared in this role? Well the Fed has come a long way in its first hundred years, to be sure. Let’s consider for a moment this summary of the first eighty of those, by quoting G. Edward Griffin, historian and author of The Creature from ...

(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average fell 0.3 percent on Monday as the yen reached a fresh 15-year high on the dollar and approached an all-time peak, but investors were careful about trading actively ahead of the country's main earnings period. The reporting season is about to get into full swing in Japan, with a flurry of major companies set to report this week including Canon Inc (7751.T) on Wednesday and Sony Corp (6758.T) on Friday. The yen rose as high as 80.65 against the dollar on trading platform EBS, its highest since 1995. It was up about 0.9 percent on the day, advancing closer to its postwar record high of 79.75 set in April 1995. "The Nikkei was pressured by the yen's rise. But the Nikkei basically moved in a very narrow range throughout the day as the market was reluctant ...

My stomach was hurting, so I decided to take a little time off and soothe the old midsection with a few medicinal brews and a dose of pizza. The reason that my stomach hurt was because I had just read the stupidest economic essay, which was, unbelievably, penned by another lackluster university professor, and surprisingly printed by The Financial Times newspaper. The guy’s name is Michael Woodford, of Columbia University, and whose execrable and totally idiotic piece is titled “Bernanke Needs Inflation for QE2 to Sail.” He writes, unbelievably, “The Fed should allow a one-time only inflation increase, with a plan to control it when the economy recovers.” Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Why am I laughing so hard that I am doubled over and actually gagging up pieces of stomach lining? Why? I don’t ...