Markets Shape The Developed

The headlines still focus on Greece. It is broke. Here is Lucas Papademos, describing what an orderly default would mean. In the Telegraph: “The savings of the citizens would be at risk. The state would be unable to pay salaries, pensions, and cover basic functions, such as hospitals and schools, and…the country — public and private sector alike — would lose all access to borrowing and liquidity would shrink. “The living standards of Greeks would collapse. The country would drift into a long spiral of recession, instability, unemployment and prolonged misery. These developments would lead, sooner or later, to exit from the euro.” Sounds good to us! The Greeks have been living beyond their means. Living standards must fall. Best to get on with it. But the efforts of a whole class of ...

A serious question, Fellow Reckoner: Would you, if given the choice, be alive at any other time? We’ll get back to that in a second. First, our regular beat… Markets went precisely nowhere yesterday. It was as if everyone agreed to stay home…or go fishing…or to become reacquainted with that strange person living in their house and sleeping in their bed. Among other things, investors are waiting to see what happens with Greece. We’ll save them some time. Nothing will happen. Nothing different, anyway. Here’s Bloomberg, with more news on the same old story: Greek political leaders struck a deal on a package of austerity measures, clearing the way for a swap to cut the nation’s debt and win its second rescue in two years. Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos called European Central Bank ...

“America is back,” said the President of all the Americans, “Anyone who tells you America is in decline or that our influence has waned, doesn’t know what they’re talking about.” Well, Dear Reader, we’re here to tell you: America is in decline. We can give it to you straight because we’re not running for public office. And if we were elected, we would immediately demand a recount. Anyone who tells you America is not in decline is either running for office…or not paying attention. In 1969, more than one out of every three dollars of income in the entire globe was earned in the US. That’s what the IMF’s World Economic Outlook tells us. By 2000, that number had fallen…but not by much. The US still took home 31% of global income. But in the last 10 years, the US share has fallen hard — ...

Blinking in the light and still very nervous, investors have taken tentative steps back into the world's equity markets in 2012, but it won't take much to scare them and they will be looking for encouragement from policy makers in the coming week. Euro zone finance ministers meet on Monday amid demands for faster action on fiscal integration, while the U.S. Federal Reserve's key policy making committee, the FOMC, holds its first meeting since promising to give a forecast on interest rates. But neither event should upset what has been a very good start for riskier assets like equities and commodities in 2012 as investors start to leave safe-havens like the U.S. dollar and German government bonds and put their money to work. Patrick Zweifel of Pictet Asset Management summed up the current ...

(Reuters) - Britain orchestrated this week's bold move by central banks to stave off a cash crunch in global markets, helping drive a plan that began to take shape around 10 days ago. For months, central bankers have tracked with growing concern how the deleveraging among European banks, hurt by the tumbling value of euro-zone debt, was hurting global funding as banks sold off assets and brought cash back home. Indeed, some central banks had urged the Federal Reserve for some months to put in place cheaper dollar funding, but the Fed had resisted, said a source with direct knowledge of this week's deal. Last week, conditions grew particularly acute after a German bond auction failed to attract enough buyers. The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank started serious discussions ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR According to a secret report acquired by the Guardian newspaper, in yesterday's summit, European leaders have been warned that Italy is exposed to insolvency. Report from ECB and EC said Mario Monti, Italian PM, should take more serious steps to contract nation's affliction such as tackling tax dodging. The report suggested the liquidity crisis may develop into solvency trouble whose consequences may be very harmful to other European economies. USD US natural gas market waits for Energy Information Administration's weekly report on the commodity stockpiles for last week due on Thursday. Recent estimates show the stockpiles were at 3.852 trillion cubic feet just below the ever-high level of 3.867 in the beginning of November. GBP In response to government’s ...

Fundamental Analysis EUR On Monday trade German DAX 30 index advanced rapidly on growing investors' confidence that German and French politicians have agreed on a new stability treaty to restrain crisis. DAX index surged 3.6% reaching 5,690.93. Major winners in the index were Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank AG, each added about 7%. Auto producers Daimler AG and BMW gained 7.5% and 4.92% respectively. USD Crude oil futures hit the six-week high being traded over USD 99 a barrel. Analysts claim that the increase in oil demand was caused by more positive outlook on the Eurozone economy. On the New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures for January delivery were traded at USD 99.72 at early European trade, surging by 3.05%. GBP UK has developed a multi-billion Pound programme in order ...

The Weekly Bottom Line : 25/11/2011 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States This week started on the wrong foot. On Monday afternoon, two days ahead of its deadline, it became clear that the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction would fail to deliver proposals to reduce the fiscal deficit. If there is no agreement before January of next year, and the payroll tax cuts and emergency unemployment extensions expire, the combined impact over the next two years could detract 1.4 percentage points from overall U.S. GDP On Wednesday a failed 10-year Bund auction in Germany sent euro zone sovereign bond yields up and the euro tumbled vis-à-vis its major peer currencies. On Friday Italy paid a yield of 7.81% at a two-year bond auction - up from 4.62% paid in October at a similar ...

NEW YORK (Reuters)- For the small club of companies who trade the food, fuels and metals that keep the world running, the last decade has been sensational. Driven by the rise of Brazil, China, India and other fast-growing economies, the global commodities boom has turbocharged profits at the world's biggest trading houses. They form an exclusive group, whose loosely regulated members are often based in such tax havens as Switzerland. Together, they are worth over a trillion dollars in annual revenue and control more than half the world's freely traded commodities. The top five piled up $629 billion in revenues last year, just below the global top five financial companies and more than the combined sales of leading players in tech or telecoms. Many amass speculative positions worth ...