Monetary Policy

Cuba Investment Reform to Spark Growth

In April, a senior Communist Party official, Estaban Lazo Hernandez, said in a speech that Cuba will move nearly 50% of the country’s economic activity to the “nonstate” sector in the coming 5 yrs, up from 5% now. This is not capitalism for capitalism’s sake, and political reform is not part of the program. The [...]

Wall St Premarket, FX, Gold, Oil, Futures

The S&P 500 has lost 2.1 percent in April after the biggest first-quarter rally since 1998. The gauge rose 0.6 percent last week after corporate profits beat estimates and a report showed German business confidence unexpectedly increased for a sixth month in April, adding to evidence that Europe’s largest economy can weather the sovereign-debt crisis. [...]

Default Contagion Possible in Europe

Friday seen one of the worst moments of the 2008 financial crisis played out, part of the European Union defaulted on their debt and with the help of the ECB, World Bank and IMF strong armed bond holders in to accepting massive write offs. European officials insist that Greece is a one-time deal, not meant [...]

Currency Wars, USD, EUR, GBP, JPY and Brazil

Brazil criticizes rich countries over “Currency War” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff slammed rich nations on Thursday for unleashing a “tsunami” of cheap money that was “cannibalizing” poorer countries such as her own, forcing them to act to protect struggling local industries. Rousseff’s words amounted to some of the highest-profile criticism to date of efforts by [...]

China, The RMB and The Future

International use of Chinese Yuan requires more financial reforms China’s pursuit of making the Yuan an International currency will raise the demand for and may eventually accelerate reforms of the country’s financial system, analysts have said. China has pushed for wider use of the Yuan in cross-border trade settlement and investment as well as the [...]

Read More » No comment February 20, 2012

French Franc Ends

Old Francs expire, France makes a Mint As Greece scrambles for revenue, the French treasury has just banked some 550-M Euros by simply letting the French franc, created in Y 1360, expire. Last Friday was the final day that French francs could be turned into the Bank of France, the central bank, in exchange for [...]

Read More » No comment February 20, 2012

US Fed Ready to Stimulate

More US Fed money printing will flow on any weakness in the US economy or Stock market. The minutes of January’s Federal Open Market Committee released Wednesday leave little doubt IMO that the US Fed is ready, willing, and able to print more money: A few members observed that, in their judgment, current and prospective [...]

Read More » No comment February 16, 2012

Additional Austerity to Slow Greece

Greek leaders agree on bailout conditions Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos secured a overall agreement on budget-cutting measures demanded by International creditors needed for the 130-B Euro (US$171-B) rescue package. Leaders of the 3 political parties supporting Papademos’s interim government agreed with him in a 5-hr meeting yesterday to make additional reductions this year equal [...]

Read More » No comment February 6, 2012

The Never Ending Story: Greece Debt

Crucial talks over Greek debt swaps continue in Athens Greek officials continued in Athens over the weekend it the Marathon talks with International creditors looking to reach 2 Key agreements on the Greek debt swap plan, and the terms of the 2nd aid bailout program to avoid a Greek default. “Many issues have been solved, [...]

Read More » No comment February 5, 2012

Deficit US$1.1-T in the 2012 Fiscal Year

US federal government to run US$1.1-T deficit in F-Y 2012 The US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecast Tuesday that the federal government would run a budget deficit of around US$1.1-T in the 2012 Fiscal Year. Measured as a share of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) , the budget shortfall of 7% in F-Y 2012 [...]

Read More » No comment February 1, 2012

Investor Services

Private Equity Takes a Hit in Q1 2012

Most private-equity and hedge funds typically take 20 percent of investment gains as carried interest, on top of 2 percent of assets as a management fee to …