Why France could be the euro’s weakest link – CNBC Comment August 25, 2014 In a world where we are sold pups on a daily basis by both policymakers and the market snake-oil salesmen, yesterday’s Bank Holiday trading on the Continent was a great example of how we continue to lap up the nonsense we are fed. There I was, one of the few people in the Square Mile [...]
Golf Comment: Ryder Cup hope Gallacher must copy Donaldson August 25, 2014 IF STEPHEN Gallacher needs any further inspiration in his last-ditch attempt to qualify for a first Ryder Cup then he need look no further than fellow Briton Jamie Donaldson. Last week I mentioned that Donaldson was at risk of being pipped to a place on the European team due to his absence from the FedEx [...]
Fed’s Janet Yellen hints at an early rate rise August 22, 2014 New US Fed chief Janet Yellen raised the prospect of an earlier-than-expected rise in interest rates during her first address to the audience of central bank chiefs at the Kansas City Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday. Yellen, who started her job in February this year, studiously avoided making any commitments to new [...]
Janet Yellen’s Jackson Hole speech: Full text August 22, 2014 Janet Yellen opened the Kansas City Fed's symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming on Friday for the first time since she was installed as chair of the US Fed. Her speech, on the subject of "labour market dynamics and monetary policy", called for "pragmatic" policy, and said there was "no simple recipe" to help the [...]
Divergence looms for Eurozone and US in Jackson Hole speeches August 21, 2014 WORLD-famous economists arrived at Jackson Hole yesterday, as the Kansas City Federal Reserve’s annual conference on monetary policy begins. Speeches today will come from Fed chair Janet Yellen and European Central Bank (ECB) boss Mario Draghi, the world’s two most important monetary policymakers. Analysts suspect that the speeches will display an emerging division between the [...]
Donaldson eyes Ryder Cup spot August 21, 2014 WELSHMAN Jamie Donaldson moved closer to sealing a European Ryder Cup place after posting a first round 66 to hold a one-shot lead in the Czech Masters yesterday. The 38-year-old holds the eighth of nine automatic places for Gleneagles due to his world points list position although victory in Prague would see him qualify via [...]
Fed offers hints at potential for early rate hike August 20, 2014 THE FEDERAL Reserve may raise interest rates at a faster pace than currently expected, if the country’s recent rapid growth continues. Minutes from the latest meeting of the US central bank’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said yesterday that “it might become appropriate to begin removing monetary policy accommodation sooner than they currently anticipated” if [...]
Fed minutes: what you need to know August 20, 2014 The Federal Reserve has released the minutes from its 29-30 July meeting on monetary policy. As with the minutes published by the Bank of England earlier today, there was a certain amount of dissent from some of those present regarding the key issue of interest rate rises. From the release: Some participants viewed the actual [...]
Forget “normal” monetary policy: There is no longer such a thing August 19, 2014 AS THE great and the good of central banking gather to prophesise in Jackson Hole this week, they have good reason to reflect on Bob Dylan’s famous song. The times are indeed a changin’. Change has been a recurring theme in monetary policy over the past few years: in the intellectual understanding, in the operational [...]
US inflation hits the target as UK sees a dip August 19, 2014 The Federal reserve will be happy today: inflation in the US was 0.1 per cent in July, down from 0.3 per cent in June. Importantly that puts the annual rate at two per cent, right on the money. None of this is particularly surprising: analysts had forecast the US figures. The Fed's monetary policy decisions [...]