Fed on track to get first female chair as Senate Banking Panel votes 14-8 to approve Yellen November 21, 2013 The Senate Banking Panel has voted 14-8 to approve Janet Yellen as Federal Reserve chief. Now the nomination will head to the full Senate. Yellen would be the Fed's first female chair, as the successor to incumbent Ben Bernanke. Obama's Democrats hold 12 of the 22 seats on the panel.
French farmers block Paris highways with tractors in tax revolt November 21, 2013 French farmers are blocking highways around Paris in protest of punitive taxes and plans to reform European agricultural subsidies. The Paris tractor blockade comes only weeks after violent protests in Brittany led to the postponement of the so called "ecotax" by six months. The ecotax would be levied on vehicles carrying more than 3.5 tonnes. [...]
What you need to know before the open – 21/11 November 21, 2013 Europe is set to open lower this morning as speculation mounts over the US December taper. ETX Capital #morningcall: FTSE100 off 23 points, the DAX lower by 45 points and the CAC40 off by 20 points — ETX Capital (@ETXCapital) November 21, 2013 The Fed October meeting minutes, release last night, hinted that [...]
America is slashing spending – but its economy is still growing November 20, 2013 IF you want to see what real austerity looks like, take a trip to the US. Real federal spending is set to slump by six per cent in the fourth quarter, compared with the same period a year ago, according to Goldman Sachs. That is a massive reduction, more than George Osborne wants to push [...]
Option for 2013 taper left open by Fed minutes November 20, 2013 THE RATE-setting Federal Open Market Committee left the possibility of tapering quantitative easing (QE) as soon as December on the table in its last meeting, according to minutes released yesterday. The US Fed’s FOMC said that continued improvements to the US job market would “warrant trimming the pace of purchases in coming months,” suggesting that the [...]
New York Report: Fed minutes drive Wall St into reverse November 20, 2013 US stocks fell yesterday after minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last meeting said the central bank could begin to scale back its stimulus program at one of its next few meetings. While Fed officials said such a move would happen only if economic conditions warranted it, some analysts said the minutes suggested the central bank [...]
US CPI falls to four-year low of one per cent in October November 20, 2013 CPI in October increased just 1.0 per cent, compared to October 2012 – the smallest 12-month increase since October 2009. Analysts had expected a 1.1 per cent increase, following September's 1.2 per cent rise, which was the smallest gain since April. The drop, says Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics, is unlikely to impact the Fed's [...]
Errors must be punished – but US justice is becoming arbitrary November 19, 2013 IMAGINE the following scenario. It’s 2024 and we are in the middle of a major banking crisis caused by a political implosion in China. Banks are going bust left, right and centre, with the regulators trying to offload failed institutions to stronger ones to contain the chaos. If you were in charge of one of [...]
New York Report: Stocks drop off their highs for a second day November 19, 2013 US STOCKS fell yesterday, with the Dow and the S&P 500 retreating further from milestone levels, led by a slide in Best Buy after a disappointing outlook. Charles Evans, president of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, said that the Fed may need to wait until next year, possibly until March, before beginning to wind down [...]
Markets soar to record highs on easy money November 18, 2013 US MARKETS hit record levels yesterday as investors were boosted by sustained money printing in the US combined with the emerging economic recovery. The Dow Jones broke the 16,000 mark for the first time ever during the day, the S&P 500 peaked at 1,802 and the Nasdaq at 3,995. “These are impressive gains by any [...]