US inflation rate picks up speed March 17, 2011 US consumer prices rose at their fastest pace in more than one and a half years in February, driven by higher food and energy prices. The Labour Department said its Consumer Price Index rose 0.5 per cent, the largest gain since June 2009, after increasing 0.4 percent in January. Core CPI – excluding food and [...]
US wholesale prices rise fastest in 18 months March 16, 2011 US producer prices surged in February at their fastest pace in just over 18 months, pointing to a build-up in pipeline inflation pressures from soaring food and energy costs. The US Labor Department says its seasonally-adjusted index for prices paid at the farm and factory gate jumped 1.6 per cent, the largest increase since June [...]
Fed pledges to stick with QE March 15, 2011 AMERICA’S ultra loose monetary policy will continue, the Federal Reserve announced last night, despite admitting to strong inflationary pressures affecting prices. The US recovery is “on a firmer footing” than when it started the year, the Fed said, yet it unanimously voted to continue quantitative easing. Interest rates will stay at “exceptionally low levels,” the [...]
Fed update helps to limit Wall St’s losses March 15, 2011 US stocks fell one per cent but ended far from session lows yesterday on the Federal Reserve’s more upbeat economic view and growing sentiment that Japan’s nuclear crisis would only temporarily depress shares. In a second straight day of losses tied to Japan, the S&P 500 fell to within four points of support at 1,257, [...]
The essential dates for the diary of every forex trader March 15, 2011 THE US Federal Reserve announced yesterday evening that it would be making no changes to its $600bn Treasury bond purchase program and would not be making any alterations to its interest rate. The Fed made no reference to the crisis in Japan, however its predictable continuation of its current interest rates will maintain the pain [...]
FTSE closes at 15-week low on Japan fears March 15, 2011 Markets around the world have been battered by fears for Japan after its key Nikkei index fell more than ten per cent last night. Fears of a nuclear meltdown in Japan, where another explosion yesterday sent airborne radioactive waste, were combined with worries that the catastrophe would hit its vital car and electronics manufacturing industries [...]
Galleon trial witness testifies March 10, 2011 A DISGRACED former McKinsey partner told jurors at the Galleon Group insider trading trial yesterday that he leaked stock tips about the firm’s clients to hedge founder Raj Rajaratnam. Anil Kumar was the first of several of the hedge fund founder’s former friends to testify for the government at the high-profile trial in New York. [...]
AIG offers to buy back bonds March 10, 2011 BAILED-out US insurer American International Group yesterday offered to buy back billions of dollars of subprime mortgage-backed securities handed over to the New York Federal Reserve as part of its 2008 rescue. AIG offered to pay $15.7bn (£9.7bn) for all assets in Maiden Lane II, set up to hold about 800 subprime bonds taken from [...]
Landmark trial against Galleon founder begins March 9, 2011 A US prosecutor told a jury that greed drove hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam to establish a corrupt network of people to trade on inside information and make millions in illegal profits, as the trial got under way in the biggest Wall Street insider trading case in a generation. Sri Lankan-born Rajaratnam, 53, sat impassively [...]
Pimco ditches US treasuries March 9, 2011 THE world’s largest bond fund, the Pimco Total Return fund, has sold off all of its US Treasures due to worries about the government’s ballooning budget deficit, which is forecast to reach $1.65 trillion this year. In his most recent monthly report, Pimco founder Bill Gross asked: “Who will buy treasuries when the Fed doesn’t?” [...]