Senate backs probe of Federal Reserve May 11, 2010 THE US Senate yeterday unanimously approved an amendment to a financial reform bill that aims to open the secretive Federal Reserve to outside scrutiny. The measure introduced by senator Bernie Sanders, an independent on the left, was passed by a vote of 96 to 0. It directs the Government Accountability Office (GAO), an investigative arm [...]
EURO BAILOUT MAY NOT GO FAR ENOUGH May 11, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT LAST weekend’s unprecedented move by the EU and IMF to create a rescue package worth nearly $1 trillion to guarantee sovereign debt within the Eurozone was a gargantuan policy effort to stabilise the euro. The deal created an array of measures, including $560bn in new loans, $76bn under an existing [...]
Does EU rescue change the liquidity backdrop? May 10, 2010 MOST of the Eurozone rescue package – EU budget funding, Eurozone intra-government loans/guarantees, the IMF contribution – will have no implication for liquidity. The key issues are the scale of European Central Bank (ECB) government bond purchases – as well as the impact of its expanded lending operations and the US dollar swap on the Eurozone [...]
Fed acts to give liquidity boost to swap market May 10, 2010 AMERICA’S Federal Reserve has moved to shore up liquidity in the international money markets by reopening currency swap facilities with the world’s major central banks, echoing steps it took to ease market concerns after the failure of Lehman Brothers. The Fed said it would provide dollar swaps for the European Central Bank, the Bank of [...]
BOULTON, CAMPBELL IN BUST UP OF THE YEAR May 10, 2010 IF ANY readers were holed up behind a desk yesterday evening without access to a television, it’s time to indulge yourselves with a quick internet search, pronto. Yesterday’s Sky News coverage of Gordon Brown’s resignation as Prime Minister contained one of the best live TV snippets in years, as the channel’s political editor Adam Boulton [...]
BILL OF THE WEEK May 9, 2010 PLENTY of food for thought for these eight accountants on Friday lunchtime, as they headed to Farringdon’s Vivat Bacchus restaurant for a post-election discussion of the results and possible implications for British politics. Our connoisseurs fed their debate with foie gras, asparagus and ostrich carpaccio for starters, rack of lamb, springbok, beef and sea bass [...]
Go hide away in the sun-drenched valleys of Jordan May 9, 2010 THE afternoon sun is browning our sweaty pink skin as we lie by the pool at Evason Ma’in, nudged between a massive yellowstone fortress-style hotel and a water-spewing rock face. Well, it may be all lemonade, glossy magazines, dramatic scenery and sun-tanning poolside, but just a few kilometres away on the Dead Sea’s south-east coast [...]
The gold price continues its march higher as risk falls off May 5, 2010 THE LAST two years have been good for gold. It’s been one of the only assets to march higher during the financial crisis, and is now getting a boost from the sovereign debt problems in Europe. Since Europe’s crisis, investors’ reactions have been to ditch risky assets in favour of perceived safe havens – gold [...]
Return to normality will be bad news for the yen May 4, 2010 TODAY is the last day of Golden Week in Japan, one of the country’s most important public holidays. But the last few months have been anything but golden for the yen. The currency has fallen by more than 10 per cent against the US dollar and nearly 8 per cent against sterling. There are a [...]
CREDIT RISK WILL DECIDE EURO’S FATE May 4, 2010 DIRECTOR OF CURRENCY RESEARCH, GFT THE initial reaction of the currency market to this weekend’s announcement of a €110bn rescue package for Greece was less than overwhelming. After a knee-jerk rally higher at open of trade, euro-dollar slumped all the way to $1.3200 and came within a few points of the lows for the year. [...]