The key conversation was always going to be surrounding the Federal Reserve rate decision today despite any data releases. In Japan we saw the release of the Tankan (sentiment survey) which, at 10, repeated the same level as previous release as the Nikkei closed almost unchanged on the day. The Hang Seng was a similar […]

This week will all be about the Federal Reserve and the outlook for rates into next. The strip is pricing in additional moves already but it is the long end that is having a worrying impact on many dealers. Obviously, the recent curve movement is music for the (US) banks and insurance companies but will […]

Today, any information ahead of something like a rate hike is seen as insider trading. But back during the 1970s going into 1981, things were different. The banks were not big proprietary traders. I would routinely get a call that the Fed would raise rates in 15 minutes. It was not that someone was trying […]

The Nikkei closed today at its highest level for the year which included a well behaved Yen. Closing up +268 points (+1.45%) certainly puts it in good shape for the year end rally. Shanghai and Hang Seng were mutually off-set (+0.2%/-0.2%) with many just waiting for the ECB rate decision and being led by the […]

China continues to sell US Treasury bonds trying to keep the dollar down to aid the Federal Reserve. Saudi Arabia, however, has been in a different position having to liquidate US Treasury holdings for they are is a serious financial crisis. September shows a modest sale of $46 billion dollars. Private investors sales were $7.9 […]

Trump is keeping his word so far. He has admitted that he was part of the problem paying lobbyists to get preferential treatment. As they say, if you want to catch a thief, you hire a thief. In this case, Trump has really been on the other side and admitted he even paid Hillary to […]

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I have a very basic question. With all the trillions of dollars of stimulus in Europe, USA, and Japan, we are in the age of deflation as you have pointed out. The Federal Reserve itself predicts less than 2% economic growth so that is probably optimistic yet the best in the western […]

COMMENT: Martin – I wanted to let you know that I stopped at a Jimmy John’s today and they wouldn’t allow me to use cash. They had no drawer or physical money on the premises. It was either chip card or no sandwich. They claimed it was their first store in the nation to go […]

The Fed told Congress it would buy stocks if Congress allowed it. This statement has caused a lot of people to scratch their heads. Will this cause all the stock bears to rethink their prognostications of a major stock market crash? This was not even on the radar of most people. Some have reported this […]

The Federal Reserve wants to take away the ability of Goldman Sachs and other banks to invest in companies rather than acting as bankers and lending. The U.S. banking regulators are urging Congress to prohibit merchant banking where firms buy stakes in companies rather than lend them money. They are pushing for limits on Wall Street’s ownership […]