Posted on July - 16 - 2011
Interest rates at: 1.00%
Trcihet’s Speech Cloud with the 150 main words of the conference
Introductory statement with Q&A
Ladies and gentlemen, the Vice-President and I are very pleased to welcome you to our press conference. We will now report on the outcome of today’s meeting.
Based on its regular economic and monetary analyses, the Governing Council confirmed that the current key ECB interest rates are appropriate. It therefore decided to leave them unchanged. Taking into account all the new information and analyses which have become available since our meeting on 4 November 2010, we continue to expect price developments to remain moderate over the policy-relevant medium-term horizon. Recent economic data are consistent with a positive underlying momentum of the recovery, while uncertainty is elevated. Our monetary analysis confirms that inflationary pressures over the medium term remain contained. W Read full post…
Posted on July - 16 - 2011
VIDEO Stocks Under Pressure Monday Play Video More Video…
– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Monday, with sentiment reflecting extreme caution and pessimism about the engulfing debt crisis. There has been an exodus away from risky bets and towards safe havens, with gold climbing above the $1,600-an-ounce level earlier in the global trading day before trimming some of its gains. Meanwhile, safe haven currencies, namely the Swiss franc, yen and dollar are also firming up.
Apprehension is writ all over the face of the markets, as the deadline for raising the U.S. debt ceiling looms large. At the same time, the fluid situation of the European sovereign debt crisis is also worrying traders. The rest of the global markets have reacted negatively, with the Asian markets ending moderately lower, while the European markets are seen trading notably lower.
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Posted on July - 15 - 2011
– The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Friday, with positive tech and bank earnings likely to give some support to the markets. Google (GOOG) reported forecasting beating results in the second quarter, strengthening expectations for strong corporate profit growth ahead of the peak earnings news flow. That said, economic data continues to be lackluster, with a regional survey showing that the manufacturing sector of the region is still in the contraction zone.
Added to this, concerns surrounding the U.S. debt ceiling and the results of the second round of stress tests conducted on European banks may also create some uncertainty. Traders may also stay focused on the industrial production report and a consumer sentiment report to be released shortly after the markets open.
Close on the heels of a warning by Moody’s, rating agency Standard & Poor’s also placed its “AAA” long-term and “A-1″ short-term sovereign credit ratings on the U.S.
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Posted on July - 15 - 2011
Federal Reserve Balance Sheet
The Fed’s near-term objectives evident in balance sheet
Excess reserves returned to their rapid expansion as in previous weeks, increasing 4.3% since June 30th. The increase is likely to continue until the Fed enacts a policy change. The Fed outlined its eventual exit strategy, in both the FOMC minutes and congressional testimony at the financial services committee, which may include alterations to interest payments on excess reserves and other forms of balance sheet normalization. Part of this balance sheet normalization will involve the run-off of risky assets such as mortgage securities. Today’s report reflects this process with Treasuries increasing 0.3% and mortgage-backed securities (MBS), Term Asset Backed Loan Facilities (TALF), and agency securities either declining or remaining unchanged. The
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