There of course was no rate hike but the drum roll begins for one "coming soon" (if the data confirms, blah, blah, blah) because not only did Esther George and Eric Rosengren dissent (for the 1st time and follows his recent comments), Loretta Mester casted a vote for a hike as well. In the commentary on the economy, the wording was pretty similar to the July …
Central Banks
She’s the one they call Dr. Feelgood?
“She’s the one they call Dr. Feelgood, she’s the one that makes ya feel alright.” I know, Motley Crue is not for everybody and I’ve substituted She for He, but I lay out the lyrics just days before we hear from our monetary Dr who is not just an academic doctorate. Ben Bernanke and Alan Greenspan went to the same med school where markets LOVED the monetary drugs that …
Jobs surprise. What’s the trend? / Rate Hike Odds Jump.
July payrolls surprised to the upside with a gain of 255k, 75k more than expected. The private sector beat vs the estimate was 47k. Thus, government workers were a main boost to job growth. The private sector added 217k jobs vs the estimate of 170k and the two prior month revisions basically netted out to zero. For the headline, the two prior months were revised up by …
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BoJ: Have They Reached the Logistical End of The Road?
What was most relevant from the BoJ was not what they did, it is what they didn’t do. Doubling their etf purchases is just more of the same and likely why the Nikkei rallied even though the yen is ripping higher. But, by not moving further into NIRP maybe is a reflection that Kuroda took note of the really cynical response on the part of both the Japanese banking …
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Market response to FOMC, Atlanta Fed, BoJ
TINA (‘there is no alternative’ to stocks which there never is in a bull market) and the dividend yield on stocks being higher than many bonds are the two main reasons being given for the persistent strength in large cap stocks. I don’t mean to pick on any one company but I want to use one as an example that if you’re going to ‘search for yield’ in stocks, remember …
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Ongoing game of whether and when to hike measly 25 bps continues
On the heels of the 287k print in June, the FOMC acknowledged this by saying “job gains were strong in June following weak growth in May.” They added this new line on the labor market that wasn’t there previously: “On balance, payrolls and other labor market indicators point to some increase in labor utilization in recent months.” They repeated that household spending …
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New Podcast – FOMC Preview: It’s the Central Bank’s World
I just sat down with Guy Adami and Dan Nathan for the first of many podcasts for The Boock Report. It's about 45 minutes long and we cover the FOMC statement tomorrow, what other Central Banks like the ECB and BoJ are doing. And ultimately what it all means for the dollar, yields, commodities, equities and the economy as a whole. I specifically discuss what was in the …
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FOMC and BoJ Preview: Welcome to the Jungle
A few months ago I referred to monetary policy as entering a Jungleland where central bankers are essentially lost in the woods. After seeing Guns N Roses Saturday night, I'll refer to this week as Welcome to the Jungle. The week is all about the Fed and the BoJ. The key questions to be answered are will the former raise the possibility of a rate hike this year and …
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