Members of the European Central Bank’s (ECB’s) policy-making committee are at odds over the pace and degree of ending bond purchases and raising interest rates, according to the Financial Times. Some members want a “firm end date” to bond-buying so the bank can raise interest rates in this year’s third quarter to avoid “falling behind...
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TOP TREND DRAGFLATION: INVESTORS IN EMERGING MARKETS FACING MAJOR LOSSES
Ashmore Group and other asset managers heavily invested in emerging markets face worsening losses as investors withdraw to safer havens amid high inflation, rising interest rates, the Ukraine war’s economic fallout, and concerns about exposure to China’s slowing economy and growing affiliation with Russia, the Financial Times reported. Bank of America (BoA) analysts have reduced...
FOOD PRICES REACH RECORD HIGH IN MARCH
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO’s) food price index averaged 159.3 last month, a “giant leap” of 12.6-percent gain from February’s level, which itself was the highest since the index was created in 1990, the FAO said. The index stands 34 percent higher than a year ago. The index rose at the fastest monthly...
NEW WORLD DISORDER TOP TREND: NATIONS SINKING DEEPER, PEOPLE SCREAMING LOUDER
In response to street protests around the world, governments are adding to their already considerable debt to give tax breaks, subsidies, and other supports to outraged consumers as food and fuel prices ratchet up to new record levels. In Peru, soaring fuel prices sent people into the streets where they clashed with riot police. At...
TOP TREND DRAGFLATION: TROUBLES LOOM FOR CENTRAL BANKSTERS
The world has entered a “new inflationary era” in which consumers’ and businesses’ expectations about prices are becoming “unmoored” from their historical norms, the president of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has warned. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered sanctions that supercharged inflation in food, fuel, and across consumer and industrial goods well beyond the...
A DIGITAL DOLLAR IS YEARS AWAY, YELLEN SAYS
Creating a digital version of the U.S. dollar will take years, treasury secretary Janet Yellin said in a 7 April speech at American University, although China and some other countries already have fielded digital versions of their currencies, as we reported in “China Goes Full Digital Yuan in Beijing” (29 Jun 2021) and “Canada Forging...
U.S. SERVICE ECONOMY UP, MANUFACTURING DOWN
The Institute for Supply Management’s (ISM’s) purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the U.S. service sector rose to 58.3% this month from 56.5% in March, after three consecutive months of declines. Readings above 50.1% indicate growth; higher numbers signal stronger activity. The index’s employment measure jumped from 48.5 last month to 54.0 now, indicating that service...
INVENTORY COSTS, SUPPLY CHAIN PRESSURES STILL RISING
The monthly Logistics Managers Survey, compiled by five U.S. universities, rose from 75.2 in February to 76.2 in March. The survey samples conditions related to managing stock inventories, warehousing, and transportation. Ratings above 50 indicate business momentum; the higher the number, the stronger the activity. The amount of inventory in warehouses dropped from February’s rating...
U.S. LOSES TRADE WAR: FEBRUARY TRADE DEFICIT NEAR RECORD
Just as America has lost every major war it started—from Korean War, to Vietnam War, from Afghan War to Iraq War—so too has the great world power, “We’re #1, “The Exceptionals” lost the Trump Trade war that he loudly launched against China when he won the 2016 Presidential Reality Show® U.S. election. The U.S. trade...
IS THE NEW YORK FED GAMING THE U.S. STOCK MARKET?
Stock index values on opening have bounced up and down recently, changing direction dramatically within an hour but without any news to spark the changes, according to Pam Martens, editor of Wall Street on Parade. For example, on 30 March, the Dow Jones Industrial Average opened trading at about 35,230. Within 30 minutes, it rose...