Category: Quantitative Easing
The analysis published under this category are as follows.Monday, December 19, 2011
The Status Of QE3 / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Aside from countless banks calling for QE3 which one has to wonder if their analysis may be slightly biased for personal gain the question remains will we see QE3.
The November 2010 FOMC statement which launched QE2 made it clear why the Fed was expanding their balance sheet by $600 billion.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
Quantitative Easing by the European Central Bank - A Matter of Time? / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
German Chancellor Merkel and French President Sarkozy announced a “comprehensive” agreement today pertaining to new rules to enforce fiscal discipline among members of the eurozone. Essentially, elements of the Maastricht economic criteria (3.0% budget deficit and 60% debt-to-GDP ratio) that had to be met in order to belong to the Euro Club are being enforced once again under new guidelines. An active audit committee to monitor national budgets to prevent profligacy is not part of the agreement, instead member states will be responsible and each will have to enshrine debt limits in their constitution. The European Court of Justice will have the authority to rule if members are not compliant and sanctions will be put in place by a vote of the European Council if members do not meet the fiscal thresholds. Giving new life to old rules, is that a big step?
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Perpetual Q.E. Without The Billboard, Hyper Monetary Inflation / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
The US Federal Reserve has fooled a lot of people into believing that the grand monetary pump and debt monetization project has been put on hold. The only thing that changed was their talking publicly about it. The money press has been working to the limit, never stopped. The discussion has been kept quiet, but the machinery still makes a lot of shrill noise. The proof is not movement of lips by central bankers, but the data from the monetary aggregate. The data is compelling in calling them out. The conclusion to reach is that Quantitative Easing has become the norm, the foundation policy, the emergency action to prevent implosion of the US banking system. Hyper monetary inflation is the New Normal.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
ECB Expected to Unleash QE Money Printing after Launching of Euro-Bonds / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Hardly a week goes by, without a major summit between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, trying to devise another clever scheme to save the Euro. Yet after 1-½ years of trying to contain the wildfire, - the Euro-zone's debt crisis is more dangerous than ever. The collapse of Greece's €360-billion bond market, now trading at 26% of face value, has triggered contagion sales from periphery of the Euro-zone - Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and into the next upper tier of the Euro-zone, namely, the bond markets of Spain and Italy, which together owe €3-trillion of debt.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Euro-zone Will Print or Perish / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Europe is again at center stage. At conferences and meetings and in private conversations, it is the topic of the hour. I have thought a lot this week about Europe and its impact, so once again we delve into what is an evolving situation. This time, we look at possible impacts on the markets, as we ponder the questions, “Are we back to 2008?” and “Is there a Lehman in our future?” and I try once again to keep from making this a book-length letter. And I close with some brief thoughts I brought back from DC on the Super Committee and the deficit cuts.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, October 23, 2011
What Quantitative Easing Really Means / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Prof. Ismael Hossein-zadeh writes: Stripped from the fancy (and mystifying) jargon, quantitative easing (QE) simply means increasing the quantity of money supply, or easing credit conditions—in the hope of stimulating thestagnant economy. This is usually done byhaving central banks inject a pre-determined quantity of money into the coffers of commercial banksin return for the purchase of their financial assets, which consist largely of government bonds. Although it is typically done electronically, or on paper, its practical effect is the same as printing money.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 13, 2011
FOMC Meeting: QE3 is Likely, if Economy Slips / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
The minutes of the September 20-21 FOMC meeting indicate that several members see significant downside risks to economic growth. They do not project a decline in GDP, but noted that the economy was “vulnerable to adverse shocks.” In this context, the sources of adverse shocks included “pronounced or more protracted deleveraging by households, the chance of a large-than-expected near-term fiscal tightening, and potential spillovers to the United States if the financial situation in Europe were to worsen appreciably.”
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, October 07, 2011
Bank of England Increases QE by £75 billion / Politics / Quantitative Easing
Well,well,well, here we go again, more printing of money as the Bank of England announced that its quantitative easing (QE) programme will be increased by another £75 billion shortly. The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee is taking its asset purchase initiative up to a total of £275 billion.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, October 06, 2011
What's Next on the Fed's Plate? / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
It's safe to say that the Fed's latest announcement won't be enough to get Wall Street fired up. In a decision designed to minimize the long run cost of money, the Fed's so-called "Operation Twist" has been a nonstarter for Wall Street.
Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Operation Twist a Primer for QE3 Money Printing? / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Is Operation Twist a failure? The stock market plunged in disappointment when it was announced. Keynesians are tearing their hair out in frustration, as it appears the Fed failed to ramp up the printing press. Free marketers are disgusted by the blatant manipulation of the yield curve. A number of Federal Reserve (Fed) President Bernanke’s colleagues dissented and/or are voicing public opposition. However, as the dust settles, it appears there is a method to the twist: Bernanke may have a plan…
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Operation Twist Paves the Way for QE III / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Earlier this week the Federal Reserve ignited a firestorm in the global markets by admitting that the U.S. economy is facing downside risks. Although it continues to sugar coat the unpleasant reality, never has such a stunningly obvious statement resulted is so much turmoil.
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
QE3: What are The Implications of Critical Warnings To Bernanke? / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Top Republican lawmakers in both chambers of Congress have warned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to refrain from further extraordinary intervention or additional quantitative easing after today's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). Questioning the efficacy of the first two rounds of monetary easing:
Read full article... Read full article...
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Central Banks Can Increase the Money Supply, Even If Banks Do Not Lend / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
I. The Relation between Bank Credit and Money Growth
In today's fiat-money world, money is mostly produced through bank lending. Whenever a commercial bank provides credit to, say, consumers, firms, and government entities, it issues new money, thereby increasing the economy's money stock.
Economists from the Austrian School of economics call this kind of money production "money creation out of thin air," as the increase in money through bank circulation credit doesn't require the existence of real savings.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, September 11, 2011
QE3 and Toxic Assets: The Fed's "Monetary Ammunition" / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Many people believe the Jackson Hole was a non-event, a failure and it was. QE 3 was not announced, as we predicted. We believe that was being saved for mid-September when the $300 billion rollover in Treasury securities is completed. Mr. Bernanke has failed in a number of respects, the most glaring being zero interest rates for 2-years and no housing recovery.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, August 26, 2011
Has the Fed Already Started QE3? / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
Bud Conrad, Casey Research Writes: The Fed surprised the market by extending its policy of 0 to 0.25% Fed funds rate to mid-2013. The way the Fed manages to drive rates lower is to buy Treasuries with newly created money – driving the price up and the rates down. The big question is whether the policy will have a sizeable effect on markets. The chart below shows the historical jump in the Fed’s combined policy tools that were used to lower rates and bail out financial institutions through a variety of programs. These include the big purchase of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) called QE1 and the large purchase of Treasuries called QE2.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, August 25, 2011
QE3 Gets Priced Into Markets / Stock-Markets / Quantitative Easing
Before Ben Bernanke lets a single sound slip from his mouth this week, investors have already put their money where Bernanke’s mouth is. Investors want a minimum of $500 billion in quantitative easing, betting on rising Treasury prices when Bernanke addresses the press about what the Fed’s next move might be.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, August 15, 2011
Ben Bernanke Pledges To Screw Your Grandmother For At Least Two More Years / Politics / Quantitative Easing
"A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank." - Ron Paul
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, August 04, 2011
Debt Ceiling or QE3 in Disguise? Gold Smells the Rats / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
With the debt deal now signed and the crisis proclaimed to be over by the government and the mainstream lapdog media, it is time to take a serious look at the debauchery that was just perpetrated on the American people – again. The names have barely changed from 2008. The tactics certainly haven’t. The magic of government accounting has had another chapter added to it as something that actually adds to the deficit and requires money be borrowed on its behalf is now a ‘cut'. Isn’t that just special? There are several big myths about the past few weeks that we need to uncover before anyone is really going to understand what is really going on here.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 15, 2011
It Ain't Money If I Can't Print It! / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
I have been forecasting with near certainty that QE2 would not be the end of the Fed's money-printing program. My suspicions were confirmed in both the Fed minutes on Tuesday and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's semi-annual testimony to Congress yesterday. The former laid out the conditions upon which a new round of inflation would be launched, and the latter re-emphasized - in case anyone still doubted - that Mr. Bernanke has no regard for the principles of a sound currency.Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Fed Tells It Like It Is... / Interest-Rates / Quantitative Easing
And what it is isn't pretty at all. He said he's disappointed at how things are moving along and expects recent weakness to persist for a while longer than he'd like it to. When the fed makes a statement like that there's only one thing left for him to do. Be more inappropriate, of course. Keep the printing presses rolling day and night. Print those dollar bills as if they are the holy grail. He has hinted that there's a reasonable chance we will actually be seeing a QE3 program even though QE1 and QE2 did absolutely nothing for the economy other than to put it further into debt. He also talked about too big to fail meaning there will be no free markets. He will control what he needs to when he feels he wants to.
Read full article... Read full article...