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Archives for July 2016

Worthy Reads: Companies Are Defaulting at the Fastest Rate Since the Financial Crisis

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Market-Rate Rental Inventory Set to Swell (WSJ) China Bans Internet News Reporting as Media Crackdown Widens (Bloomberg) Fed Officials Push Back Against Calls to Overhaul Structure (WSJ) Bank Capital Regulations around the World: What Explains the Differences? (Federal Reserve) Companies Are Defaulting at the Fastest Rate Since the Financial Crisis (Fortune) … [Read more...]

Excise to Excess: States that Make You Pay

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The Tax Foundation has released a map displaying the ranking and dollar/citizen each state pulls in via excise taxes. Excise taxes are usually placed on goods that consumers can't avoid, like gasoline, or goods that governments would prefer consumers avoid, like cigarettes or alcohol (also called Sin Taxes). Policy makers are attempting to generate maximum revenue, while also achieving some other goal, i.e. preventing cancer or reducing emissions. The Tax Foundation writes: State and local governments rely on a variety of tax types to raise revenue, one of which is the excise tax. Like … [Read more...]

The Monday Melee: What Can Trade Tell Us?

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Mixed Results at American Ports Since the financial crisis, traffic at America's largest ports has a mixed record. Pacific ports in Long Beach and Los Angeles are still below their volumes at the end of 2006. The big East Coast ports in Savannah and New York have shown strong growth, but look like their volumes may be rolling over. Meanwhile, in Virginia and Houston, decent trends have flattened out but aren't dropping, yet at least. Will TPP Kickstart Pacific Trade? How Will TPP Impact U.S. Automakers? … [Read more...]

Velocity, there is None

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At one time, velocity, the speed at which the monetary base is spent (measured as GDP/M2), was a reasonably reliable indicator of America's position in the business cycle. More often than not, if velocity was tanking, it was a good bet the country was in recession. Today though, after years of unconventional monetary policy, velocity is no longer a reliable business cycle indicator. If you're not an economist or don't work in the world of finance, you may be asking, "so what?" There are a number of practical reasons you might pay attention to velocity. For one, when velocity ticks up it can … [Read more...]

Worthy Reads: Unconventional monetary policies: a re-appraisal

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ECB Is Open, Not Committed, to Stimulus in September (WSJ) IMF Urges G-20 to Adopt Growth-Boosting Policies (WSJ Pro Central Banking) Draghi Signals ECB May Boost Stimulus Later This Year (Bloomberg) Yen Soars, Stocks Slide After Kuroda Says "No Need Or Possibility For Helicopter Money" (ZeroHedge) Unconventional monetary policies: a re-appraisal (BIS) … [Read more...]

Avoid “Unpleasant Bumps” in Retirement

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The Wall Street Journal's Mia Lamar has written a profile of the high-risk Singaporean hedge fund, Quantedge Capital Pte Ltd. The fund has had wild success, raking in 27% average annualized returns since inception in 2006. No one can scoff at the those Madoff-like returns. But it's something the fund wrote in its August investor letter that stuck out to me. “…Our investment model delivers high returns over time, at the cost of unpleasant bumps along the way.” Investors nearing retirement, or those already enjoying their life after work, don't have the time or tolerance for "unpleasant … [Read more...]