05 Dec 2013

Posted at 23:59h in The Friday Brief by
Everyone on the planet who invests money is wondering if Ben Bernanke and his Federal Reserve cohorts have another off-script trick up their sleeves to wean the US capital markets and the economy from their $85 billion monthly deluges of free cash. One thing is certain - it has to end eventually, but when and how are sizing up to the biggest unknown in 2014.

10 Jun 2011

Posted at 14:32h in The Friday Brief by
George Bernard Shaw once said “if all economists were laid end to end, they would not reach a conclusion.” Someone later added that laying them end to end would not necessarily be a bad thing. At any rate, Bloomberg news reports that 67 of them recently polled, called for economic growth to resume in the second half of this year. The median estimate is for 3.2% growth following a disappointing 2.3% this latest quarter. They say that “rising exports, stable fuel prices, record levels of cash in company coffers and easier lending rules will be enough to overcome the damage done by one-time events like poor weather and the disaster in Japan.” They also expect that the Fed will wait even longer to raise interest rates next year.