MADRID | The Corner | Investors experienced the ECB’s stress tests hangover and were quite dovish throughout the Monday’s session. Apparently Tuesday won’t be any different and they will remain prudent until Wednesday, when the FOMC releases its conclusions. Markets expect the Fed to finish tapering, as well as an interest rates hike, experts at Link commented.
MADRID | The Corner | US corporate results from the third quarter might be around +4%/5% (earnings per share), but it is highly probable that European results will be weak. Also, there should not be great expectations on central banks to save the situation this time, except, possibly, a more “dovish” refocusing by the American Fed (the US central bank delayed an interest rate increase or even tapering, which would give support to markets).
MADRID | The Corner | Markets expect more dovish rhetoric from the Federal Reserve’s chairwoman Janet Yellen, who is addressing a Boston Fed conference on income inequality today. The fact that she has put the issue into the mainstream has earned support from working class communities. Visiting an under-privileged neighborhood on Thursday, she eschewed the chance to talk about monetary policy, but instead listened to stories about layoffs and lost savings. Wall Street took some comfort from the St. Louis Fed President, James Bullard, who said that the Federal Reserve should consider delaying the end of bond purchases, given declining inflation expectations.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes via Historinhas | For the last 16 months the Fed has been on “tightening mode”. This is very clearly reflected in the chart for inflation expectations above. When Bernanke started the “taper talk” in May 13 inflation expectations came down and stayed down. Following the June 14 FOMC meeting, dedicated to discussions of “policy normalization” inflation expectations dived! How can they be surprised with the consequences.
LONDON | By Rajiv Setia and Anshul Pradhan at Barclays | Developed rates markets rallied globally over the past week, led by the long end, largely in response to the across-the-board underperformance of risk-assets. Figure 1 shows changes in ED-implied rates on the day of the September FOMC meeting, as well as the change from pre-FOMC levels to now.
MADRID | By Francisco López | The ECB’s measures since June have been oriented to fight the ghost of deflation, increasing the Eurozone’s economic activity and, in an indirect manner, managing the euro’s depreciation. For the moment Mr Draghi has failed in the first two goals, although he has succeeded in the third one. The euro is plummeting –which is good news.
Guest post by Jean-Sylvain Perrig, UPB Chief Investment Officer | The US economy is back on track. Its second-quarter bounce was sharper than previously thought and it is expected to stay on a reasonably good path of 3% in the coming quarters, thanks notably to a rebound in capex, a falling unemployment rate and a sharp improvement in the real estate sector. That will further boost consumer confidence, which has already reached its highest level in seven years.
MADRID | The Corner | What you need to be watching today: FOMC’s decisions, UK’s unemployment rate data, Eurozone and US CPIs. Also, ECB’s Mersch will speak in Hamburg. European equity-index futures climbed buoyed by the important confirmation (269 votes in favour/ 244 against) of French PM Manuel Valls at the Parliament (Aa1 n, AA, and AA + e), only one month after he submitted the 2015 budget for the country and despite various rumours about a possible downgrade to Aa1 n by Moody’s this Friday.
MADRID | The Corner | Don’t expect big changes in stock markets’ behaviour today: everyone is waiting for the main events of the week, that is, any move from the US Federal Reserve (FOMC meeting ends on Wednesday) and the Scotland referendum on Thursday. Just note that Germany is releasing ZEW index today, which gauges big investors and analysts’ confidence in the EU’s main economy. In the UK we’ll have consumer prices for August.
SAO PAULO | Marcus Nune’s Historinhas- Guest Post by Benjamin Cole | If you ever farted loudly on a crowded elevator, then you know the reaction of most economists to the idea that national debts should be monetized through central bank quantitative easing (QE), aka “printing money.”