Round-up
US equity markets fell and the dollar rallied after the minutes to the FOMC’s March 13 statement indicated that the Fed might be less likely to engage in quantitative easing than previously thought. (Financial Times) Gold declined roughly 2 per cent. (Reuters) Read more
“We’ll avoid the accounting implications of this deal, though we think it might be an interesting study,” we said last week of Ireland’s circuitous non-deferral deferral of a €3.06bn cash payment to a dead bank under the infamous promissory notes.
Oops. Read more
Dollar up, US equities down, with the Dow falling more than 100 points — that was the immediate reaction to the release of the FOMC minutes.
A few things to note as we come across them: Read more
Nothing was decided in the March 13 FOMC statement, though it did include the Fed’s cautious recognition that the prospects for the US economy had improved since the start of the year.
But the minutes from the meeting, set to be released on Tuesday at 2pm EST, are likely to scrutinised carefully for any discussion of what the Fed might do next. Read more
The eurocrisis is a big problem. I think about solutions.
Here is why we at FT Alphaville think Jurre Hermans’ proposal for (or subtly ironic warning of the costs of?) a Greek eurozone exit is absolutely brilliant. Brilliant in its brutal honesty about what eurozone exit, if that is the path chosen, means, that is. Read more
Is it us, or is there not much reaction from BSkyB’s share price (down 0.66 per cent at pixel time, via Google Finance) to the imminent exit of its chairman, James Murdoch…
Thanks to Mario Draghi’s double installment of 3-year LTROs this year and last, it’s been a while since we’ve had to worry about dysfunctions in the European repo market. Indeed, it wasn’t that long ago that the market’s problems appeared fully contained. But, could we have spoken to soon?
News now comes to us of another case of “causation or correlation?” striking European bond markets. This time relating to Spanish collateral. Read more
Live markets commentary from FT.com
Good morning, New York
FT ALPHAVILLE Read more
That is one serious fine… and one very serious resignation.
From the FSA’s statement (emphasis ours): Read more
On Monday, the US did the playground equivalent of kicking sand in Europe’s face, picking up all the toys, and then running away laughing.
After some rather glum manufacturing PMI figures were released for the eurozone for March, it was revealed that the February unemployment rate had inched up to 10.8 per cent. As usual, the headline figures hid sharp divergences between core and peripheral economies. Read more
- The US manufacturing sector expanded in March, “underlining the diverging fates of the world’s biggest economy and the eurozone,” the FT writes. The US ISM index slightly bested estimates with a 53.4 reading, while PMIs across the eurozone confirmed an expected contraction of manufacturing activity. The PMI for Britain registered its highest reading in ten months, surprising everyone. (Financial Times)
- Unemployment throughout the eurozone also rose last month, according to figures from Eurostat. (Wall Street Journal) Read more
1The end of QE?
2Man walks into a gold bar. Au!
3The persistent supply-side constraints in US housing
4Bird, plane, Abe
5Bove vs Bloomberg, redux
Show more6A glorious episode in the history of the Revenue
7Stress you next year
8Abenomics passes an early test
9The short arm of the SEC
10Breaking up is hard to do - Rio Tinto edition
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