Alex Stevenson
Flight of the doves… to the Fed
Whispers around the White House say President Obama is poised to pick Janet Yellen to be the Federal Reserve vice chairman, Reuters has reported. After Donald Kohn’s departure, is it the Fed doves’ time to shine once again?
After all,
Europe borrowed under – state of things to come?
Up, up and away: European commercial mid to long-term government borrowing is likely to hit a historic €1,446bn in 2010, rating agency Standard & Poor’s said in a note on Thursday.
That’s a €52bn jump from 2009′s peak,
Beijing: forever blowing bubbles
Breaking news — Chinese property prices just got a little more inflated.
From Bloomberg (emphasis ours):
China’s property prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years in February, adding urgency to the government’s efforts to rein in speculation and increase the amount of affordable housing.
A tale of two Athens
What’s that you say, Greece? You’re issuing more bonds? Oh wait, no…
We’re confused. Earlier today the WSJ quoted officials saying they are planning to issue a new series of bonds. But, then the Greek debt agency denied it.
Wen, will property cool?
Amid the flurry of media attempts to parse the assurances of elusive Chinese mandarins, one announcement on Monday from the housing ministry looked like it might actually tell us something about the direction of Chinese economic reform.
China’s monetary belt-tightening…or not?
In a country where official speeches tend to be overtly formal, Wen Jiabao’s economy-themed equivalent of a US State of the Union speech might at least have given us half a clue as to policy intentions in Beijing.
UK housing drop: was it the weather?
More UK housing data just in and it leaves us wondering — was it the weather?
House prices as tracked by the Halifax fell 1.5 per cent for the month of February, putting an end to seven consecutive months of house price rises.
Lunch wrap
On FT Alphaville Wednesday morning,
From Kevin Gaynor, RBS chief markets economist, and Bob Janjuah, RBS chief markets strategist, FT Alphaville’s guest-editors for the day.
- Sovereign limits.
- On short selling.
Soros and the bullion bubble
Gold is rallying — but is it all because of one man’s lack of faith in the euro?
As Bloomberg reported on Monday:
George Soros is helping drive up gold prices by doubling his bet in a market even he considers a “bubble” as Goldman Sachs Group Inc.,
Lunch Wrap
On FT Alphaville Monday morning,
- The Great British Peso.
- That mysterious counterpart N.
- An HSBC hiccup.
- Chilean copper post-quake.
- The illusory China-selling TIC data.
- The HSBC of the insurance world.
Chinese IPOs: still overpriced?
China’s biggest IPO this year, Huatai Securities, made a positive a debut on Friday, apparently defying speculation risk appetite had waned on the mainland.
But is this really a sign that risk appetite has returned,
Pink picks
Comment, analysis and other offerings from Tuesday’s FT,
Jonathan Bell: China at risk of a home-grown financial crisis
The pathology of the western financial crisis is all too familiar: misallocation of capital fuelled by cheap credit and lax regulation,
Eric Daniels no longer the last man standing
Yep, the CEO of Lloyds, is going to waive his 2009 bonus of £2.33m.
Not that he had much choice in the matter after his opposite number at RBS, Stephen Hester, announced on Monday morning that he would forfeit an estimated £1.6m in bonus,
Dubai World debt: to pay or not to pay?
Further developments in the Dubai World restructuring saga.
The Dubai government is no longer seeking preferred creditor status, according to Reuters. If true, that removes a key sticking point in the $22bn debt work-out discussions.