Mike “Mish” Shedlock's
Sitka Pacific Capital Management,Llc
For the first time ever, Greek 10-year bond yields dipped below 2%.
US Bond Yields vs Europe
- US: 2.05%
- Greece: 2.01%
- Italy: 1.50%
- UK: 0.68%
- Portugal: 0.43%
- Spain: 0.36%
- France: -0.11%
- Germany: -0.37%
- Switzerland: -0.67%
Figures from Trading Economics.
Shock and Awe?
Global Currency Wars On
In case you missed the general idea, global currency wars (not so cleverly disguised as interest rate policy) are hugely underway.
And please note that the ECB is following Japan's model and it did not do Japan any good.
Is the US Supposed to Follow?
For discussion of the resultant bubbles, please see Fed's Asymmetric Bubble-Blowing Policy in Pictures.
Also note Shock and Awe Needed to Un-Invert the Yield Curve: Half-Point Cut Not Enough.
This material is based upon information that Sitka Pacific Capital Management considers reliable and endeavors to keep current, Sitka Pacific Capital Management does not assure that this material is accurate, current or complete, and it should not be relied upon as such.
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Editors’ Picks
EUR/USD treads water just above 1.0400 post-US data
Another sign of the good health of the US economy came in response to firm flash US Manufacturing and Services PMIs, which in turn reinforced further the already strong performance of the US Dollar, relegating EUR/USD to the 1.0400 neighbourhood on Friday.
GBP/USD remains depressed near 1.2520 on stronger Dollar
Poor results from the UK docket kept the British pound on the back foot on Thursday, hovering around the low-1.2500s in a context of generalized weakness in the risk-linked galaxy vs. another outstanding day in the Greenback.
Gold keeps the bid bias unchanged near $2,700
Persistent safe haven demand continues to prop up the march north in Gold prices so far on Friday, hitting new two-week tops past the key $2,700 mark per troy ounce despite extra strength in the Greenback and mixed US yields.
Geopolitics back on the radar
Rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine caused renewed unease in the markets this week. Putin signed an amendment to Russian nuclear doctrine, which allows Russia to use nuclear weapons for retaliating against strikes carried out with conventional weapons.
Eurozone PMI sounds the alarm about growth once more
The composite PMI dropped from 50 to 48.1, once more stressing growth concerns for the eurozone. Hard data has actually come in better than expected recently – so ahead of the December meeting, the ECB has to figure out whether this is the PMI crying wolf or whether it should take this signal seriously. We think it’s the latter.
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