In an effort to offer a more transparent alternative to U.S. dollar Libor, the New York Federal Reserve released its first Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) Tuesday. SOFR opened at 1.80. Considerably lower than either the ICE Libor 1 month or 3 month rates. The Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) is a broad measure of […]
My Kuroda! Not a Single Japanese 10-Year Bond Traded Tuesday…
The Bank of Japan has vacuumed up so much of the government bond market — in excess of 40 percent — that it’s left fewer securities for others to buy and sell. Some other buyers, such as pension funds and life insurers, also tend to follow buy-and-hold strategies. That’s the backdrop to Tuesday’s session, when […]
The Decline and Fall of General Electric, the Poster Child of Obamanomics…
Sometimes we look back a decade or so and reconsider our word choice. For instance, I used to call General Electric — with its heavy lobbying, its intimate ties to the White House, all its bets on green energy, on embryonic stem cells, on Obamacare, on industrial policy — the “for-profit arm of the Obama […]
Everything You Need to Know About Trump’s Executive Order on Association Health Plans…
On Thursday, President Trump announced a new executive order that has the potential to radically transform the individual health insurance marketplace and give millions of Americans access to high-quality, low-cost health insurance. The executive order, which was crafted with the help of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., will empower individuals and small businesses in associations to […]
Donald Trump Is Inheriting the Best Economy in a Generation(???) Bubbles, Worst Wage Recovery Since 1965, etc.
(Mis)Fortune magazine had a story which I actually mistook for a story from The Onion or National Lampoon. But sadly, it was a real story: “Donald Trump Is Inheriting the Best Economy in a Generation.” Let’s look carefully at the “best economy in a generation”…