The latest jobs report showed the economy created 295,000 jobs in February and surprised markets on the upside though overall the report was not as good as the headline-number would suggest, said Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs. The unemployment rate also came down a bit, but that was driven primarily by weak labor-force participation. Similarly, wage gains also …
One Man’s Opinion: Have Lending Costs To Corporate Europe In The Periphery Declined?
Despite weak credit conditions, lower oil and a slumping euro, Goldman Sachs is optimistic about the region’s growth prospect this year, said Kevin Daly, Senior European economist at Goldman Sachs. The investment bank revised euro area’s GDP growth-forecast higher – between 1.2% and 1.5% for this year and between 1.6% and 1.7% for next year. For the first-time, GS is …
One Man’s Opinion: Do Fixed-Income Valuations Look Stretched?
The US Federal Reserve is likely to remain patient and investors shouldn’t worry much as the US central bank will be very methodical and transparent about what they do, said Brain Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds. The latest FOMC minutes showed the Fed’s tone was a little more dovish than the markets were anticipating. The equity …
One Man’s Opinion: Do Greek Banks Face An Immediate Cash Crunch?
The Germans and the Greeks seem to have made some progress on semantics in the ongoing debt negotiations, said Gilles Moec, Chief European Economist at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch. They have started to discuss the technicalities of the Greece debt-problem, which is a huge achievement. They have still not agreed on the principles – the Greeks are insisting …
One Man’s Opinion: Have Markets Started To Believe Zero Interest Rate Is Normal?
The latest US jobs report showing 257,000 nonfarm jobs being created in January has been extremely positive. It shows a higher participation rate along and less-sluggish wage growth, indicating a more inclusive recovery, said Mohammad El-Erian, former CEO of PIMCO and a Bloomberg View columnist. The latest report showed wages grew 2.2 percent year-over-year while the month-over-month wage-growth was the …
One Man’s Opinion: Will Earnings Expectations Be More Moderate This Year?
A hike in interest rates may not happen in the US this July though that probably remains the appropriate policy move, said David Joy, chief strategist at Ameriprise Financial. Ameriprise expects the US economy to grow by 3 percent in 2015, which justifies the beginning of a liftoff; but whether that happens in June or July remains to be seen. …