There are a series of factors that are driving the current rally in the US bond markets though the main one that has been apparent for a long time and driving the market is the incredible amount of liquidity, said Rick Reider, co-head of America’s fixed income at BlackRock Inc. Some of the reasons include a rush to safety due …
One Man’s Opinion: Will The European Central Bank Initiate Quantitative Easing In June?
The Purchasing Managers Index numbers in the 18-member euro zone were disappointing but were equally consistent with an annual growth forecast of about 1.5 percent, which, if achieved, would be great in what has been witnessed in the euro land generally, said James Bevan, Chief Investment Officer at CCLA Investment Management. It is likely that the euro-area will witness a …
One Man’s Opinion: Is The European Central Bank Likely To Cut Refinance Rates In June While Refraining From QE?
The eurozone grew in the first quarter despite no mending of balance-sheets at the macro-level and stagnation in France and the Netherlands, said David Owen, Chief European Economist at Jefferies International. The building blocks for a sustainable and strong-based recovery were not simply there. Inflation in May is likely to print at or below 0.5 percent, which will put pressure …
One Man’s Opinion: Is Housing Likely To Lag Behind The Rest Of The Economy?
Housing is not quite as important as the Fed sometimes seem to think, said Ian Shepherdson, Chief Economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. The Fed seems to be as much obsessed with housing as much the labor market, but it’s not necessary for housing to keep charging upwards for the rest of the economy to grow. It’s a relatively small share of …
One Man’s Opinion: Can The Unemployment Rate Hit 5 Percent In The Next Three Years?
The idea of gloom over the economy is slowly receding and getting the unemployment rate back to 5 percent will be considered normal, said Alan Krueger, former Chairman at the Council of Economic Advisers. Washington needs to focus on targeted efforts to the economy’s most severe problems, which now is long-term unemployment, rather than adding more stimuli, he noted. Asked …
One Man’s Opinion: Could China Be The Biggest Market Threat This Year?
The asset-allocation rotation that was witnessed over the past few weeks seems to be over now and the question whether that presaged something more broadly in the market investors really needed to worry about, no longer seems to be the case, said Dan Morris, global investment strategist at TIAA-CREF. It did seem to be concentrated in the stocks that had …