U.S. Economy Decelerating as GDP Growth Slows – MarketWatch Falling Yields Spark Busy July – Bloomberg Soybeans Rally to 12-Week High – Bloomberg Arabica Coffee Rises to 12-Year High – Bloomberg Crude Oil Rallies After Dropping on U.S. Economic Report – Bloomberg Bernanke’s Bottom Line – Wall Street Journal Copper Prices Have Biggest Monthly Gain [...]
News of a debt crisis in Dubai shook stocks on what would otherwise be a quiet post-holiday trading session. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 154.48 points (1.48%) as Dubai announced on Wednesday that it would ask creditors of the state-owned Dubai World and Nakheel to defer debt payments. The news surprised investors and led [...]
Can the U.S. Lose its AAA Credit Rating? By Jeff Friedman The credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) issued a warning on May 21, 2009, that Britain’s credit rating was at risk of being downgraded due to rapidly growing government deficits. The statement sparked fears that the U.S. could next in line for a [...]
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged but said it will buy $300 billion in long-term Treasury bonds. The Fed also plans to buy mortgage-backed securities and the agency debt of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The move aims to boost bond prices, thus forcing the yield on long-term interest rates down. The ultimate hope [...]
By Jim Barrett I’ve been involved with the Treasury bond market since 1979, originally as a floor trader, and recall how bond trading was king back then. However, the spotlight dimmed as the U.S. government began to get its fiscal house in order during the late 90s; so much that it was even able to [...]
By Jeff Friedman Register for Friedman’s Futures Forecast – a monthly webinar on commodities.
Trading Strategies Using Pivot Points By Jeff Friedman There’s no doubt the economy is sick. The last quarter of 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 are likely to reflect the worst part of this recession, in my opinion. If that is the case, we may be seeing the formation of bottoms in a number [...]
Treasuries a Safe-Haven in Times of Crisis By Greg Perlin An avalanche of negative news swept the markets yesterday. To summarize the events, two Wall Street titans will essentially disappear. Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch agreed to be acquired by Bank of America. The stock market really has taken a hit and [...]
