Edward Harrison: Credit Writedowns

By Marc Chandler Originally published on Marc to Market There is a general understanding of what happened last week. The 2.9% rise in average hourly earnings in the US reported, the fastest since 2009 spurred fears of rising inflation. The jump in US interest rates triggered equity sales and a spike in volatility, which in turn spurred the unwinding of low vol bets that had been paying off handsomely. While this consensus narrative has much to recommend itself, there is a...

Feb.07 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses the bond market and which yield curve he focuses on. He speaks with Tom Keene and Francine Lacqua on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

Feb.07 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses the bond market and which yield curve he focuses on. He speaks with Tom Keene and Francine Lacqua on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

Feb.07 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses the upcoming Bank of England rate decision. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

Feb.07 -- Marc Chandler, global head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, discusses the upcoming Bank of England rate decision. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance."

By Marc Chandler Originally posted at Marc to Market The short-term solution reached last month to extend the US federal government’s funding expires on Thursday, February 8. Leaders from both parties say they want to avoid another partial closure. Last month, parts of the federal government were closed for three days, which is about par for the course (around half of the government’s 19 shutdowns since 1977 lasted three days). The House of Representatives is planning to vote tomorrow on a...

By Marc Chandler (This post first appeared at Marc to Market) ECB President Draghi was unable to arrest the US dollar’s slide and euro’s surge.  But he did not try particularly hard.  While many investors are a bit stumped by the pace and magnitude of the dollar’s slump, Draghi seemed to imply that it was perfectly understandable given the recovery of the eurozone economy.  The economy is the strongest it has been in more than a decade, but the US is no slouch.  The US reports the first...

By Marc Chandler (this post originally appeared at Marc to Market) Did US Treasury Secretary Mnuchin signal a change in the US dollar policy?  Probably not. As Mnuchin and President Trump have done before, a distinction was drawn between short- and longer-term perspectives.  In the short-term, a weaker dollar says Mnuchin, is good for US trade and “other opportunities”.  In the longer-term, Mnuchin explicitly acknowledged, “the strength of the dollar is a reflection of the strength of...

By Marshall Auerback (This post was first published on Alternet) Is the bitcoin craze another in a series of history’s most infamous bubbles, or is it a genuine harbinger of a new global financial architecture? In spite of recent market turbulence, its champions see bitcoin (and its cryptocurrency peers) as an ideal market-generated solution as questions arise about the future viability of...

By Marc Chandler (originally published at Marc to Market) The US Treasury International Capital report for the month of November 2017 was released yesterday.  It showed that the two largest foreign holders of US Treasuries, China and Japan, were net sellers.  China sold about $12.6 bln and Japan sold about $9 bln of US Treasuries.  Foreign investors sold $6.4 bln of Treasuries, meaning that...