The Chinese government may allow the yuan to have “a bigger one-off move than people talk about, at least 5 percent, maybe more,” O’Neill said in an interview today at the London School of Economics. “They may also consider having a wide band to let it move more frequently on the daily basis to stop speculative players.”
China’s economy rebounded stronger than anticipated in the fourth quarter, and the inflation rate accelerated to a 13-month high of 1.9 percent in December, igniting speculation the government will abandon the yuan peg to avoid the economy from overheating. China has kept a lid on its currency since July 2008 after it strengthened 21 percent against the dollar over the previous three years.
A most interesting story on the SEC banning short sales for February.
Concern that short-sellers accelerate stock declines may prompt the Securities and Exchange Commission to adopt a rule next month aimed at curbing bearish bets when equities are plunging.
The regulation would require the trades be executed above the best existing bid in the market when shares fall 10 percent in a day, said Brian Hyndman, the senior vice president in transaction services at Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. In a short sale, an investor borrows an asset and sells it, hoping to profit from a decrease by repurchasing it later at a lower price.
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
This week's documentary is on the unethical and corrupt sales practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Anyone who has gone to a Doctor who magically diagnoses a disease you have no symptoms of and each pill costs at least $4 a pop and makes you feel really bad....well, be wary, that's all one can say.
The film's website has a donate button for the filmmakers (although frankly they should attach ads as should all content makers whose work is online) but it's good of them to let us watch their film. With further ado....
Bloomberg is reporting House Financial Services Committee Chair, Barney Frank, is talking about replacing Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae with a different type of mortgage financing model.
The committee will be recommending abolishing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in their current form and coming up with a whole new system of housing finance,” Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing in Washington today. “That’s the approach, rather than a piecemeal one.”
If you recall, Fannie and Freddie received quite a Christmas present in the form of an unlimited bail out, which puts TARP to shame.
Big banks have already begun poking the holes in Obama’s new rules—holes they expect their banks to pass through basically unchanged.
The president promised this morning to work with Congress to ensure that no bank or financial institution that contains a bank will own, invest in or sponsor a hedge fund or a private equity fund, or proprietary trading operations unrelated to serving customers for its own profit.
Roll Call is reporting the Bernanke Senate confirmation might actually be in peril, as in not enough votes.
Ben Bernanke’s nomination to serve a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve appears to be in peril. Bernanke is up for a second term at the Fed; his current term expires in 10 days on Jan. 31. A handful of Senators had previously threatened to filibuster the nomination, but this week the number of opposing lawmakers appeared to grow, further dimming his prospects for installment.
Wow. Honestly I didn't think this would happen, so for all of those who want to burn Ben, I sure hope you're thinking of a better replacement right now, before we get the likes of a Larry Summers as a new nominee.
Can anyone else hardly wait until Chris Dodd is out of the Senate? Here we go again. The effort to Audit the Federal Reserve, which received a House Majority and survived the House Financial reform bill, of course is being blocked in the Senate.
A House-passed provision to open up the Federal Reserve to an audit by the Government Accountability Office is unlikely to be included in the Senate reform package, Barney Frank told a meeting of House Financial Services Committee members Wednesday, according to people in the room.
Weekly Initial Unemployment Claims jumped 36,000. I think all know at this point I do not like this metric for it's so loaded with noise and revised continually.
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
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