After years of exhorting China to increase the value of its yuan, the currency is finally rising. Why that's so is the result of the Fed's quantitative easing program. Here's how Bernanke managed to succeed where political wrangling fell short.
As crude prices keep inching upward, the threat to both the U.S. and global economy is clear. While OPEC says don't blame us, the Interational Energy Agencys says: "This is a wake-up call to the oil-consuming countries and to the oil producers."
They're gearing up for a potentially damaging round of currency interventions to help keep their economies competitive, especially against China. Says Brazilian Finance Minister Guido Mantega: "This is a currency war that is turning into a trade war."
When pros like Warren Buffett and Goldman Sachs start making moves predicated on the expectation of higher rates, investors best take note. The impact of higher rates would be widespread, especially on so-called safe havens like Treasury bonds and gold.
The dollar is looking mighty attractive, thanks to a reviving U.S. economy and eurozone woes, and it will only get stronger as traders who gambled that it would fall buy dollars to unwind their bad bets. Add in China's desperate need to get its overheated economy in check, and commodities prices look like they have nowhere to go but down.
According to two Paul supporters, the Texas Republican isn't ready to go directly back to the gold standard. Instead, he wants to keep the dollar and add three more currencies. Those would be based on gold, silver and copper.
While most of the world's central banks are still fighting the last war, Sweden's Riksbank has moved on to the next one. Rather than looking at conventional inflation gauges, the world's oldest central bank is basing its actions on asset-price growth in an effort to prevent the next bubble.
Given all that transpired globally over the Thanksgiving weekend, the idea of holding risky assets like stocks should give investors heartburn. Perhaps a strong Black Friday weekend and holiday selling season will draw traders' gazes, but that's no sure shot.
Stocks closed slightly higher Friday after fluctuating most of the session as some better-than-expected quarterly earnings helped offset anxiety over China's move to curb inflation.
The Dow tumbled Tuesday as part of a global sell-off in stocks fueled by further speculation that China will hike interest rates to fight inflation and renewed worries over the wobbly finances of Ireland, Portugal and Greece.
Ireland headed into a confrontation Tuesday with leaders of the European Union and other struggling members of the eurozone on whether to seek a financial bailout as jitters continued to disrupt the continent's financial markets.
The nation%u2019s manufacturing recovery accelerated in October as factory output jumped 0.5%, the Federal Reserve said. Overall industrial output was flat in the month, but the typical autumn plunge in utilities output skewed the top-line stat lower.
For a host of reasons, other countries would love to free their economies from the stranglehold of the U.S. dollar's influence, especially now, when the Fed's stimulus actions are pushing the dollar lower, and everything else higher. Global finance expert Peter Cohan has a simple answer: The Mondo.
As the G-20 meets in South Korea, many world leaders have stepped up their complaints about the Fed's $600 billion quantitative easing program, as well as the rapid flow of capital into emerging markets. Some countries are installing capital controls in response, but those won't be enough, says global finance expert Peter Cohan.
