Fed Likely to Add New Dealers for Treasury Market

11 Key Numbers to Watch in 2011
There is a growing economic spectator sport in this country: When will the U.S. economy get up off the mat and turn the corner? The answer is of more than casual interest to the 308,745,538 residents of our data-driven nation. Here are 11 key numbers you should be watching: 1. Consumer Confidence . The most widely watched measure of how consumers feel about The Economy is provided each month by the Conference Board, a business policy group. Would you believe that its confidence index stood at ...

Let's make Fannie and Freddie "The Biggest Losers"
In Tuesday's Reuters Breaking View, Agnes Crane and Antony Currie lay out the case for a 10 year plan to get rid of government sponsored home Mortgage subsidies. The authors say that in a decade, Private Sector banks would have time to absorb the $5 Trillion in government backed mortgages held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without rocking the recovering economy. Consumers would have time to get accustomed to the idea that these mortgages would no longer be readily available. The pair state tha...

Jacksonville Pension Director Makes The Case That The Pensions Crisis Is Being Blown Out Of Proportion (MUN)
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. We published an article last month based on projections by Professors Robert Novy-Marx and Joshua Rauh that showed dozens of city Pension Plans running dry in the next few years. The claim that Jacksonville's fund would become insolvent in 2020 drew a response from Jacksonville Police & Fire Pension Fund Director John Keane. Keane objects to the assumption of a 4% return on investment. Keane prefers a 8% rate of return, which would allow c...

Food cost risk weighs on Supervalu, Safeway
Los Angeles (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley advised investors to cut holdings in Supervalu Inc (SVU.N) and Safeway Inc (SWY.N) as rising food costs threaten to dent results, sending shares of two down 6.8 and 3.4 percent, respectively. Traditional U.S. Supermarket operators have been under intense pressure since the U.S. economy declined and their profits could be at risk if they are not able to raise prices to offset higher costs for food, analysts have said. "There has probably never been a toughe...

Food cost risk weighs on Supervalu, Safeway
By Lisa Baertlein Los Angeles | Tue Jan 4, 2011 1:23pm EST Los Angeles (Reuters) - Morgan Stanley advised investors to cut holdings in Supervalu Inc (SVU.N) and Safeway Inc (SWY.N) as rising food costs threaten to dent results, sending shares of two down 6.8 and 3.4 percent, respectively. Traditional U.S. Supermarket operators have been under intense pressure since the U.S. economy declined and their profits could be at risk if they are not able to raise prices to offset higher costs for food...

Fed: Economy Still Weak Despite Improvements
WASHINGTON (By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal) - Federal Reserve officials in December felt the U.S. Economic Recovery was still weak enough to warrant monetary support despite growing signs of strength, Fed meeting minutes released on Tuesday showed. Wall Street Economists have been busy revising up their forecasts for Economic Growth in recent weeks on the back of signs showing business activity and Consumer Spending picking up steam. But the Fed's policy-setting panel, which at its Dece...

ECB government bond buys drop
Data from the European Central Bank shows it bought €164 million ($218 million) in bonds from governments with shaky finances in the week that ended on Dec. 31, as pressure to fight the region's Debt crisis abated over the holidays. Monday's figure compare with €1.121 billion in investments in Government Bonds a week earlier, but the week between Christmas and New Year's only had three full trading days where volumes were low. The Central Bank started buying the bonds from highly ind...

Battle over the debt ceiling heats up
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Everybody's talking about Debt. No wonder: The country's tab is a whisker away from the current debt ceiling. The Rhetoric is already loud, harsh and, at times, misleading. And there is more to come. Email Print Comment Congress, Obama and your money To help counteract the half-truths and exaggerations, here are some debt ceiling facts worth noting. What is the debt ceiling exactly? It's a cap set by Congress on the amount of debt the Federal Government can legally borrow...

As National Debt Obama Ran Up Tops $14 TRILLION (with a T), Obamas Architect of Economic Disaster Whines About Debt Limit
Well, look, it pains me that we would even be talking about this. This is not a game. You know, the Debt ceiling is not something to toy with. If we hit the Debt ceiling, that’s essentially defaulting on our obligations, which is totally unprecedented in American history. The impact on The Economy would be catastrophic. That would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008. No doubt defaulting on U.S. obligations would be bad, but Goolsbee’s missing the point. ...

How to Navigate the Bond Market in 2011
Related Articles 9 Strategies for This (Or Any) Market 50 Ways to Improve Your Finances in 2011 8 Investing Resolutions for 2011 The 100 Best Mutual Funds for the Long Term The outlook for the Bond Market in 2011 remains uncertain. Recently, treasury yields have moved upward, causing some investors to panic and forecasters to call for the end of the bond market's bull run. The big question: whether or not Interest Rates (and bond yields) will rise in the new year. That will depend on a num...

Governments Help Markets Score Big in 2010...
Please register to gain free access to WSJ tools. An account already exists for the Email Address entered. Forgot your username or Password? This service is temporary unavailable due to system maintenance. Please try again later. another account. Please enter a different username The Email Address you have entered is already in use. Please re-enter the email address. Why Register? Dow Jones Reprints: This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies for ...

2011: Year of the bank run?
Irish bank deposits declined in November for the fourth straight month, the Central Bank said last week. Overseas deposits fled the country at their fastest pace in more than a year. The deposit flight compounds the stress on a Financial System whose massive property-lending losses already have driven the government to accept an unpopular Bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Worse yet, it shows that the solutions policymakers slapped together in the fall of 2008 h...

2011: Year of the bank run?
2011: Year of the bank run? Posted by Colin Barr January 3, 2011 6:27 am Is a bank run about to bring Europe to its knees? Some market watchers say yes, pointing ominously to the torrents of money pouring out of Ireland. Not such a good bet Irish bank deposits declined in November for the fourth straight month, the Central Bank said last week. Overseas deposits fled the country at their fastest pace in more than a year. The deposit flight compounds the stress on a Financial System whose ma...

Fed: Economy still weak despite improvements
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials in December felt the U.S. Economic Recovery was still weak enough to warrant monetary support despite growing signs of strength, Fed meeting minutes released on Tuesday showed. Wall Street Economists have been busy revising up their forecasts for Economic Growth in recent weeks on the back of signs showing business activity and Consumer Spending picking up steam. But the Fed's policy-setting panel, which at its December 14 meeting made no changes...

Benchmark JGB yield closes higher as stocks rally+
TOKYO, Jan. 4 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese Government Bond closed higher Tuesday as strong gains in Tokyo stocks triggered selling of safer assets. The yield on the No. 312, 1.2 percent issue, the main yardstick of long-term Interest Rates, ended interdealer trading up 0.040 percentage point from Thursday's close to 1.160 percent. The Bond Market was closed from Friday through Monday for Japan's New Year holidays. The price of the March futures contract for 1...

Eurozone inflation above bank target in December
Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said consumer price Inflation jumped 2.2 percent in the year to December, its highest level since October 2008. The increase from November's 1.9 percent rate was markedly ahead of expectations—the consensus in the markets was for a far more modest increase to 2 percent. A more detailed breakdown of the Figures Will be published later this month, but all indications are that higher energy and commodity costs are likely to have been behind the bigger tha...

Head of NH retirement system steps down
CONCORD, N.H. — The head of the New Hampshire Retirement System has stepped down to pursue another career opportunity. Dick Ingram notified the board of trustees on Monday of his decision. By contract, Ingram cannot disclose the name of his new employer until his hiring is officially announced, which is expected later this week. Ingram has served as head of the state’s Retirement system for two years. During that time he led the system through some difficult challenges, including le...

The Mass Exodus Continues: Three Top Executives Just Left Citadel Securities
Email Sent! You have successfully emailed the post. Three of Citadel Securities's top executives just left the firm, according to Bloomberg. They are: Chris Boas, head of credit markets; Brad Kurtzman, who ran equity Derivatives sales and trading; and Carl Mayer, the head of leveraged finance in the investment banking unit. In October, we heard that Ken Griffin's Citadel Securities would see a number of layoffs, especially in the Fixed Income unit, headed by none other than Chris Boas, who is n...

Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Citigroup and CNOOC
Depending on the response the company gets through the number of sign-ups for the program in February, it could again offer this Retirement program in autumn or later. The news of job retrenchment is not new to Wall Street firms. The Financial Crisis has forced many of the Wall Street biggies such as Bank of America Corp. (NYSE: BAC) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) to reduce their Workforce.  Several other companies have also joined the bandwagon and opted for rightsizing of their Workforce. T...

Recovery Will Pick Up Steam in 2011
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recovery will pick up steam in 2011, but growth will remain moderate, according to the consensus forecast of 25 Economists surveyed for legal and business publisher BNA's annual outlook on the U.S. and international economy. Both Inflation and the Federal Reserve's target Interest Rate are expected to remain low. A self-sustaining expansion will hinge on increased job growth, Consumer Spending, business investment, and exports, as gove...

63911
The Reserve Bank of India has opened up a major new front in the global effort to tighten the economic screws on Tehran. Under pressure from the United States, the Indian Central Bank last week blocked domestic buyers of Iranian Oil from making payments through the Asian Clearing Union. But further measures, and time for them to work, will still be needed to convince Iran to abandon its Nuclear Weapons program. While Oil sales to India can still clear through commercial banks, they will be more ...

BlackRock sees double-digit 2011 rise in stocks
By Walden Siew NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks could post double-digit returns in 2011 for the third straight year and outdo global markets, said Bob Doll, chief equity Strategist at BlackRock Inc. Doll said the S&P 500 index .SPX should rise to at... NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks could post double-digit returns in 2011 for the third straight year and outdo global markets, said Bob Doll, chief equity Strategist at BlackRock Inc. Doll said the S&P 500 index .SPX should rise to at least 1,350 b...

BlackRock sees double-digit 2011 rise in stocks
By Walden Siew NEW YORK | Tue Jan 4, 2011 12:54pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks could post double-digit returns in 2011 for the third straight year and outdo global markets, said Bob Doll, chief equity Strategist at BlackRock Inc. Doll said the S&P 500 index .SPX should rise to at least 1,350 by the end of 2011, implying a 7.4 percent move in the U.S. index, calling that figure "a floor" for their target. He forecast improved growth, bolstered by falling Unemployment and strong earnings...

Ring in the New Year
Get alerts when there is a new article that might interest you. As readers of these piece already know, I possess neither a sophisticated model of the U.S. economy such as the ones available to the bright sparks whose mis-measurement of risk almost brought down the Financial System, nor a crystal ball. All I can offer with any confidence is the observation that the data suggests we will open for business in the new year in better shape than we were at the beginning of 2010. Investors are countin...

Federal Reserve to Keep on Easing
The Federal Reserve today released the minutes from its Dec. 14 meeting to determine just how much money it would create out of thin air as part of its continuing effort to stimulate The Economy. The Fed determined that labor demand was increasing but not enough to stave off high levels of Unemployment. Industrial production increased, as did Consumer Spending, but the Housing Market remained a tremendous threat to prosperity. Stock prices rose, an outcome the Fed would deem as desirable, as t...