Bonds are selling off as June contracts are close to expire … WHY??? Inflation is ramping, credit crunch seems managable … so the Hedges are SOLD. And now the speculation starts … WHAT’s NEXT??? Interest rates HAVE TO RISE!!! Next step of FED and ECB will be UP … a rate HIKE!!! This is reflected [...]

After a lot of ECB members reiterated their position, that in the current environment there is no interest rate cut possible and adequate … Today a new quality was reached. As we know, part of the communication of the ECB is to “leak” policy changes via so called “source-stories” in selected media channels … Story [...]

I have to admit it … this guy makes me sick … ALL data point to a recession … and not a shallow and short one … and inflation is rising every day … But Bernanke does not admit it … continues with dangerous and useless rate cuts … only as he fears that bad [...]

Has the rallye stalled already? 2 days of buying … that’s it? Not bad … fasten seat belts for a nasty ride? New lows very soon? And the bears happy, that Fed has not much ammunition left … The US markets not even tried once to go higher today … a slow and steady flow [...]

As the Fed reduces rates at panic pace, markets still are not going higher. Investors seem to realize, that the landscape has changed. Not one single day passes without earnings revisions to the downside or record write offs. The economic climate gets rough. Even good figures like today’s ADP number create only a short lived [...]

Fed decision tomorrow … and all eyes on Ben Bernanke … known as Helicopter Ben We waited for January and hoped for 50 bps … fantasized of 75 bps … got them already (thanks to SocGen) and … ??? YES … market has priced in quite fully a further 50 bps rate cut … OMG [...]

Move over Nick Leeson … here comes Jérôme Kerviel 4.9bln Euro loss on Futures … obviously a lot of futures. Even if you assume a close to impossible loss of 1.000 points per contract, it must have been 200.000 FDAX or even 500.000 FESX futures … A lot for a “small position trader”. So it [...]

Even the European equity markets give up today, selling off around 7% (!!!) on an US holiday … wow We were not able to go that low last year on very bad news and more uncertainty, now … seemingly ready to have a bounce after 3 down weeks to get the year started, the market [...]