Previously on MoreLiver’s:
Roundups &
Commentary
News – Between
The Hedges
Markets – Between
The Hedges
Recap – Global
Macro Trading
The Closer – alphaville
/ FT
Tomorrow’s Tape: Home Sales, Consumer Prices, Wal-Mart
Earnings – WSJ
US: Stocks
Drop Most In 2013 As Gold Is Crucified On The Death Cross – ZH
Policy makers show little sign of stopping
doing whatever it is they have or have not been doing
EUROPE
EU deal on eurozone rules after MEPs concede
defeat on debt fund
– euobserver
EU
lawmakers have reached a deal on tightening the eurozone's economic governance
rules after MEPs conceded defeat on the swift creation of a fund to pool
sovereign debt.
Deflating a Swedish
bubble – Deus Ex Macchiato
Coming as it does on top of Switzerland’s use of
a countercyclical buffer, and noises from Australia on
measures to deflate the housing bubble there, this is interesting. We are
starting to see countercyclical regulatory policy in action.
On February
14, European Commissioner Michel Barnier and Federal Reserve Governor Daniel
Tarullo both indicated their agreement to quickly give the Basel III accord binding force over,
respectively, European and American banks. This is welcome. But even more
important than the speed of adoption is that implementation should stay true to
what the accord stipulates.
On the road to the euro – IQ
The Economist / presseurop
On January
1, 2014, Latvia will become the 18th country in Europe to use the single currency. It is a
decision most Latvians would not have made, and it comes with significant
risks.
The odd couple – Buttonwood’s
/ The Economist
Although the yen has captured most of the currency
headlines since the start of the year, sterling has been almost as weak.
ITALY’S ELECTIONS
With just days to go before Italians head to the
polling booths, it’s time to review how the main candidates's claims stack up.
Whoever wins this
week’s Italian elections, it is unlikely that they will put an end to the
‘telecracy’ begun by Silvio Berlusconi. – europp
/ LSE
Italy is
governed by two houses with equal lawmaking power. The Chamber of Deputies is
controlled by whichever group gets the majority nationally. The Senate is
decided by region, with 55% of each region’s seats awarded to the biggest party
there. In four large regions, the battle between center-left and center-right
coalitions is too close to call.
UNITED STATES
Fed stimulus benefits still outweigh risks,
Lockhart tells Reuters – MacroScope
/ Reuters
The Federal
Reserve is cognizant of the potential costs of its unconventional policies, but
the economic benefits from asset purchases are still far greater than the
potential costs, Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart told Reuters
FOMC
MINUTES
The fallacy of Fed ‘profits’ (and ‘losses’) – MacroScope
/ Reuters
Hawkish Rumblings Getting Louder – ZH
Message muddied – alphaville
/ FT
Divergent views on QE – Danske
Bank (pdf)
"Several participants" support
varying QE asset purchases – Calculated
Risk
My read is
the FOMC is modestly more optimistic on the economic outlook, and are prepared
to vary the amount of QE asset purchases based on incoming data…Changes in the
size of asset purchases will be something to watch at each FOMC meeting.
Fed may need to halt QE3 before jobs market
heals: minutes – Reuters
A number of
Federal Reserve officials think the central bank may have to slow or stop
buying bonds before seeing the pickup in hiring the bold program is designed to
deliver, according to minutes of the central bank's January policy meeting.
Lots of talk on bond-buying, no firm
conclusions on what's next – Wonkblog
/ WP
Fed Officials Feared Easy Money Could Rattle
Markets – WSJ
S&P 500 Falls Most Since November as
Minutes Show Debate
– BB
Wall Street slides as Fed minutes spark concern – Reuters
OTHER
Scrambling for Returns – John
Mauldin / The Big Picture
Economic and Market Outlook: Punch bowl not
going anywhere yet –
Nordea (pdf)
Risk
sentiment has continued to mostly thrive lately. Improving economic data and
continued easy monetary policy should still to provide support, but an
increasing amount of event risk and uncertainty in the near future should lead
to temporary profit taking and a correction lower in equity prices. (summary)