Washington Post (February 8)
“It is said that the European Union is a splendid idea but that the euro — the common currency — is a bad idea. Actually, the euro is a bad idea that is the logical application of an even worse idea — the European Union.”
New York Times (February 7)
“Fear and hatred stalked the Republican debate on Saturday night, aimed at every available target, including, as starkly as ever, the immigrant threat…. There is a long list of things Americans are terrified of, immigrants should not be on it.”
Tags: Fear, Hatred, Immigrants, Republican debate, Threats, U.S.
Institutional Investor (February 6)
“Markets across much of Asia, including in China and Korea, will be closed in observance of Lunar New Year this coming week, providing a break for investors concerned over cooling growth in China.”
Tags: Asia, China, Cooling growth, Investors, Korea, Lunar New Year, Markets
Wall Street Journal (February 5)
“The January jobs report wasn’t as bad as the markets seemed to take it… But then it wasn’t stellar either.” New jobs didn’t rise as much as expected, but there were wage gains and the labor participation rate rose as well. “We’ll hope for the best,” though the “overriding problem continues to be a lack of business confidence and investment.” This “leads to slower growth, which gives the U.S. economy a lower margin for absorbing growth shocks from around the world.”
Tags: Confidence, Growth, Investment, Jobs report, Labor participation, Markets, Shocks, U.S., Wage gains
Reuters (February 2)
“The Iowa caucuses might have been called the Iowa carcasses. Both parties saw a race between body parts: the head versus the heart.”
USA Today (February 2)
“For now, the Zika virus is a mysterious and wily enemy. Prompt action is needed, as well as messages from public health officials that are high on candor and low on alarmism.”
Popular Mechanics (February 1)
“As both the capital of Japan and home to a quarter of its citizens, Tokyo is very much a big, fat target” for North Korea. Mainly done to reassure people living in Tokyo, “the deployment of the eight PAC-3 missiles does give real protection in case Pyongyang has something unexpected in mind.” While any launch would probably just be a missile test, “North Korea’s erratic nature means Japan can never quite rule anything out.”
Tags: Capital, Deployment, Erratic, Japan, Missiles, North Korea, PAC-3, Protection, Pyongyang, Target, Tokyo
Institutional Investor (February 1)
There are some “stabilizing trends” underlying the recent market turbulence. “Stocks have taken a beating, but economic fundamentals in the U.S. remain strong. Look for volatility, and a rebound.”
Tags: Economy, Fundamentals, Market turbulence, Rebound, Stabilizing trends, Stocks, U.S., Volatility
Bloomberg (February 1)
“The Bank of Japan governor’s major additions to stimulus in 2013 and the following year were unequivocally good for equities…. The latest salvo to spur inflation- negative interest rates on some deposits- is less straightforward.” Kuroda’s surprise move to negative rates has earned everything from praise to criticism, with some taking a wait-and-see approach.
Tags: BOJ, Deposits, Equities, Inflation, Interest rates, Kuroda, Stimulus, Straightforward
