LTRO

Futures Rise on Earnings, German Sentiment U.S. equity futures rose in pre-market trading following continued strong earnings and a better than expected report on German business confidence. The IFO Business Climate Index rose to 104.2 in January from 102.4 in December, better than economists...

January 30 is an important date for European banks and for the euro system as a whole. The day could end up passing like any other day, but it could also spark a reversal of months of improvement in credit markets, sending the continent back into the depths of the crisis. Why you may ask? The...

A recent survey of European investors conducted by Fitch ratings points to a growing need for a new round of Longer-Term Refinancing Operations (LTROs), which entail cheap financing for private banks from the European Central Bank. The quarterly survey of investors shows that 53 percent of...

U.S. equity futures rose ahead of the interest rate decisions from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. Also, the People's Bank of China reported that it has not cut rates this month as some had expected. Recall that before the previous two Bank of England decisions, China had...

The European Central Bank (ECB) is different from the Federal Reserve in a few different ways. The ECB's mandate is different in that it only is meant to keep price stability whereas the Fed is meant to protect a dual mandate of "full" employment and price stability. This divergence has huge...

Spanish yields rose at auction Thursday as fears grew that the banking bailout will become a liability on the country's balance sheet. The weak auctions of 2-, 5-, and 7-year bonds followed poor economic data on Wednesday that showed home prices falling more than expected in the second quarter and...

The U.S. Treasury Thursday sold 30-year bonds at record low yields of 2.58 percent, well below the previous auction's yield of 2.72 percent. The low yields confirm the flight to safety that has been seen in financial markets over the last few trading days. The U.S. Treasury sold $13 billion of 30-...

The trading loss in JP Morgan Chase's (NYSE: JPM) Chief Investment Office continues to grow, as credit conditions around the world deteriorated further after reporting a massive trading loss on May 10. Chief Executive Jamie Dimon at the time said that the losses were tied to credit derivatives the...

After the dismal Non-Farm Payrolls Report and the lackluster ISM release, it is hard to see where the growth is coming from. In this light, what are the chances of QE3? How low can rates go? These are all valid questions in this environment, so let us discuss. The chances for QE3 are higher now...

Wednesday, the European Central Bank loaned the European banks 529 billion euros. It is the second long-term refinancing option (LTRO) the ECB has offered in the last few months, following a previous LTRO in December that saw 489 billion euros lent out. LTROs are just one of several possible open...