Here is what is happening around the net. Some of these articles are related to the market, some to geo-politics and some to general stuff. Hope you will find these useful and informative.
- EU Leaders Dampen Greek Hopes For Bailout Relief – Tsipras, brushing aside the criticism, insisted his government will end austerity and increase social spending. On Wednesday the Greek parliament approved an anti-poverty bill. It was the first piece of legislation that his government has put through — and it did so without full consultation from its creditor partners.
- Bond scarcity in repo markets signals ECB QE distortions – The soaring cost of borrowing government bonds in secured lending markets highlights the distortions caused by the ECB’s asset-purchase scheme, which analysts say could clog up Europe’s financial system. Uncertainty over how the European Central Bank will counter the scarcity of top-rated debt could further shrink repo markets — a source of funding that is essential to the smooth running of bond markets.
- Happy days are here again – It is clear that the financial crisis was severe. The sharp drop in GDP per capita in 2008 is unprecedented since 1970. That was bad enough. But what is far worse is the evidence that the UK still has not recovered. Even with recent encouraging growth, GDP per capita remains far below its long-term trend. Those who argue that the financial crisis simply eradicated debt-fuelled “bubble” income are clearly wrong, unless they think the whole of the last 45 years was a bubble.
- No matter how you look at it, there is little to be said for investing in an IPO – Thus, for example, in a 2014 study, Jay Ritter of the University of Florida analysed 7,793 IPOs that took place in the US from 1980 to 2012 and found investors who bought at the issue price made an average first day return of 17.9%. Over the next three years, however, investors then experienced an average market-adjusted loss of 18.6%.
- Wages Haven’t Been This Crucial to U.S. Economy in Half Century – The outlook for earnings is among the things that will help policy makers decide when to raise interest rates, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday. The labor market has improved enough for central bank officials to prepare to exit the most aggressive easing in the central bank’s 100-year history, though too-low inflation and weak pay gains are reasons for caution.
