7. January 2012 by Jim Sutliff.

The Institute of Supply Management’s factory index rose to 53.9 for the month of December.  The increase marked the fastest that U.S. manufacturing has expanded in the last 6 months.  The jobs report also showed gains for the month of December.  Positive factory and jobs data helped send Treasuries lower in trading last week.  The Ten year note yield rose to 1.96%.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-07/treasuries-drop-as-reports-showing-economic-strength-damp-demand.html

Jim Sutliff

Posted in Infrastructure, Economy, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

19. November 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

The Super Committee remained deadlocked on Saturday as Republicans and Democrats could not agree on a compromise.  Budget savings of $1.2 trillion are required by midnight on Wednesday.  If an agreement is not reached by the deadline it could send stocks lower in light holiday trading.  Traders could sell and take gains or lock in losses before the end of the year.  In addition, lack of an agreement could lead to credit agencies downgrading US debt.

To read a related Reuters article, please click here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/19/us-usa-debt-supercommittee-idUSTRE7AC0LS20111119

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Congress, Presidential, Treasury, Budget, Republican, Regulatory, Democrat, DC, Election, General, Politics, Administrative | No Comments »

16. October 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Global finance chiefs are showing support for a plan to address the European sovereign debt crisis.  A more complete plan may be presented by the October 23rd summit in Brussels. The plan is expected to include writing down as much as 50% of Greek debt.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-15/g-20-tells-europe-to-deal-decisively-with-debt-crisis-at-oct-23-summit.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Treasury, International, Economy, Business, Administrative, Uncategorized | No Comments »

21. September 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Treasury yields for 30 year bonds fell below 3% for the first time since 2009.  The Federal Reserve announced that it will purchase long term debt and sell shorter term debt in an attempt to spur economic growth.  It is expected that they will purchase $400 billion of debt with 6 to 30 year maturites and sell the same amount of debt with maturites of 3 years or less.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/treasuries-rally-as-fed-announces-purchases-of-longer-term-debt.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Treasury, Economy, Regulatory, General, Business | No Comments »

6. September 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

The yield on a ten year Treasury fell to an all-time low in trading on Tuesday.  The European debt crisis and a slow US economy drove investors to the safety of Treasuries.  European stocks fell on Monday and US stocks declined in trading on Tuesday. 

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-06/ten-year-treasuries-most-expensive-ever-on-safety-bid-fed-measure-shows.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, General, Business | No Comments »

31. August 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Treasuries posted their biggest monthly gains since December 2008.  Investors looked towards the safety of US Treasuries even as Standard & Poor’s downgraded US debt.  The yield on a 10 year note fell 60 basis points in the month of August as compared to a drop of 71 basis points in December 2008. 

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-31/treasuries-head-for-biggest-monthly-gain-since-2008-after-u-s-downgrade.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Treasury, Budget, Economy, Federal Reserve, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

22. August 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Stocks are trading above the 10,900 mark on Monday as traders speculate on more Fed action.  Also, the possibility that the Federal Reserve will announce another quantitative easing program to counter recessionary concerns have kept Treasury yields at record lows.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-21/u-s-stock-futures-drop-following-biggest-slump-in-s-p-500-index-since-09.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

17. August 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

On Tuesday, Fitch Ratings announced that they were keeping U.S. debt at a AAA rating.  In addition, the outlook was kept at stable.  Moody’s has U.S. debt rated AAA with a negative outlook.  Fitch Ratings indicated that the outlook could change to negative if Congress does not cut future deficits. 

To read a related ABC News article, please click here:

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=14315215

Jim Sutliff

Posted in Treasury, Budget, Economy, Federal Reserve, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

6. August 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

World leaders are meeting this weekend to discuss the debt crises in Europe and the United States.  The downgrade of U.S. debt by Standard and Poor’s on Friday will test the strength of financial markets.  Also, markets may negatively react if the European central bank does not purchase Italian and Spanish debt on Monday.

To read a related Reuters article, please click here:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/06/us-eurozone-idUSTRE7712HB20110806

Jim Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Federal Reserve, Presidential, 2012, Budget, Treasury, Congress, Tax, Democrat, Business, General, Politics, Republican, Administrative | No Comments »

9. June 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

At a public forum on June 7th, Jamie Dimon questioned Bernanke about Wall Street regulators.  The amount of regulation came into question as well as the end result possibly being a slowdown of the U.S. economy.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-09/dimon-challenging-bernanke-channels-wall-street-s-bid-to-break-regulators.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Dodd-Frank, Treasury, SEC, Republican, Regulatory, Business, Democrat, General, Administrative | No Comments »

9. May 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Fannie Mae reported a first quarter net loss of $6.5 billion and will request an additional $6.2 billion from the government.  Fannie Mae reported net income of $73 million in the last quarter. 

To read a related Wall Street Journal article, please click here:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704810504576307551540613850.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_realestate

Jim Sutliff

Posted in Infrastructure, Treasury, Real Estate, General, Business, Administrative | No Comments »

27. April 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

The Federal Reserve has announced that they will finish bond purchases in June.  The $600 billion of bond buying activity by the Fed was intended to spur the economy and was scheduled to end in June.  Also, a Federal Open Market Committee statement indicated that the economic recovery is moderate and that inflation should be temporary. 

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-27/fed-says-pace-of-u-s-recovery-is-moderate-bond-buying-will-end-in-june.html

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Treasury, Federal Reserve, Regulatory, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

22. April 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Dodd-Frank financial regulations impact many areas of finance including credit ratings.  Implications of the Dodd-Frank regulations and proposals by the SEC are discussed in a recent article by Reuters.

To read the Reuters article, please click here:

http://www.reuters.com/finance/deals/regulatory

James Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Dodd-Frank, Treasury, Trade, Regulatory, Business, General, Administrative | No Comments »

16. April 2011 by Jim Sutliff.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner addressed the need for major currency floatation.  In a statement to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) steering committee, Geithner stated the need for major economies to allow their currencies to adjust to market conditions.  The Chinese Yuan is one of the major currencies that need to become more market driven.

To read a related Bloomberg article, please click here:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-16/geithner-says-major-economies-should-let-currencies-adjust-1-.html

Jim Sutliff

Posted in Economy, Treasury, International, Trade, Republican, General, Regulatory, Business | No Comments »