Tag Archives: quantitative easing

Will The Fed or Won’t The Fed? Five Reasons It Likely Won’t!

Come the December Fed meeting and after the strong jobs report that was recently released, does the Fed have any choice but to raise rates? The betting in the futures market leans to the side of a Fed tightening, or raising, of rates. But some of the actual economic evidence may seem to indicate that […]

U.S. Business In The Hands Of Federal Reserve Academicians!

What is it that can and often will separate successful businessmen and investors from those who may not be? Often it’s the ability to ‘pull the trigger’ on decisions that may not be that easy to make. In the stock market the best time to buy is often the very time that everyone else is […]

Question: Can ZIRP + Recession = Economic Death Spiral?

This is a question worth pondering particularly with the rampant speculation over what the Fed will do with interest rates this month! First the obvious thought, what is ZIRP? In a nutshell…’Zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP) is a macroeconomic concept describing conditions with a very low nominal interest rate, such as those in contemporary Japan and, […]

Financial Troika: Greece, China And Puerto Rico!

Do Americans, waking-up to the fact that Greece has voted NO to its creditors demands, also understand the risks posed by China and Puerto Rico? Not to mention the potential for serious financial angst in other U.S. cities and countries around the world such as Italy and Spain when they see how Greece makes out. The […]

What are the implications of spiking global interest rates?

sovereign debt,interest rates,real estate

(Note: This article was also Featured at LinkedIn’s Pulse: Money and Banking) For many an article about central banks, bond yields and sovereign debt is merely an opportunity for the eyes to glaze over and a sound sleep to ensue! But consider, ‘…the yield on the benchmark 10-year German bund: it soared to as high as 0.95 […]

Fewer Than 50% Of Parents Are Saving For College!

A survey conducted by Sallie Mae found that less than half (48%) of parents with one or more child under 18 are saving for college! This compares to 62% of parents who were saving in 2009 and 51% as recently as last year and, is the first time a reading below 50% has been recorded (survey […]

Is the Fed behind the proverbial interest rate eight ball?

Whatever industry you happen to be working in, a healthy and consistently growing US economy will likely be one of your most important keys to success! Certainly my business of providing the title insurance for buyers and refinancers of real estate depends heavily on a growing economy, consumer confidence, a vibrant transactional marketplace and available financing […]

Impact Of Surprise Pulling Of Swiss Franc Euro Peg

(Article also appears at Global Economic Intersection here) While not a currency expert, there is little doubt that the Swiss National Bank surprise decision to abandon the 1.20 Swiss franc peg to the Euro will have significant market and economic implications! And in addition to the currency move, at the same time the Swiss Central Bank […]

US Economic Calendar: Week of April 21, 2014

title insurance, New York,New York City,Long Island,Michael Haltman

Follow @Hallmark Abstract Service US Economic Calendar for the Week of April 21, 2014 For residential and commercial real estate buyers worried about mortgage rates or for current property owners looking to either refinance their mortgage or sell their property, the economic data to be released in the upcoming week will most certainly have some degree […]

Housing affordability: 1 in 3 aren’t! (Chart)

Follow @Hallmark Abstract Service As housing continues to heal from the financial crisis that had devastated real estate markets around the country, the question then becomes whether at some time we reach a point where affordability becomes an issue! We recently wrote an article here that had provided an interactive chart of the stability of […]