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The Case for Gold is Looking Stronger March 27, 2023

By Austin Mann in Economy

The Federal Reserve’s balance sheet grew by $394B in the past two weeks. In the context of all G4 central banks, this move alone erases half of all quantitative tightening (QT) progress since the beginning of the year. A directional change like this could indicate…

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What are JGBs Trying to Tell Us? March 23, 2023

By Tom Nemechek in Economy, News

Yields on 10-Year Japanese Government Bonds have fallen by about a third over the past two weeks, as shown in the chart below. Given the tumult surrounding banks recently, and a series of relatively dismal economic data releases out of Japan, this isn’t exactly surprising….

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Fed’s Balance Sheet Balloons March 21, 2023

By Brian Clark in Economy

To shore up Silicon Valley Bank and the other failed banks, the Federal Reserve extended an open-ended line of credit via its Bank Term Funding Program (BTFP) and discount window borrowings. So far, this program has increased the Fed’s balance sheet equal to roughly half…

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Based in Yokohama, Japan, Lasertec makes advanced inspection tools for semiconductor manufacturing. Using optical technology, its systems find defects too tiny to be seen by the human eye. In the semiconductor manufacturing process, defects may appear first on the photomask layer of a chip. If…

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Credit Suisse’s Chickens Come Home to Roost March 15, 2023

By Austin Mann in Economy, News

The chart below demonstrates the multi-year decline in Credit Suisse’s business. Credit Suisse’s problems revealed today stem from issues the company discussed last June in a profit warning. Below is a chart of Credit Suisse’s assets under management discussed during that profit warning. According to…

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Developed Asia Responds to Bank Troubles March 15, 2023

By Tom Nemechek in Economy, Markets

The fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse and the continued troubles of other lenders has not been contained to the Western Hemisphere. Market implied policy rates for developed markets in Asia responded quickly and forcefully to fears of banking contagion from the US and…

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CPI Confirms Fed is Close to Stopping March 14, 2023

By Brian Clark in Economy

Headline CPI came in today as expected at 0.4%, however core inflation (ex food and energy) came in slightly higher at 0.5% versus the estimated 0.4% increase. Before the Silicon Valley Bank failure and currently ongoing banking rout unfolded last week, Jerome Powell said he…

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