Top Interest Rate Headlines 05-31-11: No Love Lost for U.S. Debt as Bond Dealers Share Fewer Treasuries With Fed

No Love Lost for U.S. Debt as Bond Dealers Share Fewer Treasuries With Fed
By Cordell Eddings and Liz Capo McCormick, Bloomberg
The world’s biggest bond dealers are finding fewer Treasuries to sell to the Federal Reserve as its $600 billion purchase program nears an end, a signal of rising demand even as the largest buyer steps away.
http://jlne.ws/iPdgfr
UK consumer recovery set to be slowest in 180 years
By Daniel Pimlott, FT.com
The UK economy is set to experience the slowest pick-up in consumer spending of any post-recession period since 1830, according to a Financial Times analysis of official forecasts. Families are expected to spend just slightly more by 2015 than they were before the financial crisis hit in 2008, as high inflation, tax rises and slow wage growth eat into disposable incomes.
http://jlne.ws/jQkRa4

President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Bryson as U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary
Today, President Obama will announce his intent to nominate John Bryson as the Secretary of U.S. Department of Commerce.  Mr. Bryson will play a key role as a member of the President’s economic team, bringing decades of knowledge and experience in the public and private sectors, and will provide valuable ideas and initiatives to strengthen America’s competiveness around the world.
http://jlne.ws/kotf5G

Is bond trading dying?
Reuters
Fixed income trading revenue is falling, and some of the best minds on Wall Street disagree on whether this is temporary weakness or slow death.
http://jlne.ws/jZ1omL

BlackRock’s Fink Says Europe’s Financial Problems Go ‘Way Beyond’ Greece
By Rishaad Salamat and Bei Hu, Bloomberg
Europe’s financial problems aren’t confined to Greece and a reorganization of the continent’s banking system is necessary, Laurence D. Fink, chief executive officer of BlackRock Inc. (BLK), said in a Bloomberg television interview today.
http://jlne.ws/m3YQU2

Trichet to Leave a Difficult Legacy at ECB
By JACK EWING, The New York Times
Since Europe’s debt crisis became acute last year, the European Central Bank has gone beyond its role as arbiter of monetary policy to become in effect the adult supervision for quarreling heads of government.
http://jlne.ws/mGzMSa

Chicago Business Barometer dropped to 56.6 from 67.6 in April. This was below consensus expectations of 62.3
The Chicago Purchasing Managers reported the CHICAGO BUSINESS BAROMETER dropped toward neutral, indicating decelerating expanding economic activity, but posted a twentieth month of growth.
http://jlne.ws/kQQNiK

John Bryson to Be Named Obama Commerce Secretary
By JACKIE CALMES, The New York Times
President Obama named a California utility and energy executive, John E. Bryson, as his second secretary of commerce at the White House on Tuesday afternoon, ending a search for an executive to add a business outlook to his economic team.
http://jlne.ws/mGe0Rw

US house prices below 2009 low, Case-Shiller indicates
US house prices fell in March, dipping below their 2009 low, as the housing market continued to be affected by weak demand, an index has shown.
http://jlne.ws/lcYKK8

Consumer confidence drops in May: Conference Board
Reuters
Consumer confidence slid in May as consumers turned more pessimistic on the outlook for the labor market and inflation worries rose, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/l7Ya84
Dodd-Frank act drives tie-ups and innovation 
By Telis Demo, FT.com
The world’s exchanges must be exhausted. It was scarcely a decade ago that many of the largest groups – including the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange – became public companies.http://jlne.ws/mdKLWL