Top Interest Rate Headlines 11-08-2011: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: The Financial Crisis And Recovery: Why So Slow?

Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta: The Financial Crisis And Recovery: Why So Slow?
Gerald P. Dwyer and James R. Lothian
The extremely slow pace of the recovery in the U.S. economy since the financial crisis of 2007–2008 is evident in many measures of economic activity. According to some observers, such weakness is to be expected. It is, they argue, a typical aftereffect of a financial crisis, a conclusion based on evidence derived from a quite varied group of countries (Reinhart and Rogoff 2011). Do U.S. data support this conjecture? That is the question we consider here.
http://jlne.ws/tHH5lo

Credit Suisse Told to Disclose Some U.S. Client Data
Bloomberg
Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN), Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, told U.S. clients it is giving confidential client account data to the Swiss tax authorities, who will decide whether to disclose it to the Internal Revenue Service.
http://jlne.ws/vRiTG4

Phoenix Partners Group Surpasses $2 Trillion in Brokered North American CDS Indices
Press Release
Phoenix Partners Group, a leading interdealer broker with offices in New York, London, Switzerland and Paris, announced today that last week it surpassed $2 trillion in North American credit derivative index swaps the firm has brokered since it was founded six years ago.
http://jlne.ws/v08Mcg

Plosser Says Fed Should Adopt 2% as Inflation Objective
By Caroline Salas Gage, Bloomberg BusinessWeek
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia President Charles Plosser said the central bank should adopt a 2 percent long-term inflation target to increase policy makers’ accountability and improve economic stability.
http://jlne.ws/vAJGjH

Bank of China Int'l Eyes MF Global Assets
By Yang Xi, China.org.cn
BOC International (China) Ltd. (BOCI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bank of China Ltd., is in talks to buy assets from the bankrupt MF Global Holdings Ltd., China's Securities Times reported, citing an insider. BOCI's spokesman has denied the buyout.
http://jlne.ws/vI4eeb

Italy's Berlusconi Agrees To Resign After Passing Austerity Bill
Forbes
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the seemingly untouchable media magnate who has brushed off countless scandals and challenges to his rule, said he would resign Tuesday after losing a governing majority in Parliament.  Earlier Tuesday he passed a crucial budget vote, but failed to muster a majority on the measure.  Meanwhile the $2.6 trillion Italian bond market moved toward unsustainable levels, with yields on benchmark 10-years surging past 6.7%.
http://jlne.ws/tJkxy1

Fed’s Kocherlakota: FOMC Should Provide Policy ‘Contingency Plan’
By Cynthia Lin, WSJ.com
U.S. monetary authorities still have tools they can choose from to help the economy, but more importantly, the central bank should provide greater clarity about future policy under different economic scenarios, a key Federal Reserve official said Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/tUo7tI

U.S. Job Openings Grow
By Josh Mitchell, WSJ.com
U.S. employers say they are looking to fill a growing number of openings as the economic recovery slowly regains traction, the latest sign of improvement in the still-weak labor market.
http://jlne.ws/tRmd9S

Debt crisis keeps France waiting for Chinese pandas
Jessica Phelan, Global Post
Among the less predictable effects of the European debt crisis was the delay of a crucial Chinese loan to France.
http://jlne.ws/sShNxp

Losing credibility, EU seeks IMF's embrace
Reuters
Trust in the European Union's ability to tackle the debt crisis is so low that its leaders are now relying on the IMF and European Central Bank to convince financial markets the rapidly deteriorating problems can be fixed.
http://jlne.ws/t2Blmf

The Italian budget vote was 308 votes in favor and one abstention meaning Berlusconi has lost his majority
BBC
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has confirmed he intends to resign after austerity measures are passed to bolster Italy's economy
http://jlne.ws/uvSDiA

Key Berlusconi Ally Urges Italian Premier To 'Step Aside'
Associated Press
Premier Silvio Berlusconi promised Tuesday to resign after parliament passes economic reforms demanded by the European Union, capping a two-decade political career that has ended with Italy on the brink of being swept into Europe's debt crisis.
http://jlne.ws/vRkflv

Global Liquidity 'on the Cusp' of Drying Up
By NIRMALA MENON And TOM FAIRLESS, WSJ.com
Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney said Tuesday that global liquidity is about to dry up again as the European banking system deleverages, and warned that the real economy will soon feel the impact.
http://jlne.ws/sPrcsB

EU Finance Ministers Clash Over Transaction Tax
By ALESSANDRO TORELLO And WILLIAM HOROBIN, WSJ.com
European Union finance ministers clashed Tuesday over a proposal to implement a financial transaction tax only days after the U.S. declined to give such a levy firm backing at a summit of the world's 20 leading and developing economies.
http://jlne.ws/sDzdyT

Berlusconi to Resign After New Budget Is Approved
WSj.com
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has reached an agreement with President Giorgio Napolitano to resign after Parliament approves the government's 2012 budget, the president's office said on Tuesday, clearing the way for Italy's head of state to form a national unity government or call elections
http://jlne.ws/sLCP3K

EFSF – Transaction Highlights
Neil Hume, Financial Times
We already know something about the buyers of Monday’s difficult-to-get-away €3bn 10-year EFSF bond issue. And here, via JPMorgan, is a little more detail.
http://ow.ly/7mzLh

In the Markets: Krawcheck unloads on Wall Street
Crain's New York Business
Aaron Elstein - Sallie Krawcheck, one of Wall Street's highest profile execs, took her colleagues to task Monday for turning the markets into a "betting mechanism" and urged them to accept the looming blitz of financial regulation that bankers fear will constrain profits-and pay-for years to come.
http://jlne.ws/ufmfHA

IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde Urges Russia, Emerging Europe To Guard Against Global Economy Risks
Press Release
http://jlne.ws/tComPx

SEC Said to Review Possible Inside Trades in MF Global Bonds
BusinessWeek
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is reviewing trades in MF Global Holdings Ltd. convertible bonds to determine whether some investors sold the debt based on confidential information before the firm's demise, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
http://jlne.ws/rL7V9s

Jefferies Halves European Debt Exposure To Prove Liquidity
Forbes
With turmoil shifting to Italy, brokerage firm stresses liquidity of holdings.
http://jlne.ws/rFUZcF