Top Interest Rate Headlines 1-3-2012: Fed to Publish Rate Forecasts

Fed to Publish Rate Forecasts
By LUCA DI LEO And JEFFREY SPARSHOTT, WSJ.com
Federal Reserve officials will begin to publish their forecasts for interest rates later this month, part of a communications revamp that could help bolster the fragile U.S. economic recovery. Fed officials will tell the public when they expect short-term interest rates to rise from near zero given their projections for economic growth, unemployment and inflation, minutes of the Fed's Dec. 13 policy meeting showed Tuesday. They will start to make the rate forecasts public after the next meeting of the Fed's decision-making body Jan. 24-25.
http://jlne.ws/A3gQlP

Stocks, U.S. Futures Gain as Manufacturing Expands; Dollar Drops
BusinessWeek
Stocks rose, driving the MSCI All- Country World Index to a four-week high, while U.S. futures and commodities climbed on signs of increased manufacturing output. The dollar weakened and U.S. Treasuries fell.
http://jlne.ws/A04FRE


Bovespa Futures Gain as Economists Cut Predictions for Brazilian Inflation
Bloomberg
Bovespa futures advanced, a sign the equity gauge may gain following its first annual loss since 2008, as economists cut their forecast for Brazil inflation for a fifth straight week.
http://jlne.ws/xvlqRy


India's Nifty Stock Futures Gain on Plan to Open Share-Market Investment
Bloomberg
India's stock-index futures gained, signaling an advance in benchmark indexes, after the government said it will allow overseas individual investors to directly buy local shares.
http://jlne.ws/xROjXL

Dollar Weakens on Signs of Manufacturing Growth; Aussie Advances
BusinessWeek
The dollar declined the most in two weeks against the euro as signs that manufacturing is expanding in the U.S. and China damped the appeal of safer assets.
http://jlne.ws/yUx2Mv

December ETF Roundup: Launches, Filings, and Closures
ETF Database via Yahoo! Finance
The coming of the new year hasn't slowed down the rapid pace of the ETF industry, with December showing high levels of activity on the product development front. December saw the debut of a number of first-to-market ...
http://jlne.ws/w61a6H

Gold Rises in Line with Euro Recovery
International Business Times
Gold rallied on Tuesday, boosted by a rise in the euro against the dollar after the price hit its lowest in nearly six months last week in a flurry of year-end speculative selling.
http://jlne.ws/y9iNIG

"Stagnation" a Threat to Gold's Bull Market as Indian Demand Falls 56%, Eurozone Bank Lending "Collapses"
GoldSeek.com
WHOLESALE MARK ET prices to buy gold rose Tuesday morning as dealers in London - heart of the world's professional bullion trade – returned from the New Year's holiday.
Biz Brain: why is the embattled Euro still strong against the U.S. dollar?
The Star-Ledger
There are several theories on what influences currency fluctuations, including central banks' setting of interest rates, government budget deficits and surpluses, balance of trade, inflation, economic indicators and growth measured by Growth Domestic Product.
http://jlne.ws/w1lVgW

EU Said to Prepare Draft Decision on NYSE-Deutsche Boerse Merger
BusinessWeek
European officials may distribute as soon as next week a recommendation on Deutsche Boerse AG's planned takeover of NYSE Euronext, people familiar with the discussions said.
http://jlne.ws/z1dAQo


World stocks waver on last trading day of 2011
Associated Press via Yahoo! News
Global stock markets were mixed Friday on 2011's last trading day and turned in heavy losses for the year after Europe's debt crisis and natural disasters battered a struggling global economy. Japan's benchmark hit its lowest close in 29 years.
http://jlne.ws/yaBW52

Stein Nominated to Federal Reserve Board of Governors
The Harvard Crimson
Economics Professor Jeremy C. Stein will be nominated to fill one of two vacant spots on the seven-member Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the White House announced on Tuesday.
http://jlne.ws/vNLWUg

Obama tabs 2 for federal reserve board
The Florida Times-Union
HONOLULU | A vacationing President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated a Harvard University professor and a former Treasury official under President George H.W. Bush - a Democrat and a Republican - to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.
http://jlne.ws/z8eWFw

Dollar Demise Exaggerated as 13% Gain Since '08 Proves Value
BusinessWeek
Moves by the Federal Reserve to flood the world with dollars are doing little to dent the currency's value, bolstering the appeal of U.S. assets at a time when the government needs the support of foreign investors the most.
http://jlne.ws/x1pq1P

Bernanke openness may include more briefings
Finance and Commerce
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke could double press briefings to improve understanding of policy changes that may include signaling interest rates will stay near zero longer, economists said.
http://jlne.ws/zBU8Yr


What to expect in business and financial news in 2012
Baltimore Sun
What the year is likely to bring: Further housing price declines, more federal budget fights, the departure of Baltimore's only Fortune 500 corporate headquarters and computerized electricity meters that many seem to fear will read their minds and give them cancer.
http://jlne.ws/w8QWAT

USD Struggles Ahead Of FOMC Minutes, Euro Weakness Ahead
Daily FX
The greenback weakened against all of its major counterparts on Tuesday, with the Dow Jones-FXCM U.S. Dollar Index (Ticker: USDOLLAR ) tumbling to a low of 9,871, but we may see the reserve currency recoup the losses during the overnight trade as the economic docket dampens the prospects for additional monetary support.
http://jlne.ws/zg97kb

Foreign Central Banks Cut Treasury Holdings by Record
CNBC
Holdings of U.S. Treasurys by foreign central banks has fallen by a record amount over the past four weeks according to the latest Federal Reserve data.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/45830739

U.S. Treasury ETF in Focus
TheStreet.com
The following commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet's guest contributor program, which is separate from the company's news coverage. By Scott Pluschau for ETF Digest NEW YORK (ETF Digest) -- The 7-10 year U.S. Treasury exchange-traded fund, IEF, is coming to a fork in the road. IEF is active and liquid since big money hedges and speculates in ...
http://jlne.ws/yhtlx4


El-Erian Says There's No Appetite to Raise Global Rates in 2012: Tom Keene
Bloomberg
Policy makers are unlikely to raise borrowing costs in 2012, with benchmark rates to stay at or close to zero in the U.S. and Europe, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Mohamed A. El-Erian.
http://jlne.ws/w8lb1g

Financial New Year's Resolutions: What Every Consumer Should Know About Credit Card Balance Transfers
PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance
LOS ANGELES , Jan. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- As we enter the new year, a top resolution for 2012 is to consolidate credit card debt. While there are many tactics to improve credit, balance transfers are ...
http://jlne.ws/x4K0Ws

Wall St set for higher open after China, German data
International Business Times
Wall Street stocks were set for a sharply higher open on Tuesday as upbeat Chinese and German data boosted optimism about the global economy after the S&P 500 index ended flat in 2011.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/275654/20120103/wall-st-set-for-higher-open-after-china-german-data.htm

WORLD FOREX: London Market Starts 2012 In An Upbeat Mood
Nasdaq
http://jlne.ws/AA9rhI

The Week Ahead on Wall Street: FOMC Minutes, BLS Unemployment, and Monsanto Earnings
Wall St. Cheat Sheet via Yahoo! Finance
The week ahead for the markets will include a number of economic data and earnings reports...
http://jlne.ws/An1Uka

Improving Data Boosts to Euro, Stocks
International Business Times
Improved economic data from China and Germany boosted the outlook for the global economy on Tuesday, sending U.S. stock futures and the euro higher, but rising tension in the Middle East Gulf pushed crude to around $110 a barrel.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/275708/20120103/improving-data-boosts-euro-stocks.htm

Decoding Ben Bernanke and the Fed: What is money, anyway?
GlobalPost
The answer is not as simple as you think. Thomas Mucha Hooray for Jon Hilsenrath, the Wall Street Journal's chief economics correspondent. Hilsenrath has done the world a favor by writing this must-read story  on the Journal's excellent Real Time Economics blog :Â "What is Money and How Do You Destroy It?" It's 2,129 smart, well-researched and deeply-reported words that anyone who's interested in ...
http://jlne.ws/ye6NnM



The Biggest And Baddest Bubble Ever
Forbes
The U.S. may be going broke, but perversely, people want dollars and U.S. Treasury debt. It's the only thing they can count on. If the feds ever run out, they know they can depend on Ben Bernanke and his central banker friends to give them more.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2011/12/30/the-biggest-and-baddest-bubble-ever/?feed=rss_home