Market Overview

Last week was an interesting week. Considerable volatility in the foreign exchange markets (the dollar fell 5.5 handles from 105.50 yen to 95 yen before bouncing to 97.5 yen at week’s end) and a...

One in four people in Japan will be older than 65 in 2014, compared with 9.6 percent in China and 14.2 percent in the U.S., according to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. Now, because they have...

Markets had a rollercoaster ride last week, as expectations on the timing of Fed's tapering of the asset purchase program flip-flopped on mixed U.S. economic data. The DOW dived as low as 14844 on...

Employment increased more than forecast in May and the jobless rate climbed from a four-year low as more Americans entered the labor force, showing the world’s largest economy weathered the...

The US labor market continued its gradual improvement in May. The economy added 175,000 new payroll jobs, somewhat more than in March and April, as shown in the following chart. Payroll job growth was...

(from my colleagues Dr. Win Thin and Ilan Solot) This is what has changed in the EM space in, our view. 1) Brazil is stepping up its defences against market volatility. 2) Signs that China is looking...

Goldilocks is back in the house – or so the markets thought on Friday, when another mild beat (10,000) of the consensus set traders off on another delirious rise that included a little...

Note from dshort: I've updated the quiz based on yesterday's Q4 Flow of Funds release. Hint: The correct answer is the same as it was for the last quiz, just more incredible.Pop Quiz! Without recourse...

Anyone looking for clues as to what’s coming our way in the markets need only look to Japan where the QE-forever policy has finally hit the wall.QE And GDPPrior to the Prime Minister elections...

If May is a tipping point that leads to nasty things for the business cycle, it’s not obvious in today’s payrolls report from the Labor Department. Although quite a lot of ink has been...

Note from dshort: I've updated this commentary to include the latest labor force data in Friday's release of the May employment reportEvery Thursday I post an update on weekly unemployment claims...

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 175 thousand in May, and the unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.6 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Employment...

This jobs report clarified nothing-everything-added confusion to the debate. You may pick your preferred poison. There is a little more suggested weakening in manufacturing and some negative tone in...