In yet another unprecedented attempt to keep the air in the financial bubbles, the Federal Reserve announced the establishment of an international repo facility.
The repo facility will allow foreign central banks and other international monetary authorities to enter into repurchase agreements with the Federal Reserve. According to the Fed announcement, FIMA account holders can temporarily exchange their US Treasury securities held with the Federal Reserve for dollars that can then be made available to institutions in their jurisdictions.
The sound of war drums dominated this week. After Iran launched missiles at US bases in Iraq in retaliation for an airstrike that killed an Iranian general, gold spiked to over $1,600 an ounce — an eight-year high. But tensions seem to have eased and the price of gold with it, as the war drums have quieted. So, what did we learn from this and what’s next for the gold market? Host Mike Maharrey talks about it in this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast.
Sometimes it’s a lot easier to sit down at the table than it is to fold your hand and leave.
Nearly four months after it started, the Federal Reserve continues to run overnight repo operations and it’s unclear when the central bank will actually end these “emergency” measures.
The Fed stepped into the repo markets last September to “unplug” the financial system’s “plumbing” with an injection of cash. It was the first such move since the financial crisis a decade ago. The move stabilized the markets, but months later, it doesn’t appear the Fed has a viable exit strategy.
We’ve talked a lot about government debt and consumer debt. In this episode of the SchiffGold Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey highlights the massive corporate debt bubble. As he explains, it’s eerily similar to the mortgage debt bubble the blew up in the years prior to the 2008 crash. It’s a little like deja vu all over again. He also covers another round of gloomy economic data that came out this week.
Gold and silver are down this week. There was some more hopeful trade war news and stronger than expected economic data that drove markets this week. In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap podcast, host Mike Maharrey covers it, plus some news that’s being mostly ignored. And he ponders a question: should we be looking at the economic glass as half-empty or half-full — and why?
The Federal Reserve upped the ante in its efforts to hold short-term interest rates down this week, injecting longer-term cash into the financial system.
It was Fed week. As widely expected, the central bank cut interest rates another 25 basis points on Wednesday. But the real Fed action happened on Tuesday morning and most people didn’t even notice.
In this episode of the Friday Gold Wrap, host Mike Maharrey talks about all of the Fed mechanizations – not just the rate cut – and what it all could mean.
In a move “Bond King” Jeffrey Gundlach said could be a prelude to the next round of quantitative easing, the New York Fed conducted a repurchase operation involving about $53 billion in debt instruments on Tuesday. The move to designed to unplug the financial system’s “plumbing” with an injection of cash was the first such move since the financial crisis a decade ago.
The purchases involved about $40.8 billion of Treasurys, $11.7 billion in mortgage-backed securities and $600 million in agency debt, according to a CNBC report. The move was prompted by the recent surge in interest rates that drove the overnight repo rate Monday to as high as 8.5%.
The New York Fed was expected to repeat the operation on Wednesday.
