● From Financial Crisis to Global Recovery
By Padma Desai
Summary via publisher, Columbia University Press
Using the same presentation and detail that has earned her such wide-ranging acclaim for her previous books, Padma Desai explains in a course-friendly way the complexities of economic policy and financial reform. She merges a compelling narrative with scholarly research to teach and to engage the reader. Paul Krugman described Desai’s 2003 volume, Financial Crisis, Contagion, and Containment: From Asia to Argentina
Author Archives: James Picerno
April Job Growth Improves As Jobless Rate Ticks Up
This morning’s update on nonfarm payrolls for April brings some good news. Job growth accelerated last month to a net rise of 268,000 (seasonally adjusted) vs. March’s 231,000 gain. In fact, April’s pop was the best monthly increase in payrolls since the recession ended.
What Are Commodity Prices Telling Us Now?
Yesterday’s selling wave that slashed commodities prices is a reminder that this is a volatile asset class and so its value is limited as an input for setting monetary policy. Once again, we have a real-world lesson in why central banks focus on core inflation, which strips out food and energy prices. It’s hardly reasonable to ignore commodities in monitoring future inflation expectations, but it’s easy to go overboard with reading too much into raw materials prices.
Initial Jobless Claims Surge To 8-Month High
The news in this morning’s update on new weekly jobless claims is bad. In fact, it’s the worst report for this series since the recession ended in mid-2009. The Labor Department argues, according to Bloomberg, that the unusually big jump in claims was due to “auto-plant shutdowns and other unusual events that seasonal variations failed to take into account.” In any case, new filings for unemployment benefits surged last week by a seasonally adjusted 43,000–the biggest weekly jump in more than two years. As a result, claims hit 474,000 for the week through April 30, the highest since last August.
ADP: April Private Payrolls Rise, But At Slowest Pace In Months
It’s still growing, but job creation slowed last month, according to today’s release of the ADP Employment Report. Nonfarm private jobs rose by 179,000 in April on a seasonally adjusted basis–down from March’s gain of 207,000. That’s strong enough to offer convincing evidence that the labor market is still expanding with enough forward momentum to keep the party going in the months ahead. But it’s also true that last month’s gain was the smallest since last November’s tepid 122,000 rise.
Talking About Monetary Policy & The Economy
I’ll be one of five panelists chatting up the outlook for the economy in tomorrow’s teleconference at noon eastern hosted by Focus. Here are the details on how to listen in…
The March Rebound
All the major economic reports for March are in and it’s clear that the setback in February was reversed, and then some.
The Bulls Of April
April was a foolproof month for investing. All the major asset classes posted handsome gains last month, leaving no room for excuses for active strategies that stumbled.
Book Bits For Saturday: 4.30.2011
● The Most Important Thing: Uncommon Sense for the Thoughtful Investor
By Howard Marks
Summary via publisher, Columbia University Press
Howard Marks, the chairman and cofounder of Oaktree Capital Management, is renowned for his insightful assessments of market opportunity and risk. After four decades spent ascending to the top of the investment management profession, he is today sought out by the world’s leading value investors, and his client memos brim with insightful commentary and a time-tested, fundamental philosophy. Now for the first time, all readers can benefit from Marks’s wisdom, concentrated into a single volume that speaks to both the amateur and seasoned investor. Informed by a lifetime of experience and study, The Most Important Thing explains the keys to successful investment and the pitfalls that can destroy capital or ruin a career. Utilizing passages from his memos to illustrate his ideas, Marks teaches by example, detailing the development of an investment philosophy that fully acknowledges the complexities of investing and the perils of the financial world. Brilliantly applying insight to today’s volatile markets, Marks offers a volume that is part memoir, part creed, with a number of broad takeaways.
Strategic Briefing | 4.29.2011 | US 2011:Q1 GDP
Economic growth slows sharply; new jobless claims rise
LA Times | Apr 29
Many analysts shrugged off the report that gross domestic product grew just 1.8% in the first part of the year — down from 3.1% in the fourth quarter last year. Economists said the slowdown was caused mostly by temporary factors such as the harsh winter weather and a surge in oil and food prices, which took a bite out of consumer spending and the nation’s trade. Officials at the Federal Reserve as well as many private forecasters expect GDP growth to bounce back to 3% or higher in the rest of the year. But that depends partly on an easing of global economic and political problems, particularly the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa that is behind the spike in petroleum prices.