By Martin Hutchinson Director of Global Investing Research After weeks of water-cooler speculation, the U.S. central bank’s policymaking Federal Open Market Committee yesterday (Tuesday) slashed the benchmark Federal Funds rate by half a percentage point, to 4.75%. It was the first reduction in U.S. interest rates in four years. This strategy – of sharply cutting […]
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U.S. Economy
Campbells Potential Godiva Sale Joins Subsidiary-Selling Bandwagon
By Mike Caggeso Staff Writer Sources inside Campbell Soup Co. (CPB) say the company is seeking to sell its Godiva chocolate division for $1 billion to $1.5 billion, Bloomberg News reported Friday. On Aug. 9, the world's largest soup maker said it was contemplating the fate of Godiva, which makes up about 7% (or $7.3 […]
U.S. Fed Readies Itself For All the Right Moves
As we await the announced decision of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers today, there are some very important facts to keep in mind. First and foremost is this: The fears of a recession are highly exaggerated. The U.S. economy has good momentum, the American consumer is still spending, and we believe that central bank will reduce […]
'AirAmerica' Radio Broadcast Cites Money Morning Stories on $900 Million 'Mystery Trade'
From Staff Reports When 'Air America Radio's' Radio's popular new coast-to-coast program "Clout" was researching a story on the 'Mystery Trade' in Standard & Poor's 500 Index options S&P 500 Index options (SPY) yesterday (Thursday), the show's executive producer turned to Money Morning to get to the bottom of the story. Recognizing that we were […]
U.S., Overseas Stocks Rise, Gold Slips
From Staff Reports U.S. stocks soared yesterday (Thursday) on a better-than-expected unemployment report and a “super-sized” boost to McDonald Corp.’s (MCD) dividend payout. General Motors Corp. (GM) and Microsoft Inc. (MSFT). The Dow Jones Industrial Average rocketed 168.59 points, or 1.27%, to close at 13,460.24. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500 Index climbed 16.98 points, […]
Greenspan 'Didn't Really Get' Mortgage Boom
From Staff Reports Just a week after he said that market bubbles were human nature, former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan now says that he didn't really get" how the boom in subprime lending might hurt the economy, according to CBS Television and Bloomberg News. Greenspan also endorsed how his successor – current Fed […]
The $900 Million 'Mystery Trade'
By Keith Fitz-Gerald Contributing Editor I wrote to you recently about an unusual series of S&P 500 Index (SPY) options trades worth $900 million or more – give or take a few zeros. In fact, as it turned out, we were one of the first – if not the actual first – mainstream news organizations […]
U.S. Exports Grow at Fastest Pace in Three Years
Staff Reports July was a good month for U.S. exports. According to Tuesday’s report from the Commerce Department, the exportation of U.S. good and services increased 2.7% – the fastest seasonally adjusted growth in more than three years. And enough to put a small dent in the U.S. trade deficit, shrinking it by three-tenths of […]
Greenspan: Market Bubbles are Human Nature
From Staff Reports Commenting that “the human race has never found a way to confront bubbles,” former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the whipsawing financial markets are enduring today are in many ways "identical" to those he had to deal with in 1987 and 1998, while he was still head of the central bank. […]
What Nobody Will Say About The Subprime Mess
By Keith Fitz-Gerald Contributing Editor I've been waiting for a few weeks to see if anybody will say it – and, not surprisingly, nobody has. So I will. The truth about who caused the subprime mess. In my humble opinion, it was the Fed. Sure there were contributing parties, so I’m not pointing the […]