Bank of Montreal 2Q Adjusted EPS C$1.44, Estimates C$1.35 Bond Markets Forcing Europe’s Austerity, Pimco’s Clarida Says By John Detrixhe and Betty Liu - 2012-05-22T14:30:57Z European leaders debating policies to increase economic growth are limited by bond markets that have shut out some borrowers, according Richard Clarida, global strategic adviser at Pacific Investment Management Co. “Growth is sort of like mom and apple pie,” Clarida, who served under President George W. Bush as assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop” with Betty Liu. “Who’s against a growth agenda? The challenge is turning that into an operative policy within the framework of Europe.” Greek bonds due in 10 years yield 28.3 percent, compared with 6.1 percent for ... Continue reading →

Enlarge image U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg Bond traders are cutting expectations for U.S. inflation by the most since December, providing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke the scope for additional stimulus as the central bank’s current effort winds down. With six weeks left before the end of the Fed’s $400 billion swap of short-term debt for longer-term securities in a program known as Operation Twist, everything from yields on securities that protect against rising consumer prices to a measure of the outlook for inflation in the forwards market show diminished concerns. Traders are pricing in a 55 percent chance that the central bank will begin ... Continue reading →

"It's going to seem like we're in the middle of nowhere," said Chris Martinez, founder of trail-running guide service 360 Moab Adventures.He met me on Main Street in Moab, Utah, a few miles east of where we would be running on the Amasa Back desert trail. He had two new water bottles strapped to his hands, a common sight among extreme runners."Once we get on the trail we're going to be isolated," said Martinez, who has black tribal plugs in his earlobes and Aztec tattoos on his legs. "It's amazing."During the drive to the trailhead, he pointed out Navajo sandstone cliffs named Wall Street that are sought out by rock climbers and others from which you can sometimes see base jumpers.Moab is a mecca for ... Continue reading →

Yields on debt of nations including the U.S. and U.K. are at almost the lowest ever because policy makers have been unable to boost economic growth, according to economist Paul Krugman. German bunds due in 10 years yielded 1.46 percent after falling to 1.43 percent yesterday, the lowest since at least 1989, as Greece failed to agree to a government, threatening to deepen Europe’s debt crisis. Treasuries of the same maturity yield 1.78 percent, compared with a record low 1.67 percent in September. Gilts touched 1.89 percent yesterday, also the lowest since at least 1989. “I don’t actually buy the flight-to-quality story, or at least it’s way overstated,” Krugman, a Nobel laureate economist and professor at Princeton University, said today in a radio interview on ... Continue reading →

JPMorgan Chase's London Whale took $2 billion in credit-derivative losses. Thing One: Fail Whale: Jamie Dimon, scourge of financial regulators, overnight become God's gift to financial regulators. The JPMorgan CEO has been the swaggering Alpha banker in the industry's fight against post-crisis regulatory efforts, complaining and vaguely threatening about the dire consequences of regulation on an almost daily basis. Last night? Not so much! Instead he was spending most of his breath explaining to investors and reporters how a supposedly benign trading desk in London, run by a man known to other traders as "the London Whale," had taken a $2 billion loss on credit derivates in six weeks. It's a hit to JPMorgan's reputation and profit. Funny thing: Some of the constraints of the ... Continue reading →

Greece Likely to Exit Euro This Year, FX Concept’s Taylor Says By John Detrixhe and Erik Schatzker - Tue May 08 13:02:02 GMT 2012 May 8 (Bloomberg) -- David Zervos, market strategist at Jefferies & Co., talks about the potential impact of last weekend’s elections in France and Greece on the euro zone and investors. Zervos speaks with Erik Schatzker, Stephanie Ruhle and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg Television's "InsideTrack." (Source: Bloomberg) Greece will probably leave the euro as soon as next month as the government runs out of cash and European institutions fail to lend more to the nation, according to John Taylor of hedge fund FX Concepts LLC. “This summer I think is very likely,” Taylor, founder and chief executive officer of FX Concepts ... Continue reading →

Pimco Housing Bear Kiesel Says It’s Time to Start Buying By John Gittelsohn - Fri May 04 18:33:03 GMT 2012 Enlarge image Pimco’s Housing Bear Kiesel Says Time Is Right to Start Buying Rising rents make housing an attractive purchase for investors compared with the low yields of such alternatives as U.S. Treasury bonds. Rising rents make housing an attractive purchase for investors compared with the low yields of such alternatives as U.S. Treasury bonds. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg Mark Kiesel, the Pacific Investment Management Co. managing director who sold his home in 2006 when he deemed the market a bubble, says it’s time to buy. “I was one of the most negative on housing,” Kiesel said in a telephone interview. “I finally came to the ... Continue reading →

EU Elections Spur Uncertainty, El-Erian Says: Tom Keene By John Detrixhe and Tom Keene - Thu May 03 15:07:01 GMT 2012 Enlarge image PIMCO's Mohamed El-Erian Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO). Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive officer and co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Company LLC (PIMCO). Photographer: Patrick Fallon/Bloomberg European elections are driving up market uncertainty as austerity measures have slowed economic growth while failing to resolve the region’s crisis, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Mohamed El-Erian. “There is much more awareness of what needs to be done,” El-Erian, the chief executive officer of the world’s largest manager of bond funds, said in an interview on Bloomberg Radio’s “Bloomberg Surveillance” with Tom ... Continue reading →

Retailers from Gap Inc. (GPS) (GPS) to Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) (URBN) are already struggling to persuade consumers to pay full-price for clothes. Now, it turns out, many of their younger customers prefer trading T-shirts, jeans and designer dresses among themselves than actually buying new gear. Clothing swaps are a hot ticket for Americans aged 18 to 34. Millennials attend swap house parties from New York to San Francisco. And they gather online, frequenting such sites as Swapstyle.com, which has swelled to more than 55,000 members since its 2002 founding. Frugality has become a way of life for a cohort weighed down by student-loan debt and high joblessness, according to WSL Strategic Retail. In a WSL survey, 80 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 ... Continue reading →