Yesterday…
the ECB shook up Europe for a moment, with government debt yields falling to new lows under the soothing sound of disgruntled murmuring Germans. The ECB is ready for more [again], it says, but Germans on the policy committee are going to do everything to keep rates from tumbling. In ze mozerland, Economists are scared of a real estate bubble and argue that banks could use the freshly pressed money to bolster their equity capital, dragging the effect away from the real economy. read FT read Die Zeit
This morning…
The EU deficit report came out, showing that France, Spain and the Netherlands will breach deficit agreements, limiting countries to 3%. Italy got in just below at 2.9% (based on 2013 forecast). Because France and the Netherlands aren’t the real bad guys, and you can’t leave one standing alone in the rain (unless it’s Greece), all of them are expected to receive extensions for reaching their deficit goals. France got its waiver this morning. read FT read Reuters
Its jobs Friday in the US: nonfarm payrolls are seen up at 148,000 (almost double), with the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.6%. But stakes are high as the estimates vary within a range of 90,000 jobs added. March payrolls came in below estimates, for example, but jobless claims have been declining over the past weeks. After the jobs report, there will be April non-manufacturing PMI, which is expected to fall slightly to 54. Data releases begin at 8.30am EST. read WSJ
In the background, rumors of Twitter’s IPO are going wild after the company hired Morgan Stanley’s Cynthia Gaylor for corporate development, despite co-founder Jack Dorsey saying he was “not even thinking” about going public. read Bloomberg read Bloomberg (Dorsey)
On Monday, the UK will be out for the early May bank holiday.
Weekend reading…- IvyConnect: is a ‘fascinating individual’ necessarily a douchebag? read Bloomberg
- the real culprits behind the Libor scandal are London broker nights, read WSJ
- ze Germans are gestuck with the Euro, read Bloomberg
- stripped off the alter ego: ex-Barclays CEO Bob Diamond takes the subway now, read NYTimes
- terrorism, conspiracy and the media, read New York Magazine
Have a good one.
