News reader Peter Armstrong’s efforts this morning on CBC Radio 1 were most instructive. Someone important needs the GOP nomination process to come to a conclusion. Now. Well, the Fed’s own MBS holdings swung to a strong $11.810 billion reduction, but that might have simply been a few re-po’d chickens going back to roost at some banks that didn’t want to admit to owning the stuff during year-end reporting season Except for that it was a pretty dull week, with small increases all around in foreign cenbank holdings of risk-free paper. December 29th Reuters report1 was, as usual, based on…
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Following up on yesterday’s episode of the new reality TV show “Who Wants To Lead The World Through Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 Of The Present Long Depression” here is tomorrow’s skill testing question … Please Choose The Best Candidate: A) Pompous B) Wooden C) Fluffy D) Gone Igor thinks there’s a good chance “D” finishes better than fifth (sic), at least that’s how he’s voting At “the Fred”, America’s most solvent housing GSE, holdings of MBS surged up $7.160 billion. Meanwhile foreign cenbanks’ holdings of agencies were flat, but they bought enough treasuries to reverse most of the…
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So Thursday the radio is carrying a promo for the new David Cronenberg film and today the library’s e-mail notification comes for Timothy Findey’s Pilgrim and I spend the afternoon reading the first few chapters. Oops! Just reviewed the comments under twist’s old post “Pheonix Realtors: Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Weird, especially considering the date. I’ve learned to appreciate that these co-incidence clusters (aka synchronicity, which given the context is likely the preferred term) often come just before interesting events. Time will tell … The Fed’s own holdings of MBS eased back $2.535 billion and the foreign cenbanks’ holdings of…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were flat, rebounding up a small $0.444 billion while foreign central banks’ holdings of agencies fell by a similar amount. However the bleeding continued (at a reduced rate) with the treasuries number dropping at a more-than-$billion-a-day rate once again. Last week’s Reuters report1 was, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site,2 but they seem to be among the missing again this week. Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set. Treasuries slumped $8.560 billion, and while that’s barely…
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…gears, and just for fun consider this recent huff from the land of Cockney rhyming slang: Economist (12/28 ’11): Lexington — “Ron Paul’s big moment” … Even if he wins in quirky Iowa, Ron Paul will never be America’s president. But his coming this far tells you something about the mood of Republican voters. A substantial number like a man who wants to abolish the Federal Reserve, introduce a new currency to compete with the dollar, eliminate five departments of the federal government within a year, pull out of the United Nations and close all America’s foreign bases, which he…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were unchanged with the foreign central banks continuing their mild selling trend of agencies, but they lurched from a huge buy to a significant sell-off in Treasury Debt. For all the wild fluctuations, the foreign central bank holdings of treasuries now stand at just about where they were in early August. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set. Treasuries from Sep ’08 chart Treasures from…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS plunged $14.548 billion with the foreign central banks subtracting about 1/10th that much, while the cenbanks gyrated back into a huge buy of treasuries, erasing the bulk of last week’s dump, the third largest ever. Trend? Has anyone got a trend? Last week’s Reuters report1 was (this week’s will be placed there when available), as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set. Treasury Debt sailed up $18.135 billion, reversing about 85…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped a mild $0.383 billion with the foreign central banks adding almost a billion to their holdings, but after a huge buying splurge in US Treasury Debt in the previous week the cenbanks swung to one of the biggest dumps of the stuff ever. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set.   Treasury Debt spun down $20.446 billion (Reuters’ anonymous reporter allowed that it “tumbled”…
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And yes, I have seen the fnords, but you’d think that they would at least have the decency to let Natalie Wood rest in peace  The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped a thudding $7.278 billion with the foreign central banks divesting themselves of a bit more than half that amount, but after a slight easing of their treasuries holdings in the previous week, this week sees another monumental surge in cenbankers’ appetite for US gilts, one of the biggest ever. While the cenbankers work in almost complete secrecy, the sloshing in the trim tanks has lately become all too…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS rose $34 million, exactly the trivial amount they fell in the previous week. Too bad there’s no real auditing of the Fed or we could make fun of the mailroom clerk who put insufficient postage on the paperwork last month After shocking treasuries changes the last few weeks all the numbers in the series have suddenly become completely flat. The MSM usually terms such a juddering halt “a return to calm,” but we’ll have to see in coming weeks. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were almost unchanged, dropping a measily $34 million, while the foreign cenbank holdings of agencies were pretty flat. On the other hand, the treasuries number went completely bonkers. Now the pay-walled financial media are becoming nearly as secretive as the cenbanks, but there seems to be a consensus that a BoJ desperate to control the upward spiral of the yen bought about $100B of Treasury Debt on Halloween, which would seem to imply that while in the aggregate we’re looking at a record weekly buy of treasuries, if you take away Japan there was…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped an accelerating $12.814 billion and foreign central banks resumed their headlong rush to the exits, bringing their hoard of US Treasury Debt held in trust at the NY Fed to levels last seen six months ago in late May. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set.   After last week’s respite treasuries got crushed again, plunging $19.132 billion in the third largest Treasury Debt…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped $8.808 billion and foreign central banks increased their treasuries holdings by over $10B, but it will take more than one week to stop the selling trend. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings data set. Treasuries swung to a $10.079 billion gain, but that didn’t represent much more than half of just last week’s selloff. Agencies slipped $0.723 billion, killing about half of last week’s modest…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were again unchanged and foreign central banks’ holdings of agencies rebounded into mild positive territory, but the treasuries number again blasted down, this time by the fifth largest amount in the data set after the record dump two weeks ago. This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s updated CSV version3 of the agencies and treasuries foreign central bank holdings Treasuries again plunged, this time by $17.747 billion. Clearly the yellow line has established a top. Agencies rose by $1.357…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were unchanged and foreign central banks’ holdings of agencies suffered a moderate sell-off. But after the largest weekly dump of Treasury Debt ever treasuries selling came to a sudden and (almost) complete halt. Have we just experienced the start of the T-bill version of the anomaly in agencies that started in January of ’09? Tune in over the next few weeks as we speculate over PR’s appetite for the world’s safest investment This week’s Reuters report1 is, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1 table site.2 Here is Doom’s…
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