No mention of “dirty oil,” but an American questioned by CBC with reference to a proposed AB to TX pipeline expressed her preference for “domestic supply,” which was a bit unnerving. The amero gap blew out to -278 basis points by yesterday’s close. Doom will be keeping a close watch as it approaches the limits of its recent +/-300bp range. The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped a largish $9.269 billion while foreign central bank buying of US obligations were flat for a second straight week. This week’s Reuters report1 was, as usual, based on the weekly update from the…
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The Thirteenth District’s minumental Doctor ^NOT scandal is slouching towards its inevitable conclusion: Kabuki theatre pitting cunning rogue (Tim LaHaye / the old crabby Irving Kristol) against evil genuis (Isaiah Berlin / the young crazy Irving Kristol). Our creaky Freedom of Information process actually brought forth hard evidence of cover-up and forgery enabling secret political second guessing of opaque bureaucratic decisions. The opposition is trying to score political points, but doesn’t really want to get to the bottom of the case (by questioning relevant office staffers) because when it’s again their turn in power they intend to get back to…
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In a week when online security was demonstratively in a shambles just about everywhere the Thirteenth District doesn’t seem to have even mastered physical security for its own documents. (I should add by way of disclosure that I share the same circle of friends and same shrinking Presbyterian denomination as Rev. Ken Stright, and am thus part of that motley and increasingly irrelevant array of old fashioned establishment Christians4 whose ox is being gored in this farce.  I haven’t yet spoken with Ken on this issue, by the way.) I did get some harmless fun out of watching the minister…
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Yesterday the amero gap closed at -90 basis points. The Thirteenth District has been closely tracking the buck for some time now. The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were unchanged, while both components of foreign central bank holdings of US obligations again grew modestly. Since many of the big holders of this stuff are focused intensely on prices of basic commodities like rice, it seems funny we haven’t seen some cashing in of chips to help finance a few subsidies for their populations. This week’s Reuters report1 was, as usual, based on the weekly update from the NY Fed’s H.4.1…
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Yesterday the amero gap closed at -68 basis points, still well within the +/-300bp danger zone. Foreign central bank Treasury Debt holdings have been noticeably flat, sagging a mere half billion dollars over the last eleven weeks, so I thought it was high time to resurrect these guys from Richmond Hill, in the heart of the Fed’s 13th District. If you look closely you’ll see that lead (**ahem**) vocalist Cresswell’s black t-shirt bears a curiously appropriate legend: The Agency The Fed’s own holdings of MBS again fell significantly, this week by $15.080 billion, while both treasuries and agencies holdings of…
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Mr Bond, they have a saying in Chicago: “Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it’s enemy action.” (Viewers should note…this line is generally cut from British showings of Goldfinger on advice from British security services, as it is one of their own training maxims.) – Auric Goldfinger By yesterday noon the amero gap had collapsed all the way to -1 bp before relaxing a bit to close at -29 bp. ” ‘UK’ treasuries buyers” anyone? As luck would have it, I’ve just gotten to the point (387) in Frances Stonor Saunders’ “The Cultural Cold War” where Christopher…
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Last week the amero gap surged as high as -131 basis points before closing yesterday at -108 bp. Time to order up a few more dozen crippled CF-35s This week the Fed’s own holdings of MBS were again unchanged and agencies were also flat. Treasuries, however, took a significant nose-dive reviving an all too familiar recent pattern. This week’s Reuters report1 was, 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. Foreign central banks’ holdings of Treasury Debt…
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Greetings again from the Thirteenth District. This Thursday the amero gap closed at -31 basis points ($1 == C$0.9969; a week before it was at exactly par). I’m guessing the Ottawa Fed wants to keep the gap within a +/-300bp range like they did in 10Q4 in case something happens — e.g. a foreign central bank selloff in the US obligations we’ve been following here — and it becomes imperative to rapidly implement a North American currency. I’ll start breathing easier when either growth in the agencies / treasuries numbers picks up again or the amero gap leaves that par…
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Flat. Sort of like Mark Squidly’s loonie which finished yesterday at an amero-friendly $1.0000, with the buck basically hovering between C$1.00 and C$1.03 for over three months now. Talk about bedroom eyes; but I digress … So the Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped once again by a material $16.259 billion that took the total figure south of $1 trillion for the first time since mid-February, while today’s modest moves brought the cenbanks’ treasuries number close to the figure from six weeks ago, the agencies one to that from eleven. Like at the end of ’09, somebody will have to…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS dropped once again, but this week by a mere $0.445 and foreign central banks holdings rose, especially the Treasury Debt number. This week’s Reuters report1 was, 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. The treasuries number had been pretty flat over the last month or so, but perked right up this week. The Treasury Debt number grew by a robust $13.083 billion At $4.174 billion agencies’ growth came within about…
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Just for fun let’s start with a bit of silly dialog from a two-decades old sci-fi novel … xxx… “And the government files that Demosthenes published–they were genuine.” xxx“Yes.” xxx“But Father–you joined many others in claiming that they were forgeries.” xxx“Just as the gods speak only to a chosen few, so the secrets of the rulers must be known only to those who will use the knowledge properly. Demosthenes was giving powerful secrets to people who were not fit to use them wisely, and so for the good of the people those secrets had to be withdrawn. The only way…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS were unchanged this week and foreign central banks holdings of both treasuries and agencies shrank modestly, continuing a trend of stagnation. This week’s Reuters report1 was, 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. The treasuries trend continues to sputter, much like it did around the end of last year. The Treasury Debt number turned around to a contraction of $2.872 billion. Agencies’ shrinkage nearly matched that of treasuries, reducing by…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS shrank once more, this week by a substantial $15.150 billion, and foreign central banks just reversed last week’s counter-trend selloff, offsetting that shrinkage with just $0.273 billion to spare. This week’s Reuters report1 was, 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 were up quite lustily this week, but that line has been sputtering a bit lately. This week’s rebound in treasuries was $8.691 billion. Agencies sagged just a bit,…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS shrank again, but by only $0.475 billion, while there were against-trend moves in both types of foreign central bank holdings of US obligations. Indeed the levels for both treasuries and agencies revisited values from between two and three weeks ago. At this point the trend only seems to be a blip / pause / breather. This week’s Reuters report1 was, 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 retreated a…
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The Fed’s own holdings of MBS shrank by $12.759 billion and cenbanks’ holdings of obligations (mostly treasuries) rose nicely, but didn’t quite offset the Fed’s own sale. This (well, last) week’s Reuters report1 was, 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 continued a merely robust upward trend. At $9.714 bilion the Treasury Debt holdings grew at roughtly 3/4th last week’s rate. Agencies rebounded after the previous week’s selloff, but to the tune of only $0.690…
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