03.21.13
Top Day Market News
Overnight, the Senate approves a resolution to keep the government open.
The Fed left rates unchanged but for the first time used language to reflect that they have reviewed the efficacy and efficiency of the asset purchase program. In other words, does it work and how much money does this actually cost. This suggested to some that the Fed is looking for an exit strategy. Others just thought it was a political genuflection. In fact, the Fed will not be a seller of the assets it has bought but will just let them roll off the balance sheet on maturity.
Overnight, a mixed bag with technical levels holding weekly unemployment claims come in 336K in initial claims, up 2K with a downward revision the previous week. Continuing claims as expected.
Then we get Philly Fed and LEI at 10. The ECB is actually flying in cash to Cypress to keep ATM machines stocked during the bank holiday. ECB wants a resolution to this crisis by Monday. The latest idea was to levy pension funds but this has been rejected as well. Some believe that all of this is a way for the ECB to confront Russia as Cypress is a Russian tax haven and the big money on deposit is from Russian oligarchs and of possible questionable origin.
