Money & Markets – Week of 12.29.13

Debenhams Boss Say High Street Was ‘Sea of Red’ in Run-up to Christmas
The Telegraph | 31 December 2013
Debenhams issues major profits warning as difficult Christmas for the high street is confirmed…

2013 Market Movers: The Biggest Winners and Losers
Yahoo! Finance | 30 December 2013
Less than three months shy of the bull market’s fifth birthday and the S&P 500 is enroute to its best year since 1997 and, save a New Year’s Eve catasrophe…

Treasuries Rise as 10-Year Note Yields at Almost 3% Draw Buyers
Bloomberg | 30 December 2013
Treasury 10-year notes gained for the first time in five days…

Americans on Wrong Side of Pay Gap Run Out of Means to Cope
Bloomberg | 30 December 2013
Rising income inequality is starting to hit home for many American households as they run short of places to reach for a few extra bucks…

Italy Presses Monte Paschi to Complete $4 Billion Cash Call
Reuters | 30 December 2013
The Italian government has urged Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena…

Mile Wide, Inch Deep
MarketWatch
Bond market liquidity dries up…

India Gold Tax Hits Bridal Budgets; Smuggling Up
The Seattle Times | 27 December 2013
Thanks to hikes in import duties on gold, brides in India are paying a 20 percent premium for their wedding finery this season…

France’s ‘Culture Tax’ Could Hit YouTube and Facebook
Bloomberg Businessweek | 26 December 2013
Should YouTube subsidize le cinéma français? France’s audiovisual regulator thinks so…

Colossal Fraud-There are No Free Markets-Rob Kirby
USA Watchdog | 24 December 2013
Financial analyst Rob Kirby says, “There is colossal fraud and price control going on. There are no free markets.”…

Map of Risk
Bloomberg Businessweek | 14 November 2013
The best investments provide high returns with low risk…

US Credit Risk Appetite Hits “Euphoria” Levels
Financial Sense | 26 December 2013
Per earlier post (see discussion and chart), corporate spreads in the US are grinding lower…

Chinese Students Major in Luxury Cars
Businessweek | 19 December 2013
Chinese students at the University of Iowa began coming into Carousel Motors in Iowa City about three years ago…

Big Tech IPOs For 2014
Forbes | 23 December 2013
2013 saw the most U.S. IPOs since 2000, according to Renaissance Capital data…

The Economist Explains: How Does Bitcoin Work?
The Economist | 11 April 2013
Bitcoin, the world’s “first decentralised digital currency”…

Top India Bitcoin Operator Halts Trade After Bank Warning
Phys.org | 27 December 2013
India’s biggest Bitcoin trading platform said on its website Friday it had suspended operations after the central bank warned against the risks of using virtual money…

Buttonwood: The Bond Bears
The Economist | 18 December 2013
Inflation is falling but bonds are unloved…

Editorial: Target Theft Proves Need for Chip Cards
The Sacramento Bee | 24 December 2013
’Tis the season of good will toward all, family meals and traditions, and shopping…

Rob Kirby-When China Doesn’t Get Their Gold-That’s When This Ends
YouTube | 24 December 2013
Rob Kirby of KirbyAnalytics.com claims the U.S. “arbitrarily set the price of all strategic goods in the market.”

Directed History of the Swiss Tax Settlement
The Daily Bell | 24 December 2013
Swiss Banks Employ Army of Advisers for U.S. Amnesty Plan … Switzerland’s 300 banks have enlisted an army of auditors, lawyers and in-house workers…

Exclusive: China Commits $6.5 Billion for Pakistani Nuclear Project
Reuters | 24 December 2013
China has committed $6.5 billion to finance the construction of a major nuclear power project in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi…