Business

Submitted by Mike Krieger of Libertyblitzkrieg

The ECB’s Monetary Policy Is Now Creating a Rush Into Derivatives

One of the most catastrophic things central banks have done in the post financial crisis period is destroy financial markets. Investors are no longer investors, they’re merely helpless rats running around the lunatic central planning maze desperately attempting to survive by front running the latest round of central bank purchases.

It appears that Ed Yardeni's market-driven global growth barometer is peddling more fiction about the so-called 'recovery'...

Can you see where perception diverged from reality? (and why...)

Source: Yardeni.com

Just remember, the market is NOT the economy (unless it is going up).

Submitted by Wolf Richter via WolfStreet.com,

“Negative interest expense” or some such absurdity yet to be coined.

“For now, the effect of negative interest rates is very strong, so we’d like to steadily proceed with this policy,” Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda told parliament today, to reassure the nervous politicians that the economy was on the right track under his fearless and wise leadership.

If you ever wondered what Jamie Dimon meant by “That’s why I’m richer than you”, this summary from the Financial Times explains.    

While the surge in Q1 market volatility has had a dramatic impact on asset prices, and led to some unprecedented central bank interventions to stabilize markets, one product that has seen a dramatic hit and has yet to rebound, is M&A.

According to BofA, North American M&A volumes declined again in March, falling to $107bn from $140bn in February, $157bn in January and the recent peak of $410bn in November of last year.