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The European Central Bank is expected to keep its main interest rate at a record low 0.5 percent on Thursday but tweaks to its economic forecasts may give investors a steer on the future direction of policy. The euro zone's central bank cut its main

The European Central Bank kept its main interest rate on hold at a record low 0.5% today as it waits to see whether early signs of stabilisation in the euro zone will blossom into an economic recovery. Economic data improved in May and ECB President

The dollar slumped against the euro and yen and stocks fell on Thursday as investors turned defensive ahead of growing worry that Friday's U.S. jobs report will disappoint. Wall Street slipped, extending losses after a 1.9 percent drop in the

The U.S. Payroll to Population employment rate (P2P), as measured by Gallup, worsened in May, dropping to 43.9%, from 44.5% in April. P2P is also down from May 2012, when it was 44.4% Year-over-year comparisons are helpful in determining the degree

After falling to lows around noon, markets made a huge turnaround in anticipation of tomorrow's big jobs report. First the scoreboard: Dow: 15,040.39, +79.80 pts, +0.53% S&P 500: 1,622.46, +13.57 pts, +0.84% NASDAQ: 3,424.05, +22.58 pts, +0.66% And

In basically just over 2 weeks, Japan has gone from the hottest market in the world to a bear market. With today's early dive, the Nikkei is now 20% off its highs, which is the technical definition of a bear. read more

Employment increased more than forecast in May and the jobless rate climbed from a four-year low as more Americans entered the labor force, showing the world’s largest economy weathered the effects of higher taxes and federal budget cuts. Payrolls

On Monday we brought to you proof of a 15 millisecond frontrunning of the Mfg ISM number by what turned out to be HFT clients of Reuters which admitted subsequently it had "inadvertently" leaked the number to select clients. However, that was child's

Succinctly summarizing the positive and negative news, data, and market events of the week... Positives U.S. trade deficit comes in slightly better than expected, still hits $40.3bn May non-mfg ISM comes in at expectations (as orders slow and

If you hold precious metals in your portfolio, there is a good chance you fear hyperinflation and the crash of fiat currencies. You probably distrust governments in general and believe they are self-serving and have no interest in your economic

Chinese credit growth has outpaced GDP growth for some time. Some have argued that this is the main bear argument on China right now. Many are asking why this is the case? Where all the money's gone? And is China facing it's own Minsky moment — a

The last couple of weeks have been very interesting. Remember that, certain regional differences aside, Japan has, for the past two-plus decades, been the global trendsetter in terms of macroeconomic deterioration and monetary policy. It was the

Germany's central bank has cut its growth forecast for the country, but says the outlook for the economy has "become brighter". The Bundesbank expects the economy to grow by 0.3% this year, down from an earlier forecast of 0.4%. In 2014, it expects

As we noted just two weeks ago - before the hope-and-change-driven exuberance in Japanese equities came crashing down - "those who believe in Abenomics are suffering from amnesia," and Nomura's Richard Koo clarifies just who is responsible for the

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday the government would decide on tax cuts in autumn to encourage companies to boost capital expenditure as part of sweeping reforms to revive the economy from nearly two decades of stagnation. The

As kids, not knowing that we were being politically incorrect on so many levels, we would shout “Geronimo!” when we were playing war or getting ready to do something reckless. (For those not familiar, Geronimo was a rather fearsome Apache chief who

This is no time to be complacent. Massive economic problems are erupting all over the globe, but most people seem to believe that everything is going to be just fine. In fact, a whole bunch of recent polls and surveys show that the American people

The U.S. trade deficit likely widened slightly in April because of increased imports and scant growth in exports. The weakness in exports could hold back U.S. economic growth. Economists are forecasting that the deficit rose to $41 billion in April

Gold is down 1% to $1,397 an ounce. The sell-off is possibly being driven by news of the Reserve Bank of India's decision to curb gold imports by banks. Gold imports would be restricted to "the genuine needs of the exporters of gold jewelery." Gold

Moments ago, the Treasury inspector general for tax administration, the same source as the crushing report exposing the IRS persecution of conservative groups, released a report highlighting the spending and "questionable expensing" by IRS staff who