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Succinctly summarizing the positive and negative news, data, and market events of the week... Positives Conference Board’s consumer confidence survey surges in May, 10yr spikes Case-Shiller home prices surge in March, ironically led by the same

Markets are in the green, as the economic data calendar begins to gather steam. 4 noteworthy pieces of economic data are coming out in the US today. Via Calculated Risk: • At 9:00 AM ET, S&P/Case-Shiller House Price Index for March. Although this is

Confidence among U.S. consumers climbed in May to the highest level in more than five years as views on the economy and labor market improved. The Conference Board’s index rose to 76.2, the strongest since February 2008 and exceeding the highest

U.S. prosecutors have indicted the operators of digital currency exchange Liberty Reserve, accusing the Costa Rica-based company of helping criminals around the world launder more than $6 billion in illicit funds linked to everything from child

German unemployment rose more than four times as much as economists estimated in May as the euro area’s sovereign debt crisis and a long winter took their toll on Europe’s largest economy. The number of people out of work climbed a seasonally

German companies are more bullish on the euro’s prospects over the next three months than at any time since February, showing confidence in the ability of the European Central Bank’s interest-rate cuts to spur the economy. A survey by Commerzbank AG

The European Central Bank should follow its recent interest rate cut with more radical action to tackle recession and record unemployment, the OECD said Wednesday as it slashed its forecast for the eurozone economy. The Organization for Economic

The Swiss government is allowing its nation's banks to reveal some customer information to U.S. authorities that they were previously prohibited from revealing, an important step in settling tax disputes between the nations. U.S. authorities have

The European Commission has said it will allow some EU member states to slow their pace of austerity cuts, amid concerns over growth. France, Spain, Poland, Portugal, the Netherlands and Slovenia are all being given more time to complete their

On Thursday, Japan crashed 7%. On Friday the market gained, but it was very strange. The index surged by 3% in early going. Then at one point it was down nearly 500 points on the day. Then in the end it scraped out a mediocre gain. This is going to

Orders for U.S. durable goods increased more than forecast in April, pointing to gains in business investment that will help manufacturing rebound in the second half of the year. Bookings for equipment meant to last at least three years increased 3.3

Morgan Stanley economist Takeshi Yamaguchi weighs on the question of what's likely to happen if the market keeps crashing, as happened on Thursday, when the Nikkei fell 7%. In case of prolonged corrections, additional policy ‘arrows’ would likely

What is going to happen when the greatest economic bubble in the history of the world pops? The mainstream media never talks about that. They are much too busy covering the latest dogfights in Washington and what Justin Bieber has been up to. And

Kudos to Kyle Bass at Hayman Advisers for warning that the Bank of Japan would lose control of its 70 trillion bond buying blitz. The spike in the 10-year yield to 1pc on Thursday was certainly shocking to behold. His point is that the BoJ faces a

It's the lure of easy money. It has a very strong appeal." -Glenn Frey, Smuggler's Blues Investors borrowed $384.4 billion in April, a 1.3% gain from the previous month and a 29% rise from the same month last year. This is an all-time record for

The city of Detroit may be facing a deepening financial crisis but that hasn't stopped four trustees of its public pension funds from spending $22,000 of retirement system funds to attend a conference in Hawaii this week. The trip 4,500 miles west to

Bill Black is a former bank regulator who played a central role in prosecuting the corruption responsible for the S&L crisis of the late 1980s. He is one of America's top experts on financial fraud. And he laments that the U.S. has descended into a

Before Dom Starsia talks about national titles, he unfolds a two-foot-wide spreadsheet that gives University of Virginia recruits a look at life after lacrosse. A big part of the coach’s sales pitch for a university founded by Thomas Jefferson in

The Mother Of All Painted-In Corners Alice laughed: "There's no use trying," she said; "one can't believe impossible things." "I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why

Have your summer vacation all booked? Hoping to ignore your phone for a while, feeling safe in your investments and secure in the knowledge that the world's financial authorities aren't planning any surprises just yet? Think again. U.S. Federal