China Credit Crunch
June 19th, 2013
in econ_news, syndication
Econintersect: In China the interbank short-term interest rate jumped more than 200 basis points to a new record of 8% annual rate for loans of one month and less. The central bank (People's Bank of China - PBOC) has failed to follow through on a long-term policy of continuing to pump liquidity into the money market. This has surprised banks who have been operating on the assumption that their credit expansion would be backed by money supply growth. It is not yet clear if this is a short-term adjustment or a longer term effort by the central bank to move to a less accomodative stance.
Gallup: Confidence in Newspapers is 23%
June 19th, 2013
in econ_news, syndication
Econintersect: Over the last 33 years Americans' confidence in Newspapers has fallen from a high point above 50% in 1979 to as low as 22% in 2007 and 23% in the latest poll. Television news fared no better with the confidence of only 23% as well. Liberals had twice the confidence in newspapers (31%) compared to conservatives (15%). The poll was taken the first four days in June.
Click on graph for larger image.
iPad Remains the Number 1 Tablet in the U.S.
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
According to a May 2013 survey by Frank N. Magid Associates, 44 percent of the U.S. online population owns a tablet.
Despite growing competition from Android tablets and from its smaller brother, the full-sized iPad remains the most popular tablet in American households. 53 percent of American tablet owners own Apple’s flagship tablet.
The second most popular tablet in the U.S. is Amazon's Kindle Fire, which is used by 31 percent of the 1,068 tablet owners in the survey. Apple's iPad mini ranked fourth behind Samsung's Galaxy tablets but in front of Google’s highly acclaimed line of affordable Nexus tablets. Microsoft's Surface tablets have yet to make an impression on U.S. consumers, as only 5 percent of tablet owners call one of Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets their own.
What We Read Today 19 June 2013
June 19th, 2013
in econ_news, syndication
Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today's list.
The top of today's reading list asks what has Edward Snowden revealed that was not already known ........ and the last article is about the record number of second quarter profit warnings from Wall Street.
19 June 2013 FOMC Meeting Statement: Again Has Little Change in Substance
June 19th, 2013
in econ_news, syndication
Econintersect: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) - the board of directors of the Federal Reserve - meeting concluded today and issued their meeting statement and subsequent Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke's press conference was little changed from the previous except for lowering the growth forecast for 2013 marginally, lowering its inflation outlook, and acknowledging reduced economic risk:
The Committee sees the downside risks to the outlook for the economy and the labor market as having diminished since the fall.
