Key News • China hiked rates by 27 basis points.• Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui will signal policy makers are in no hurry to raise interest rates. (Bloomberg)• Europe's economy is finally creating jobs, underpinning the region's recovery and...

Key News • The rapid unraveling of the subprime-mortgage industry is stirring new concerns about the already weak housing market. A report released yesterday by Credit Suisse analyst Ivy Zelman forecast that credit tightening for financially stretched borrowers will lead...

Price action in the currency markets after a key report is released can make things more confusing than normal. Today we get a peek at the U.S. non-farm payrolls—it’s a biggie in the world of economic reports because job strength...

Key News • Paulson Challenges China to Open Markets, Address Its `Unbalanced' Economy (Bloomberg)• “An open, competitive and liberalized financial market can effectively allocate scarcer resources in a manner that promotes stability and prosperity far better than government intervention,” Paulson...

Key News • Americans with some stock-market investments remains bullish. Among those who say they have at least $5,000 in the market, 46% expect the market to move higher over the next year, while just 16% expect the market to...

On Friday, I told you I didn’t thick the selling was finished. Betting on continued selling was a high probability bet. From an analyst’s perspective, here’s a list of what we knew or suspected: Financial disruptions, or serious market corrections,...

Key News • Japan's consumer prices were flat for the first time in eight months in January. (Reuters) Key Reports Due (WSJ):• 10:00am. End-Feb Reuters/U Of Mich Consumer Sentiment Index. Expected: 93.3. Previous: 93.3. Quotable “In physics you are playing...

Key News• Yen Falls a Second Day on Speculation Demand for Riskier Assets to Rise – Bloomberg• U.K. Pound Records Biggest Monthly Decline Versus Euro in Almost a Year -- Bloomberg Key Reports Due (WSJ): 8:30a.m. Feb Challenger Layoffs. Previous:...

A wild day indeed yesterday it was. We witnessed a sharp rally in the Japanese yen, suggesting we may be seeing some unwinding of the yen carry trade. And the culprit for the rally in yen, and oh yeah, the...