In this Week’s Issue: July 22, 2011
• The U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is open for business (AP)
• Dodd-Frank regulatory reform bill has its first anniversary (FT)
• Industrial new orders in May 2011 were up by 3.6% in Euro area (Eurostat)
• European leaders have agreed a new €109bn bail-out of Greece (FT)
• U.S. leading economic index increased 0.3% in June to 115.3 (Conference Board)
• The Fed and the U.S. Treasury have been preparing for a possible default (Reuters)
• The Swiss franc reached an all-time high of 1.1360 against the Euro (Reuters)
• Yields on 10-year German Bunds dropped to an eight-month low of 2.6% (Economist)
• U.S. existing-home sales declined 0.8% in June – seasonally adjusted (Realtor.org)
• Housing starts were up 14.6% from the prior month, and up 16.7% from the prior year (ESA)
• Former Ohio AG Richard Cordray to head the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (AP)
• The price of Gold rose above $1,600 per ounce for the first time in history (AP)
The Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul bill had its first anniversary this week. The bill created, among other things, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which started operating this week as well. Critics of the Dodd-Frank bill gave it a rather devastating report card suggesting that it failed on many of its promises so far. While the debate about the effectiveness of Dodd-Frank and its consumer watchdogs continues, we must wonder what all the other regulatory agencies have been doing all along? With all these agencies watching the banks, how could the financial crisis ever have happened? Was it simply a case of too many cooks in the kitchen? Having added even more cooks to be in charge of the financial oversight menu now, can we be confident that their “food” is going to be palatable?
The debate about financial regulation and regulatory “oversight” won’t go away anytime soon. Please consider “Regulatory reform: A disappearing act?” to get a sense of what we are up against.
We may not all agree with some of his political views but the very outspoken Howard Davidowitz manages to leave you straddling between laughter and crying each time he appears in front of a camera. His dictum “everything in business is confidence” cannot be underestimated. Enjoy this entertaining video!
Good luck and good investing!
Clemens Kownatzki, MBA is an adjunct professor of financial risk management at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, as well as the founder and CEO of FX Investment Strategies, a Registered Investment Advisor. In addition to running his investment advisory firm, he is a contributing author at SeekingAlpha.com and BusinessInsider.com. He also authored the book, Money Music 101, available on Amazon and Kindle, in addition to publishing the popular investment blog www.fxinvestmentstrategies.com along with a weekly newsletter.Disclaimer
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