Thursday 11 August 2011

US Treasury Bull Market Not Over; Record Low Yields; Shades of Japan; Why QE3 Totally Useless

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2011/08/us-treasury-bull-market-not-over-record.html

Only if one insists on a new lower-low in 30-year treasuries can someone cling to the fallacy the treasury bull market has ended.

QE3 Totally Useless

People are still clinging to the hope that QE3 will accomplish something. It won't because it can't. Yes, it's as simple as that.

When Bernanke announced QE2 the stated purpose was to drive yields lower with a goal of increasing credit and hiring. It did neither, but it did ignite a speculative rally in the stock market.

Shades of Japan

03-Mo = .01%
06-Mo = .06%
12-Mo = .09%
02-Yr = .18%
03-Yr = .33%
05-Yr = .92%
07-Yr = 1.50%
10-Yr = 2.15%
30-Yr = 3.51%

Let's assume Bernanke launches QE3. Where are yields going? If 3-year yields dropped to 0% would it possibly matter? Would it matter if 10-year yields fell to 1.5%? Why would it?

QE3 will not matter anymore than it did for Japan easing dozens of times at 0%. QE3 will not spur hiring, consumption, or credit.
Businesses do not want to expand. Why should they?

Here is the bottom line: There is too much debt and no way to pay it back. Efforts to get consumers to borrow and businesses to expand remain futile.

No matter how many times I have explained this, inflationists remain oblivious to the fact that in a credit-based economy it is extremely difficult to generate inflation when credit does not expand. In such environments, talk of hyperinflation is ludicrous.
Don't look for a lasting rally if and when Bernanke does announce QE3. That announcement may ignite a 1-week wonder rally or it may cause immediate panic. Either way, the emperor has no clothes and the market at long last has caught on.

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