dimanche 2 novembre 2008

Bond markets

"Will we see a “Bernanke put”?THE “Greenspan put” was a term devised to describe the habit of the former Federal Reserve chairman, who would cut interest rates whenever the stockmarket seemed in crisis. The idea was that equity investors had insurance in the form of a put option, with Alan Greenspan agreeing to limit their losses.Now David Rosenberg, a well-respected economist at Merrill Lynch, thinks the current Fed chairman, Ben Bernanke, may introduce a “Bernanke put”, this time for the bond market. The topic arises because of the Fed’s recent cut in interest rates to 1%, posing the question of what the central bank can do if rates drop down to zero. ..." (2008-11-2)
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