Next Week News

The economists' statistical engine is running amok again, just like in 2008-2009. It's making mountains from molehills (make that sinkholes from potholes), scaring the heck out of investors, reporters and just about everyone else. Here's what's wrong...

Whenever the economy coughs, economist's yell, "Pneumonia!" They are not being alarmists. The problem is that their analytical machinery only works when big numbers take mini-steps along a stable trend.

more...

The recently published Consultation Paper published by CySEC outlines the regulator’s enhanced efforts to safeguard clients’ funds held by CIF, or Cyprus Investment Firms.

In the paper, that was published on Monday, CySEC endeavors to oblige CIFs to instantly put received client funds into one or more accounts within a central bank, legit money market fund, third country bank, payment service providers, electronic funds institutions, or any other authorized credit institution(s). It seems that CySEC licensed companies were taking their time with these procedures prior to the introduction of this new policy.

more...

Germany's economy is set to shrink 7.1 percent this year due to the impact of the coronavirus, or Covid-19, the think tank IfW Kiel said in a report on Tuesday.

more...

Powell says Main Street is “far and away the biggest challenge” the Fed has faced during the pandemic.

more...

While the Federal Reserve expects the U.S. economy to rebound in 2021 following a sharp contraction this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the central bank has indicated interest rates are likely to remain at current near-zero levels through 2022. The Fed on Wednesday announced its widely expected decision to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at zero to 0.25 percent.

more...

Skrill is introducing its commission free Money Transfer service to the United States.

The service of Money Transfer was launched some two years ago in Europe where it quickly rose to popularity, because of its facilitation of transferring money from user to user in over 40 countries. It first started dropping its commissions for transferring money once the consequences of the coronavirus were beginning to become clear. Furthermore, the company also dropped foreign exchange charges for its many users located in far corners of the world.

more...

Global trade volumes shrank around 18.5 percent year-on-year in the three months to June when the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdown restrictions were at their peak in most countries, the World Trade Organisation said Tuesday.

more...

With interest rates expected to remain at near-zero levels for the foreseeable future, the minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting showed participants discussed new tools for conducting monetary policy. The minutes showed the meeting included briefings on the roles of forward guidance and large-scale asset purchase programs as well as implementing yield curve control.

more...

ESMA released an official statement, telling participants in the financial market to finalise their contingency plans for the end end of the UK's transitional period, which will officially end on 31 December 2020. The European Securities and Markets Authority advises participants to continue with their ongoing preparations.

The Memoranda of Understandings (MoUs), an agreed upon cooperation and exchange policy conducted with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), will remain valid, and will come into play as soon as the transition period ends.

more...

Reflecting a sharp increase in orders for transportation equipment, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods spiked by much more than expected in the month of July.

more...