I addressed this very issue a few days back when I asked why Salerno from mises.org disagrees with the Fishers theory of debt deflation and the Efficiency wage theory. Bernanke ain't doing this because he's a madman, he did it because he's got both theoretical and empirical reasons to believe deflation needs to be avoided right now
Interesting study that I was not aware on kids and delaying gratification http://www.economist.com/node/18276096
Excactly. And the thing is we will never know the answer. If it blows up conventional wisdom will dictate they didnt stimulate enough and if it works out fine the other camp will argue it would have been solved a long time ago should they have stayed out in the first place.
The Fed's decision to do press conferences I believe is a good one for me. Sometimes you can pick up some non-verbal cues from Bernanke that might help you understand how he is thinking. The congress testimonies were full of silly questions and populist stuff(Maxine Waters takes the trophy on this one). Now Fed watchers will get maybe as much as a full hour of 'reading' the man behind the Fed
Silver fell about $1 yesterday after the CME raised margin requirements. Used the drop and part of my profits from the FCX, EWH, and EWT puts to buy some bull call spreads (?) on SLV (bought the 45 call, sold the 50 call). I think it's inevitable that the Hunt Brothers high of $50 gets taken out. Whether it happens this year or not is the question. These options (I bought across a few different expiry months) will pay off anywhere from 7:1 to 12:1 if the price hits $50.
Yawn. Who is going to be let in to ask questions? The usual sycophants in the press? Maybe the guy who lobbed him 20 minutes worth of softballs in the 60 minutes interview? Fed pet Jon Hilsenrath? State media mouthpiece Steve Liesman? Jim Cramer?
Liesman: Rick Santelli says you've ignited another asset bubble in both commodities and equities with QE. I called Rick a big dummy, but can't make him stop. How would you respond? Dear Leader Bernanke: If the DJIA goes up, I win. When is someone going to start writing a 'Maestro' book about me? Greenspan just had to print money to cover a few isolated incidents. I had to print enough to paper over 3 decades of bubbly credit growth. Liesman: Thank you very much, that was wonderful. Love the beard. I have a follow-up ... Are you worried that Tim Geithner is going to parachute out of government before you do and take the plum job running Soros' funds, leaving you to have to take some non-executive executive role with Citi? Dear Leader Bernanke: Why would I leave the government to work for another branch of government (Citi). I've got my eye on Paulson's fund. Greenspan will be dead soon and John will need another insider to pass along info to him.
Plosser with hawkish speech. Fed must reverse policy soon (doesn't say what soon means). http://www.philadelphiafed.org/publ...011/03-25-11_shadow-open-market-committee.pdf