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Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said it is “extremely important” to have a strong U.S. dollar.

Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has rounded on his US critics over charges that he has been too cautious in the way he has handled the economic and financial crisis in the eurozone. He mounted the vigorous defence at the annual symposium organised by the Kansas City Federal Reserve at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where the policies of the world's major central banks, the ECB, the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan were examined by economists. The critics included Nouriel Roubini, the New York University professor credited with forecasting the crisis. They accused Mr Trichet and...

ECB staff to strike over pensions By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt Published: May 24 2009 22:29 | Last updated: May 24 2009 22:29 Staff at the European Central Bank have called their first strike, in a protest over planned changes to their pension scheme. A 90-minute warning strike will take place on June 3, just as the ECB’s 22-strong governing council arrives in Frankfurt for its monthly interest rate policy-setting meeting. The ECB said it would ensure that essential central banking activities were maintained during the protest action. Staff at European institutions are generally regarded as enjoying good benefits as...

CBs And Other "Real Money" Had Enough? Oh oh...... From the forum, wire from Reuters claimed original source: 21. There apparently is a new wrinkle to the intermediation trade between buying from Treasury to sell to the Fed with real money, including central banks, now in on the act. Indeed, several Street sources relay central banks were aggressive offers into this morning's coupon pass, with one letting go of a large block of old 5-years. Other offers too are coming in from embedded Asian real money longs -- in the higher coupons -- also looking to sell size without unduly...

Downturn bottomed out, Trichet signals By Chris Giles and Daniel Pimlott in London and Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt Published: May 11 2009 14:35 | Last updated: May 11 2009 20:36 Jean-Claude Trichet signalled on Monday that the global downturn had bottomed out with some large economies already able to put the recession behind them and look forward to renewed growth. OECD composite leading indicatorsThe European Central Bank president’s comments on Monday in Basel, Switzerland, had added weight because he was speaking on behalf of the world’s leading central bankers, not just for the eurozone. His remarks came as the Organisation...

ECB Drawing Up 'Bad Bank' Guidelines By JOELLEN PERRY DAVOS, Switzerland -- The European Central Bank is drawing up guidelines for European governments that are considering so-called "bad banks" to house banks' toxic assets. The ECB is also working on guidelines for European governments that plan to guarantee toxic assets remaining on banks' books, another form of bank bailout. Both sets of guidelines are being drawn up with the European Commission. The ECB hopes the guidelines can help avoid competitive one-upmanship across the 27-nation European Union as nations seek to shore up struggling banks. The ECB, which makes monetary policy...

FTSE fails to hold rate cut gains By Michael Hunter Published: October 8 2008 08:41 | Last updated: October 8 2008 16:11 London equities failed to hold gains inspired by a co-ordinated emergency interest rate cut of 50 basis points from the world’s leading central banks on Wednesday, with resource stocks exerting pressure on the index amid concern about the outlook for global economic growth. The Bank of England, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank as well as the central banks of Canada, Sweden and Switzerland reduced their key lending rates in a co-ordinated move to ease...

World's leading economies -- led by U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank -- announce half point cut in interest rates.

ECB sees crisis of "enormous proportions" as Spain creates mortgage rescue fund The European Central Bank has dramatically changed its tune over the last twenty-four hours as the credit freeze worsens, acknowledging for the first time that the world faces the gravest crisis since the Great Depression. By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Last Updated: 8:34PM BST 07 Oct 2008 A string of governors from across the eurozone have today issued grim warnings in what seemed a coordinated move to prepare the markets for interest rate cuts, perhaps within days. Guy Quaden, Belgium’s ECB member, said the violent storm ravaging Europe’s banking system...

ECB Drains EUR200 Billion At Fixed Rate, Bids Total EUR216.051 Billion FRANKFURT -(Dow Jones)- The European Central Bank said Thursday it drained EUR200 billion in a fixed-rate, one-day, fine-tuning tender at 4.25%. The ECB said it received 65 bids totaling EUR216.051 billion for the absorption. The operation had an intended volume of up to EUR200 billion. The fine-tuning operation is the second in two days. Wednesday the ECB conducted a similar operation, in which it drained EUR173.047 billion from the euro-zone money market. The operation had a similar intended volume with up to EUR200 billion.

Oil prices tumbled more than $6 a barrel Monday, briefly slipping below the $100 level as traders bet that global demand for petroleum products will keep falling despite a planned $700 billion U.S. financial bailout. A stronger dollar also weighed on crude prices as investors who bought oil and other commodities as a hedge against inflation sold their contracts. Light, sweet crude for November delivery fell as low as $99.80 a barrel in morning trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange before edging up slightly to $100.28, down $6.61. The contract fell Friday $1.13 to settle at $106.89. Crude has...

Bank borrowing from ECB is out of control By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard Last Updated: 3:06pm BST 21/08/2008 The European Central Bank has issued the clearest warning to date that it cannot serve as a perpetual crutch for lenders caught off-guard by the severity of the credit crunch. Not Wellink, the Dutch central bank chief and a major figure on the ECB council, said that banks were becoming addicted to the liquidity window in Frankfurt and were putting the authorities in an invidious position. "There is a limit how long you can do this. There is a point where you take over...

ECB President, Jean-Claude Trichet, says inflation could 'explode' Gary Duncan, Economics Editor The President of the European Central Bank (ECB) said yesterday that inflation could explode without action being taken to quell price pressures. Jean-Claude Trichet's comments cemented expectations that the ECB will press ahead today with a controversial increase in eurozone interest rates. In his bluntest signal yet that the ECB will defy political pressure, led by President Sarkozy of France, for it to hold fire, Mr Trichet said: “If we are not resolute, there is a risk that inflation will explode. If we act decisively, then we can...

OH DEAR, it was not meant to be like this. The European Central Bank (ECB), widely praised for providing banks with ample liquidity during the credit crunch, now has a problem: how to encourage banks to place freshly created asset-backed securities (ABS) with investors, rather than dumping them, like so much radioactive waste, in its vaults. The ECB accepts a wide range of assets, including those such as ABS for which there is temporarily very little trading, as collateral in its refinancing operations. Provided the tranche of securities is the most senior, and rated A- or above, the ECB will...

Washington - The US Federal Reserve in a joint effort with the European and Swiss central banks on Friday expanded lending to banks struggling to raise capital amid an ongoing financial crisis. The Fed increased its offering through a bi-weekly Term Auction Facility - first created in December to help investment banks boost liquidity - from 50 billion dollars to 75 billion dollars. The European Central Bank (ECB) boosted its own bi-weekly auction offering from 15 billion dollars to 25 billion dollars. The Swiss National Bank (SNB) said it would begin offering bi-weekly auctions of up to 6 billion dollars....

Silvio Berlusconi's return to power in Italy is a nightmare come true for the European Central Bank, opening the way for a Rome-Paris axis with the political muscle to force a change in monetary policy. Silvio Berlusconi plans Paris-Rome axis to humble ECB Silvio Berlusconi does not share the EU-loyalities of the outgoing government The billionaire politician has pledged an alliance with France's Nicolas Sarkozy aimed at humbling the bank and asserting the primacy of elected leaders over interest rates and the currency. "A very strong euro is hurting Italy's economy. I will discuss intervening with the ECB with Sarkozy,"...

Eurozone warned on impact of credit crisis By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt Published: April 10 2008 12:45 | Last updated: April 10 2008 20:13 The global financial turmoil could last longer and have a broader impact on the eurozone economy than previously expected, the European Central Bank warned onThursday, even as it underlined its hard-line stance on inflation by leaving interest rates unchanged.Comments by Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, highlighted the risks and uncertainty the Frankfurt-based institution sees surrounding the eurozone economic outlook. But with inflation at 3.5 per cent, the highest for almost 16 years, his tone after the ECB’s...

Europe's monetary union may be tested to near breaking point as the economic downturn engulfs the bloc's southern tier, and German investors cut off a crucial source of foreign funding, according a hard-hitting report by the Swiss bank UBS. "The coming two years are likely to prove the most testing time for the coherence of the single currency to date," said Meyrick Chapman, the bank's Europe strategist. "We expect that it will emerge unbroken. There is too much political and economic capital invested to break the project. However, adjustments are likely to be severe," he said. UBS warned of a...

Cyprus and Malta will tomorrow embrace the euro, boosting Europe's monetary union to 15 states and adding another two Club Med votes to the policy board of the European Central Bank. The two islands - one near the coast of Africa and the other kissing the Levant - make up just 0.3pc of eurozone GDP and barely flicker on the radar screen of the 320m-strong currency bloc. Yet their arrival marks a crucial stage in the declining dominance of the German Bundesbank. The Latin and Hellenic cluster of states now has a majority of the votes on the governing council...

The number of people out of work in Germany dropped to its lowest level in almost 15 years during November, the Federal Labour Agency has reported. Companies continued to expand their workforces with 600,000 more jobs created than last year, it said.

Angela Merkel’s political honeymoon with Nicolas Sarkozy came to an end on Wednesday when the German chancellor warned the French president to stop undermining the euro and the independence of the European Central Bank. The abrupt rebuff ended weeks of diplomatic silence from Ms Merkel over Mr Sarkozy’s flurry of contentious economic proposals. Asked by German tele­vision whether she supported the president’s calls for a weaker euro to help eurozone exports, she answered “absolutely not. I would definitely object to this, and so would the entire government”. “The population should be protected against inflation. This is very important. That is...

TOKYO, May 1 (Reuters) - The dollar struck a seven-month low against the yen and a one-year low against the euro on Monday, extending a slide as the Federal Reserve appears set to soon end a two-year run of credit tightening. A renewed focus on U.S. deficits after last month's meeting of Group of Seven industrialised powers, worries about Iran's nuclear ambitions and deteriorating technical signals have pummeled the dollar across the board. The yen gained across the board on solid buying by foreign hedge funds and investment banks, while some Japanese players squared positions heading into the country's Golden...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a 27-month high against the yen on Monday and edged closer to recent two-year lows versus the euro and sterling as greenback buying on yield advantage gathered momentum after a long U.S. weekend. In the absense of major data on Monday, investors, coming back from the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, pushed the dollar higher in anticipation of further rises in U.S. interest rates. The euro kept a low profile as investors awaited European Central Bank speakers including chief Jean-Claude Trichet ahead of a widely-expected 25 basis point rate hike this week. But the outlook beyond...

Technical Overview · British Pound Heads To 1.7000· Swiss Franc Sees 1.3500 In Its Future· New Zealand Dollar Fails To Capture .6900 Traders Corner:Reality or wishful thinking, it’s a very delicate balance when it comes to trading. As a trader I always learned not to let the wishful thinking cloud my judgment. I never let such notions as hopes and dreams distort the reality of the market. At one point when I found myself grasping at straws in a sinking trade I realized that no matter what I think, wish or hope, the market will do what its need to...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The dollar clung close to a two-year high against the euro and a 27-month peak versus the yen on Tuesday as more investors flock to the U.S. currency for its widening yield advantage. The yen came under pressure after Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi made a rare comment on central bank policy, saying it was too early for the Bank of Japan to end its ultra-loose "quantitative easing" until deflation is defeated. Koizumi's remarks on Monday added to a chorus of government officials calling for the BOJ, which gained political independence just in 1998, to work with...

Tough talk on inflation, first by US Federal Reserve officials, then by Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank, has got the markets rattled. Last week all the leading equity indices retreated, with the S&P 500 down 2.7 per cent, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 1.8 per cent, the Nikkei off 2.6 per cent and the FTSE 100 off 2.1 per cent. It looks as if investors are questioning the notion that the US, and to some extent the world economy, has entered a new "Goldilocks" phase with growth neither too hot (risking accelerating inflation) nor too cold (risking...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar remained firm on Tuesday near this week's three-month highs against the euro and 16-month peaks versus the yen as a Federal Reserve official joined the hawkish chorus on U.S. interest rates. The dollar also hit a two-month high against sterling and against an index of major currencies as investors priced in prospects for the Fed to press ahead with its 15-month credit-tightening campaign. Atlanta Fed President Jack Guynn told Reuters in an interview on Monday that the Fed's tightening campaign still has "a ways to go" before completion. Analysts said strong data, equity inflows and...

FOR those who are too young to remember, Divorce, Italian Style was a 1962 movie in which Marcello Mastroianni plays a Sicilian nobleman married to an ugly, bullying and financially ruinous harridan, from whom he wants desperately to disengage. Unfortunately, he has no legal way to do this since the Italian legal system made no provisions for divorce. His only recourse, therefore, is to kill his wife. This film is, of course, a perfect allegory for the Italian and European economies 40 years later. Italy today is under the thumb of an ugly, oppressive and financially ruinous harridan called the...

Wim Duisenberg, the former head of the European Central Bank, has been found dead in a pool at his villa in south-east France, French police say. Police have not yet given a cause for his death, but say he was found on Sunday morning in the town of Faucon. The former Dutch finance minister was the ECB's first president, and oversaw the introduction of the single European currency, the euro. The 70-year-old had stepped down in 2003 after five years in the job. Under Mr Duisenberg, the euro moved from a market-traded currency to coins and notes in the pockets...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro fell below $1.20 for the first time in 10 months on Friday as traders bet that euro zone interest rates will eventually be cut and make the dollar an even more attractive destination for investors. A combination of Sweden's central bank slashing interest rates this week and the Bank of England moving closer to lowering rates has thrown the spotlight on the European Central Bank. ECB officials have held firm that current rates at 2 percent are appropriate, but political pressure has mounted on the euro zone's central bank to do something about the region's...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar hit a nine-month high against the euro on Monday, extending recent gains made after upbeat U.S. data and comments from Federal Reserve chief Alan Greenspan fanned expectations of more U.S. interest rate hikes. Finance ministers from the world's rich nations (G8) during their weekend meeting in London kept up pressure on China to move toward more flexible exchange rates, but produced no clues as to the timing. Following last week's better-than-expected U.S. trade data and Greenspan's comments that the economy was on a "firm footing," the market is looking to see if this week's figures...

The euro has its sceptics across Europe's heartlands It was an idea that could barely be whispered inside Europe's corridors of power - might the European Union lose its appetite for the euro?Launched amid much fanfare in 1999, the single currency was a symbol of European unity, a sign of the continent's re-emergence on the world stage and a challenge to the hegemony of the US dollar. Six years on, with slow growth and high unemployment bedevilling the economies of some of the euro's most powerful supporters, the whispers of doubt are beginning to grow louder. Leading politicians in...

TOKYO (Reuters) - The euro hit an 11-month low against the yen on Tuesday, hurt by a bleak economic outlook for the euro zone and remarks by the European Central Bank chief which the market saw as a hint of interest rate cuts. The ECB will do "all it can" to reinforce consumer and business confidence, and economic reforms are fundamental to boost euro zone growth, ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet said in a discussion among central bankers from China, Europe and Japan in Beijing. "Trichet suggested that maybe he has to do something about interest rates," said a trader at...

The US dollar rose to a three-month high against the euro on Monday amid further signs that market sentiment is warming towards the greenback, temporarily at least.The dollar moved markedly higher in US trade, with dollar bulls pointing to the unveiling of the US budget for fiscal year 2006, which reiterated President George W Bush’s intention to begin dealing with the burgeoning fiscal deficit.However while this appeared to be evidence of the “voice of fiscal restraint” alluded to by Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan in a keynote speech on Friday, the budget contained little new.Paul Mackel, currencies strategist at...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar rose slightly in the first trading session of 2005 on Monday, gaining more than a cent from recent record lows against the euro as investor selling paused ahead of U.S. economic data this week. However, analysts said persistent imbalances in the U.S. economy will likely continue to weigh on the dollar in 2005 after pushing the euro up about 8 percent to record highs last year. Later on Monday, the U.S. Institute of Supply Management's manufacturing survey is due. A Reuters poll forecast the index for December would edge up to 58.1 from 57.8 in...

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro hit a record high against the yen on Thursday and remained within sight of this week's all-time peak versus the dollar as its bull run continued a thin market. The single currency rose above 141.60 yen in thin Tokyo trade, extending Wednesday's gains on technical moves and on concerns that Sunday's tsunami that has killed over 85,000 people around the Indian Ocean could hurt economic growth throughout Asia. "I think the tragic events that have occurred over the past few days in Southeast Asia may be having an impact on the yen," said Kamal Sharma,...

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro set a record high against the dollar for the fifth session running on Wednesday and tested last year's lifetime high against the yen as investors' bearish views of the U.S. currency dominated markets. Trading volumes were thin in the holiday period between Christmas and New Year. There was also little news to turn investors' focus away from their worries about the burden of the U.S. current account deficit on the dollar and about the ability of the U.S. economy to attract enough money to plug this shortfall. "The euro has been strong for a few...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar teetered within sight of the previous day's record low against the euro on Tuesday as the market remained confident central banks would not stand in the way of the greenback's decline. Mixed economic news from Japan had little market impact as traders remained fixated on the United States' huge current account deficit and the need for a weaker currency to correct it. The dollar is on track to notch up its third consecutive year of losses in 2004 and most analysts think its slide is not over yet. "There is a very strong consensus that...

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asian stocks and currencies fell on Monday after tsunami waves triggered by the world's worst earthquake in 40 years killed nearly 15,000 people and wreaked havoc on tourist beaches. The yen touched an 18-month low against the euro, falling with emerging Asian currencies as traders tried to assess the economic fallout from the disaster. Shares in travel-related companies fell across the board as the region counted the cost of tsunamis that devastated areas of Sri Lanka, southeastern India, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia. Thai shares fell 1.5 percent to lead losses in Asia, weighed down by a 3.5...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar steadied versus the euro and yen on Thursday following sharp gains across the board in the previous session driven by profit-taking on bets against the long suffering U.S. currency.Unexpectedly strong jobs data from Australia appeared to counter the rising market belief the weak dollar was hurting major economies and forcing central banks to stop interest rate hikes, which in turn would bolster the greenback's appeal. Such arguments, driven by Canada's and Australia's decision earlier this week to hold rates unchanged, were seen as triggers for the dollar's rebound from record lows against the euro...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar rose one percent against the euro and the yen on Wednesday as investors bought the U.S. currency back in the run-up to the year-end and eyed the impact of the dollar's weakness on other economies.Worries about the United States' ability to fund its huge currrent account deficit have led to persistent weakness in the dollar, taking it to fresh record lows against the euro on Tuesday and five-year lows against the yen last week. But investors are looking to take profits on the climb of a broad spectrum of currencies against the dollar, while...

LONDON (Reuters) - The dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro on Tuesday after a warning by euro zone officials on the euro's rise fell on deaf ears, with investors determined to dump the U.S. currency.In a joint statement late on Monday, the European Central Bank and euro zone finance ministers gave their starkest warning to date that they were unhappy with the euro's strength. In an echo of developments that preceded the ECB's maiden intervention in the currency markets of 2000, the statement said policymakers were monitoring the situation closely. But the dollar, under pressure from...

It rises, it falls, it's bought, it's sold. On how much of our fate does the dollar's height have hold?"DOWN AND DOWN I go, . . . loving the spin I'm in" might have been written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer as an anthem for the dollar. As it spins down, cries of both glee and anguish are heard in the land, and economists scramble to offer explanations.Some of these experts are confessing confusion, as all--well, almost all--signs point to dollar strength. The latest jobs report shows that the economy is steaming ahead. The Fed has again raised interest...

I Wouldn't Touch It With a 10 Foot Poll Debating The Impact The fable of the first Presidential debate is well known. Richard Nixon was known as highly intelligent, determined, and both experienced and skilled in the art of debate. His opponent, the young and dynamic John F. Kennedy, understood the medium better. Nixon showed up weary, and foolishly did not use makeup. Kennedy was tanned and rested, and had his presentation professionally attended. The cameras made Kennedy look even better, while the sweating and pale Nixon came across sickly and nervous. According to the fable, those who heard...

I Wouldn't Touch It With a 10 Foot Poll Turnout Model The Republican convention is over, and polls are coming out showing very different pictures of the Bush bounce. Time Magazine has the President up by 10. Newsweek did that one better, having him up by 11. Rasmussen has him up by 2, although he says if one outlying day's sample is factored out it becomes a four point lead. Gallup splits the difference, having Bush leading by seven points. Rasmussen was concerned enough at the reaction to his firm's different result that he wrote an explanation. The crux...

I Wouldn't Touch It With a 10 Foot Poll The Vanishing Approval Gap I got one right, now I have to go for the other. Back when John Kerry chose John Edwards to be his running mate, I wrote an article in which I predicted a 4-7 point bounce for Kerry. Now it is time for the Republican convention, and the national polls and the state polls are both showing a race that is too close to call at this point due to Kerry's bounce fading away. In the past, there has been one measure which has been phenomenal...

<p>Kevin Drum of the Washington Monthly recently wrote an intruiging piece that argues that when the media reports a poll as showing a statistical tie, this is not necessarily the case.</p> <p>In fact, what we're really interested in is the probability that the difference is greater than zero — in other words, that one candidate is genuinely ahead of the other. But this probability isn't a cutoff, it's a continuum: the bigger the lead, the more likely that someone is ahead and that the result isn't just a polling fluke. So instead of lazily reporting any result within the MOE as a "tie," which is statistically wrong anyway, it would be more informative to just go ahead and tell us how probable it is that a candidate is really ahead.</p>

I Wouldn't Touch It With a 10 Foot Poll Panic Time? The first convention ended. The second, approaching. Individual state polls agreed that the challenger was in a commanding position. Key battleground states such as Oregon, Missouri, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Florida, New Hampshire, and Iowa were all polling very well for him. To a lesser degree, so were West Virginia, Maine, and Arkansas. Washington was in his ledger. So was Michigan, and Ohio, and Minnesota. An extremely dire set of circumstances, indeed. By the ECB scorecard, the challenger had over 300 electoral votes heading his way. His opponent, despite...

I Wouldn't Touch It With a 10 Foot Poll The Kerry/Edwards Bounce Redux Every week, Ruy Teixeira of the Center for American Progress pens a column titled "Public Opinion Watch". His latest effort focuses in on the polls released following the Democratic National Convention. Mr. Teixeira examines several polls and concludes "arguably, Kerry got a substantial bounce where he needed it most". He begins well, by rightly chastising Newsweek for rushing out a poll to measure Kerry's convention bounce without waiting until after Kerry's speech to begin their polling. That was shoddy journalism, presumably done merely to try to...

Current status: Kerry 224 Bush 187