The Traderszone Network

Central banks may have averted the impending doom following the financial crash, but Thomas Piketty has told CNBC it’s now time for governments to step in.

Dixons Retail and cellphone retailer Carphone Warehouse announce an all-share merger, a deal valued at more than £3 billion ($5 billion).
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European stocks followed Asia higher on Thursday while the euro fell as investors bet central banks in developed markets would continue their monetary support, with the European Central Bank poised to cut interest rates next month. ECB President Mario Draghi signaled last week that the bank was poised to ease monetary policy next month to support the economy. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen has said the U.S. economy needed support, while expectations have been growing China might unveil stimulus. \”But I don’t think we will see a big back-up in yields with ECB easing in the pipeline.\”

BERLIN/PARIS (Reuters) – Germany posted strong growth in the first quarter of the year in stark contrast with France: the euro zone’s second largest economy failed to expand at all and Italy, the third largest, went into reverse. France was expected to pale in comparison but had still been forecast to grow by 0.2 percent. Inventory changes and public spending were the only factors which kept the French economy from contracting while Germany’s performance was driven largely by domestic demand.

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Economists within the Federal Reserve are struggling to size up the strength of the U.S. labor market but can’t even agree what yardstick to use. Andreas Hornstein, a senior adviser at the Richmond Fed, says the unemployment rate, currently at 6.3 percent, effectively captures the level of slack in the labor market. To Mary Daly, a top economist at the Fed’s regional branch in San Francisco, a full assessment should go beyond the jobless rate to take into account stagnant wages, the large numbers of long-term unemployed and a drop in labor force participation.

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The war of words over Pfizer’s attempts to take over AstraZeneca has escalated, with one politician invoking rape to describe the U.S. giant’s bids.

by Keith Weiner

For a long time, many in the gold and silver communities have been say that the prices of the monetary metals are manipulated. Recently, one particular allegation came to prominence because it was asserted by the German regulator BaFin. This allegation is that the members of the London Fixes for gold and silver are using their position to manipulate the price. This would seem to be confirmation of widely held longstanding belief that the markets are rigged, the long-sought smoking gun. 

Not so fast.

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