Friday, June 27, 2008

Barclays warns of a financial storm as Federal Reserve's credibility crumbles

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard grooves on this kind of story and because he looks for them, he finds them. It was he who brought us RBC's warning "Royal Bank of Scotland: Global Stock and Credit Crash Alert". He's useful for putting stuff on the radar, not so much for inflection/turning points.
From the Telegraph:

US central bank accused of unleashing an inflation shock that will rock financial markets, reports Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

Barclays Capital has advised clients to batten down the hatches for a worldwide financial storm, warning that the US Federal Reserve has allowed the inflation genie out of the bottle and let its credibility fall "below zero".

"We're in a nasty environment," said Tim Bond, the bank's chief equity strategist. "There is an inflation shock underway. This is going to be very negative for financial assets. We are going into tortoise mood and are retreating into our shell. Investors will do well if they can preserve their wealth.">>>MORE