7 JAN 2010, Thursday

1. Slowly drifting upward.  Click chart for comments.  Tomorrow is employment report which typically makes for big days in one direction or another.  Perhaps that is what everyone is waiting for.
2. Interesting...Didn't you get the memo warning you of potential increased risk in a rising interest rate environment?
3. FDIC recommended the following stress testing ... "When conducting scenario analyses, institutions should assess a range of alternative future interest rate scenarios in evaluating IRR exposure. ... In many cases, static interest rate shocks consisting of parallel shifts in the yield curve of plus and minus 200 basis points may not be sufficient to adequately assess an institution’s IRR exposure. As a result, institutions should regularly assess IRR exposures beyond typical industry conventions, including changes in rates of greater magnitude (e.g., up and down 300 and 400 basis points) across different tenors to reflect changing slopes and twists of the yield curve."
4. A 4% interest rate spike coming?  That'd put a crimp in the economy and housing.  Would put alot of headwinds to stocks too.