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In the past year, the Federal Reserve has increased our monetary base by about 120 percent, more than double the previous highest annual increase over the past 50 years. The Fed has made huge loans to private lenders and bought over $1 trillion of mortgage securities and hundreds of billions of dollars of long-term treasury bonds. It has succeeded in lowering the federal funds rate below 1 percent—even, for most of the time, to less than half that. The goal, of course, is to force

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy iShares Lehman 20+ Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy iShares Lehman 7-10 Year Treasury Bond Fund; buy iShares Lehman 10-20 Year Treasury Bond Fund; 

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It’s no secret that Goldman Sachs has an enormously profitable trading operation. In the most recent quarter they reported an astounding $10B in total trading and investments. This represented 81% of the firms total revenues. One of the most profitable arms of this trading operation is the commodity desk. Goldman’s commodity calls are often market moving and always noteworthy.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares DB Oil Fund; buy United States Oil Fund LP; buy United States Natural Gas Fund, LP; buy United States 12 Month Oil Fund, LP; buy iPath Dow Jones-AIG Natural Gas Total Return Sub-IndexSM ETN; buy ELEMENTS MLCX Grains Index Total Return; buy iPath Dow Jones-AIG Grains Total Return Sub-Index ETN; 

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We are now on twitter – follow us for up to the minute cef news at CEFGuru 

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..taking the current bounce in the dollar as a chance to purchase oil as it pulls back into support 

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares DB Oil Fund; buy United States Oil Fund LP; 

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Residents of the Venezuelan capital face cuts in water service for as much as 48 hours per week, after the government imposed rationing to stem a 25 percent shortfall in the city's supply, officials said Monday. Officials said cuts in water service were to be staggered throughout Caracas through the duration of the current dry season, which is not expected to end until May 2010. Seems like a global problem

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy PowerShares Water Resource Portfolio; buy Claymore S&P Global Water Index ETF; 

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Seems like significantly more regulation from UK on behalf of bailed out banks. Likely a restrictive policy. 

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell iShares MSCI-U.K.; sell Rydex British Pound Sterling Trust; 

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The Altman Group's Closed End Fund Conference at the NYSE

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In the midst of a historically low interest rate environment, many fixed income segments continue to enjoy considerable yield advantages, or spreads, relative to US Treasuries. This trend presents investors with opportunities to earn attractive returns at a lower risk than equities. 

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy SPDR Lehman High Yield Bond ETF; buy SPDR Barclays Capital Long Term Credit Bond ETF; buy SPDR Barclays Capital Convertible Bond ETF; 

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The Australian central bank raised its benchmark interest rate Tuesday for the second month in a row, as widely expected, and suggested a gradual withdrawal of stimulus measures amid mounting evidence that the Australian economy was rapidly picking up speed.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy Rydex Australian Dollar Trust; 

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...coal eventually finds its way to Asia, namely China. China's power supply is still coal-fired and demand for coal is expected to increase in the coming years.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy Market Vectors Coal ETF              ; 

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In an update to its East Asia and Pacific Outlook, published in April, the World Bank said the economies of developing east Asia had rebounded sharply from the steep drop in activity in early 2009 because of extraordinary fiscal and monetary measures, improved global financial conditions and an upturn in inventory cycles.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: buy iShares MSCI-Pacific ex-Japan Index; 

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Transocean Ltd. said Wednesday its third-quarter net income fell by a third as the oil service firm saw lower activity in its fleet of rigs and drill ships.

ETFDesk users see this as a potential opportunity to: sell PowerShares Dynamic Oil & Gas Services Portfolio; 

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