Recap 2-15-12

Main Items:

• EU finance officials are considering delaying the all or part of the Greek bailout until after the Greek elections in April – Reuters. This is despite reports that Samaras has submitted his written pledge.
• FOMC minutes did not surprise. “A few members observed that … current and prospective economic conditions … could warrant the initiation of additional securities purchases before long. Other members indicated that such policy action could become necessary if the economy lost momentum or if inflation seemed likely to remain below its mandate-consistent rate of 2 percent over the medium run”
• BoE Inflation Report indicated that the MPC does not see a strong case for more QE, but it retains a bias toward further easing. Inflation is forecast to be 1.7% in two years and 1.9% at in three-years (vs 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively) on the back of higher commodity prices. Growth projections were broadly unchanged.
• Empire Mfg improved to 19.54 in Feb vs 15 exp and 13.48 prev
• NAHB Housing Index improved to 29 in Feb vs 26 exp and 25 prev. This was the highest print since mid 2007.
• Obama’s approval ratings have surpassed 50%, the highest since May 2010
• Iran is reportedly stopping oil exports to most of the EU, and will commence fueling of its Tehran research reactor

Overseas:

• UK Claimant Count Rate was stable at 5.0% in Jan as exp. ILO UE rate was unchanged at 8.4% as exp.
• South Korea Unemployment ticked higher to 3.2% as exp vs 3.1% prev

Upcoming Data:

• AU Employment, US initial Jobless Claims

Commentary:

Excellent Paper by the BoJ on its QE operations here, h/t FTAlphaville:

http://www.ecb.de/events/pdf/conferences/mpimp/maeda.pdf