By David Papell

Today, we're fortunate to have David Papell, Professor of Economics at University of Houston, as a guest contributor.

The Federal Open Market Committee voted last Wednesday to keep the federal funds target rate at a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. If it was not constrained by the zero lower bound, should the federal funds rate be negative? If the answer is yes, this suggests that the rate should remain at its record low for a considerable period and provides a justification for continued increases in the Fed's balance sheet. If the answer is no, then the Fed may need to raise its interest rate target sooner rather than later.

There has been a lively debate on this topic in the context of the Taylor rule for monetary policy. The debate started with an article in the Financial

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During the summer, I had the good fortune to attend two excellent conferences focused on new findings in exchange rate economics (yes, not all economic research is focused on the financial crisis and recession). The first was a Bank of Canada-European Central Bank conference Exchange rates: The global perspective, and the second was the NBER International Finance and Macroeconomics Summer Institute session "Exchange Rates and Relative Prices".

Figure 1: Log nominal value of US dollar (blue) and real value of US dollar (red), against currencies of major trading partners. NBER defined recession dates shaded gray, assuming the recession has not ended by July 2009. Source: Federal Reserve Board.

The Bank of Canada-ECB conference papers are here. All the papers, as well as powerpoint files of the presenters and discussants, are available from the conference website; I've reproduced some of the abstracts below.

Order flows and

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PennyOmega.com Stock Report!

PennyOmega.com Hot Stock News & Alerts!

 

Monday August 10, 2009

PennyOmega.com Stock Report!

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Bowne & Co., Inc. (NYSE: BNE), a global leader in shareholder and marketing communications services, today announced that Standard & Poor’s Ratings Service affirmed its ‘B’ corporate credit rating and revised the rating outlook to positive.

Allos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALTH) announced today that the Company has received notification from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) that the Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) will hold a meeting on September 2, 2009, to review the Company’s New Drug Application (NDA) for pralatrexate for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL).

Astea International Inc. (Nasdaq:

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Savoy Energy Corporation, an independent oil and gas company based in Houston, recently announced three new appointments to its Board of Directors. All have extensive experience in their individual fields, and are scheduled to fill the positions until the next regularly scheduled shareholder meeting, at which time they can be voted on by voting shareholders.

• William F. Howell has 47 years of oil and gas experience, both onshore and offshore, and has worked as a geologist in Oklahoma, Texas, the Gulf of Mexico, and overseas in Libya. He began his career as an exploration geologist at Continental Oil Company for 13 years, followed by 6 years as Gulf Coast Exploration Manager for Mesa Petroleum where he originated prospects and organized a bidding group for the Gulf of Mexico Shelf Exploration. He founded Paragon Petroleum in 1978, where he still serves, and was

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Idiocracy in action: Congress blocks bill to audit the Fed… No surprise: American loan defaults hit record… Surprise: Could Canadians be next? China takes another “World’s No. 1” from U.S. … Dan Denning, Byron King on recent triumph and tragedy in the oil patch…

Great news: The Federal Reserve will retain its right to operate in secrecy.

“Thank God for Rule 16!”

Late yesterday, the Senate majority put the kibosh on a last-hour provision in the 2010 spending bill that would audit the Fed. Not because it’s a bad idea… but because of the arcane Rule 16, which prohibits policy legislation from being added to spending bills. (The kind of “rule” that’s only evoked when the majority gets uncomfortable.)

“The Federal Reserve will create and disburse trillions of dollars in response to our current financial crisis,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, who spearheaded

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Today, Savoy Energy Corp. announced that on June 25, 2009 the Board of Directors of the company appointed Mr. William F. Howell, Mr. Raymond A. Crabbe, and Mr. Charles J. Jacobus to the Board of Directors. All three will remain in their newly appointed positions until the next regularly scheduled shareholder meeting at which time they may stand for re-election.

Mr. William Howell’s oil and gas experience spans nearly 50 years, both onshore and offshore. He has worked as a geologist domestically in Oklahoma, Texas and the Gulf of Mexico as well as internationally in Libya. Mr. Howell’s previous experience includes 13 years (1955 – 1968) as an exploration geologist at Continental Oil Company, 6 years (1968 – 1974) as Gulf Coast Exploration Manager for Mesa Petroleum, originating prospects and organizing a bidding group for participation in the Gulf of Mexico Shelf

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Today in an 8-K, Savoy Energy Corp. announced the appointment of William F. Howell, Raymond A. Crabbe and Charles J. Jacobus to the Board of Directors. All three will hold their positions until the company’s next scheduled shareholder meeting at which time shareholders will vote for re-election.

Mr. Howell retains nearly five decades of oil and gas experience, both onshore and offshore. His previous experience includes 13 years (1955 – 1968) as an exploration geologist at Continental Oil Company, 6 years (1968 – 1974) as Gulf Coast Exploration Manager for Mesa Petroleum, 7 years as an Exploration Vice President for Roberts Oil and Gas, and 11 years as Senior Exploration Advisor for Hardy Oil & Gas. He has also served on the Board of Directors of Roberts Oil and Gas, Inc., but no longer holds that position. Since 2000, Mr. Howell

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Avalon Oil & Gas, Inc., an independent investment company engaged in the acquisition of oil and gas producing properties, is fortunate to have one of the strongest advisory boards in the industry. Each member brings a commanding combination of education and experience, providing Avalon with strong guidance and support in its ongoing investments.

• William D. Anderson – provides ongoing counsel to Avalon’s senior management and its board of directors. He is a seasoned veteran, with 28 years of technical and financial experience, including business development, planning, and management in the oil and gas industry. He currently heads an oil and gas consulting business, and has held senior level positions in the industry, including Exxon. He holds an M.E. in Petroleum Engineering from Tulane, and M.S. in Engineering Mechanics from Columbia.

• Glen P. Harrod – is a senior working manager in the

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Valence Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: VLNC) announced today that it welcomes Ross A. Goolsby, as its new chief financial officer, effective Nov. 17.

“Ross brings with him an outstanding skill set in finance and information technology, including extensive planning and budgeting, internal controls and SEC reporting experience,” said Robert L. Kanode, Valence president and CEO. “A seasoned professional with nearly 20 years of diverse experience, Ross will be an excellent addition to our talented senior management team.”

Valence, based in Austin, Texas, develops lithium phosphate energy storage units and components, including the first reliable and rechargeable lithium phosphate battery. It has facilities in Nevada, China and Northern Ireland.

Goolsby began his career working in the Houston and Dallas offices of Ernst & Young. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Houston.

Most recently he served as senior vice president and CFO for Healthtronics, Inc.,

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A modest haul Grigory Pasko, journalist The Russian Olympic team, poor in gold medals, evokes a feeling of pity in me. The athletes are forced to be distracted by events that have nothing to do with the Olympics. For example, by the war of Russia with Georgia. For four days they were forced, as someone joked, to fight on two fronts. And then to participate three days in hypocritical mourning for those killed during the time of the Russo-Georgian conflict. Who can think about medals…? But there are yet other certain circumstances to which I would like to bring the attention of readers. A silver prizewinner of the Beijing Olympiad, Nastya Pozdnyakova, lives and trains in Houston. She goes to school there too – at the University of Houston, in the department of the theory of the arts ...