Ukraine's new resistance to Russia draws attention back to the macroeconomic fallout

<i>Friday's menu:</i> Ukraine heats up and fund winners and losers come into focus. Plus: Fed-speak clarity: an oxymoron? Bank loan funds fall victim to Fed policy, Obamacare drags us back to the 1950s and banks square off with Big Labor in Vegas.
MAY 22, 2014
  • Ukraine's push back against Russian troops is getting more confrontational by the day. Ignored or not, this is not a situation that is going to heal all by itself. The US and EU blame Russia
  • As the conflict surges back into the headlines, investors could be forgiven for wondering if they own funds that could lose — or gain — from the conflict. Here's some insight. As Ukraine gets hotter, fund winners and losers come into focus
  • The Fed insists its focus on growth has not changed but that a slow-growth scenario won't influence tapering. In other words, the justifications for quantitative easing are now being used to reduce quantitative easing. Clear as mud, right? When monetary policy become passive
  • The flipside of the new era of Fed clarity is showing up in the form of net outflows from bank loan mutual funds. When yield looks more predictable, adjustable-rate loans lose some luster. 95 straight weeks of net inflows meets two weeks of net outflows
  • The effect of Obamacare is expected to turn health insurance into a fringe benefit from employers. Welcome back to the 1950s, folks. The migration away from employer-based coverage
  • Bankers discover that what happens in Vegas can sometimes find its way to Washington. Labor disputes gone wild. Big Labor drags banks to the bargaining table

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