Blog Posts by Chris Nichols

By the time the week is out, the Federal Reserve likely will make it clear whether it believes another intervention in the bond market is needed to support the U.S. economy.

Traders and investors can't know for sure right now what the central bank will do, but a number of economists are convinced a third installment of quantitative easing is nigh. On Monday, economists from three of the world's biggest banks spoke at New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business, and each said they're expecting some kind of action from the Fed in the days ahead, perhaps at the end of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day policy meeting on Thursday.

However, it's important to note that, though they're predicting the FOMC will unveil some plan, their forecasts for the actual impact on markets and on the economy were fairly muted.

Some Skepticism

"I'm a little bit skeptical about the effects of QE on equities," said David Greenlaw, Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. fixed income economist.

Jan

Yes, central bankers are basically in charge of asset prices. Depending on where you stand, you're either good with that or fundamentally opposed to it, but there's no denying it's the case.

The influencer of the day was Mario Draghi, the president of the European Central Bank, who announced Thursday that the bank will start a bond-buying program to help Europe's most financially stressed nations keep their borrowing costs somewhat manageable.

While the plan was what traders were hoping for and generally expecting, they still reacted by embracing the confirmation. Equity prices were climbing in most developed markets, including the U.S., where the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 were up sharply, with gains ranging from 1.8% to 2%.

But what about yields in those weaker European states, the main point of the ECB's undertaking? Draghi got his wish. Bond yields in Italy and Spain, two of the more troubled economies of the euro zone, were dropping at maturities of every length.

Italy's 10-year was

The euro was getting a lift Wednesday after a published report said the European Central Bank was about to lay out plans for an unlimited government bond-buying program.

Bloomberg reported that ECB President Mario Draghi will discuss the plan Thursday and whether it will proceed. The ECB wouldn't establish a limit on yields, the report said, but any bond buying clearly would be meant to provide stabilization for interest rates in Europe's weaker economies, such as Spain and Italy, which have seen yields surge and borrowing made difficult.

Mario Draghi (AP/Photo)

What could be key is whether Germany, Europe's strongest economy, gets on board with the plan. The Bloomberg report said the Bundesbank was the "sole objector," though it indicated that German concerns appeared to be on the mild side.

The expectation of the ECB program, according to the report, would be to have a neutral overall effect on Europe's money supply by ensuring that the central bank pulls out of the economy an amount equal to what it

Coca-Cola (KO) doesn't quite have the whole world covered (yet), but one of the most recognizable corporate brands in existence appears to have gotten a bit closer now that it's been spotted in arguably the most secretive nation on earth.

Britain's Telegraph ran a piece Friday that included a video featuring Coke being served in what is said to be a pizza restaurant in Pyongyang, North Korea. According to the article, the restaurant is owned by an Italian and North Korean joint venture company.

Coke told The Telegraph that any of its goods that have shown up above the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) "have been purchased by unauthorized third parties and imported into the country from other markets where they were sold," and that if sales of its products are happening there, it isn't being done with the company's clearance. In this case, the report says that restaurant-goers learn that what they are drinking is "Italian" Coke, not the American stuff. The video, which according to the

The stock market has been positive overall this summer, but as is always the case, there are laggards who miss the rallies. One of the uglier showings of the past three months comes courtesy of a fast-food chain that finds itself in the news this week for a PR misstep.

That would be Chipotle (CMG), whose shares, FactSet data show, have fallen 26.6% since the close on Friday, May 25, the last trading session before the unofficial beginning of summer.

Most of what's responsible for the burrito seller's drop actually occurred in July, when a sales shortfall sent the stock plunging more than 20% in a single session. Trouble is, it hasn't recovered. From its levels above $400 at the end of May, Chipotle's stock is now around $293.

Shareholders who've been holding on aren't the only people who are irritated. It turns out customers at certain restaurants are grumbling, too. That's because of reports that in some markets, Chipotle has been rounding the bill by a few pennies here and there

The Federal Reserve needs to do more to keep money flowing through the economy because the recovery hasn't been forceful enough, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, a known backer of additional easing, indicated Monday.

Speaking in Hong Kong, Evans echoed Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and San Francisco Fed President John Williams, both of whom have gone on the record recently calling for further steps to make dollars easier to come by.

"Yes, we have substantial liquidity already in place in our financial system," Evans said. "On the surface, this looks like substantial monetary accommodation. But as a large body of economic theory tells us, for this liquidity to be sufficiently accommodative, the public needs to expect that we will keep it in place for as long as is necessary to restore the economy to a sound footing."

Evans said he believes the Fed should clearly state that the fed funds target rate, currently at 0%-0.25%, won't go up until the U.S. unemployment rate drops

Spam. It's always Spam.

You get a kick out of it. So does its maker. This week saw investors get another nice quarter from Hormel (HRL), the Austin, Minn., food company that's behind the canned pork product, and naturally Spam was at the center of the conversation.

On Thursday Hormel posted a third-quarter profit of $111.2 million, up 13% from the prior-year period, and earnings per share increased to $1.37 from $1.31. Sales for the quarter were $2 billion, up 5% year over year.

But sure enough, right there in the press release, Hormel gives thanks to the little product that's so popular in the 50th state. Chairman and CEO Jeffrey M. Ettinger took time to point out that the company's grocery products segment benefited from strong sales of the Spam line.

Go a little deeper though, and you'll see this isn't a one-day story about the blue and yellow can. The grocery products group in total made up 15% of Hormel's net sales in the most recent quarter. That's less than the Jennie-O Turkey

If Greece really wants to sell an island or two, you have to like its chances of drawing interest. Maybe a Richard Branson or Larry Ellison. Possibly Disney.

What's going on, you wonder? Bloomberg's reporting today that Prime Minister Antonis Samaras mentioned the notion of selling or leasing some Greek islands as part of the country's overall plan to improve its financial situation, and it comes as yet another round of questions are being asked about whether the nation should or will stay in the euro currency pact.

The report, based on an interview Samaras gave to France's Le Monde, said the comments related to unpopulated Greek islands and were in response to a question on the topic. He said that as long as doing so didn't "pose a national security problem," certain islands might be used "commercially."

"It would not be a case of getting rid of the isles, but of transforming unused terrain into capital that can generate revenue, for a fair price," the Bloomberg report quoted him as