Draghi Bows Out of Jackson Hole

Mario Draghi has backed out of his speech and attendance at the coming economic symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  The issue is said to be scheduling with events in Europe and London, while trying to get back to and from the symposium. While this may be stoking conspiracy or underlying chatter, the workload issues and the time required to get to and from Jackson Hole come at a time when the European Central Bank is reportedly trying to work on a bond-buying program. We are awaiting word from the ECB, but the report has been confirmed by Bloomberg TV and other sources as factual rather than as gossip or rumor.

Now the markets are going to have just bet on, predict and live with whatever sort of quantitative easing measures (or possibilities) are brought out by Ben Bernanke here in the United States. We would caution that the markets have been factoring in more and more chances of quantitative easing measures after a letter from Ben Bernanke last week and also from the FOMC minutes indicating a more aggressive stance by the FOMC, rather than what the official statement showed at the beginning of the month.

JON C. OGG