QUANTITATIVE EASING

Economists are more positive about economic growth in 2011 in the United States, according to a survey by the Wall Street Journal.

Selling pressure on 10-year U.S. Treasuries drove yields to fresh six-month highs on Monday as investors threatened to undo this year's bond rally on signs of global economic recovery and deeper U.S. deficits.

Expectations of low U.S. interest rates and one-way bets against the dollar saw it emerge as the new funding currency of choice for FX carry trades, the Bank for International Settlements said in its quarterly review.

There are plenty of concerns surrounding U.S. Treasuries, yet a Treasury crisis doesn't seem to be happening.

The potential expiration of the Build America Bond (BAB) program at the end of this year may have a negative near-term impact on the prices of the overall municipal bond market.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee held interest rates at 0.5 percent and left its total 200 billion pounds of quantitative easing purchases unchanged on Thursday, as widely expected.

The U.S. economy will begin to show signs of improvement in 2011 as major indicators such as housing and consumer spending begin to improve by mid-2011, according to an annual outlook report from Wells Fargo.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted to keep interest rates unchanged and make no new quantitative easing purchases after its monthly meeting on Thursday, in line with market expectations.

Two Morgan Stanley economists predict that U.S. 10-year Treasury yields will rise to about 3.75 percent by the end of 2011 because of accelerated economic growth.

The United States is expected to see weak employment prospects though employers expect the modest hiring pace to continue in the first three months of the year, a survey reported.

A study by IMF economists Luc Laeven and Hui Tong found that U.S. monetary policy shocks drive global stock market prices.

Stocks, which fell early in the session on some gloomy remarks on the economy from Federal reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, pared much of their losses later in the day on hopes that The Republicans and Democrats in Congress can hammer out a compromise on extending the Bush tax cuts as well as unemployment benefits.

Investors who are worried about the health of the stock market might take some solace from the evidence that the U.S. equities have performed exceptionally well during the third year of a presidential term (Barack Obama enters the third year of his administration in January 2011).

In a CBS interview, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke took shots at foreign critics who openly bashed QE2 in the days leading up to the November 11 G20 Summit.

Despite a dovish Bernanke, EUR/USD's attempt to break above the upper limit of a downward channel from early November highs on the back of a weak non-farm payrolls data proved unsuccessful as debt-related worries of euro-zone continued to weigh on the single currency.

The Federal Reserve could end up buying more than the $600 billion in U.S. government bonds it has committed to purchase if the economy fails to respond or unemployment stays too high, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said.

Stock index futures slipped on Monday on jitters about the European debt crisis and with investors set to lock in profits after a strong market performance last week.

Stock index futures fell on Monday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a more sobering view of the economy and investors were set to lock in profits after a strong performance last week.

During a CBS interview, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke did not rule out the possibility of more asset purchases, meaning a third round of quantitative easing (QE3) is possible.

Gold rose almost 2 percent on Friday, ending the week on $1,414 an ounce just a few dollars below the all-time record, as the dollar tumbled after disappointing jobs data cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

A late-session rally pushed stocks modestly into the black after a very disappointing November jobs report battered equities earlier in the day.