Ed’s Daily Notes for February 12th

Bloomberg: Yellen Sees Few Risks to Divert Fed From QE Tapering Strategy

Janet Yellen, taking charge as Federal Reserve chairman, let lawmakers know she’s united with her policy committee and sees few risks that could derail a plan to steadily reduce the Fed’s bond purchases.

Yellen, testifying to the House Financial Services Committee yesterday, said she was surprised by reports showing weaker job growth yet wants to see more data before assessing the health of the labor market. Global financial-market turbulence doesn’t pose a major risk to the U.S. economy, she said, and inflation is likely to move up toward the Fed’s 2 percent target — even after missing it for almost two years.

Central bankers, like generals, are always fighting the last recession. Unfortunately, Yellen thinks she can just return to the old way of keeping the rates low in order to prop up the economy. If that is true, why isn’t the economy chugging along now? The fact is we have China’s growth sucking up dollars in the world economy. This is the side effect of China’s dollar peg, and it is creating a deflationary effect on the dollar. The truth is the Fed needs to pay more attention to the world economy and it’s impact on the dollar, because reserve currency status is having an impact. Just looking at the U.S. economy is the equivalent of ignoring the forest for the tree.

As soon as QE is fully tapered, watch out. If we haven’t seen any signs of the U.S. economy slowing by then, we will, and it may get ugly.

The Telegraph: The next step: 3D printing the human body

I love new tech! Check this out:

Bioprinting, or the process of creating human tissues through 3D printers, is a highly contested area of technological innovation. Theoretically it could save the economy billions on a global scale, whilst boosting weak or war-torn countries’ access to more affordable health care and provision, whether producing prosthetic limbs or highly customised fully-working human organs.

From a technological perspective, the rise and development of 3D printing and its capabilities will play an undeniable part in our future lives. But how does the process work?

The article goes on to describe the process, which is fascinating.

But it also mentions a company involved in this field, Organovo Holdings, Inc. (ONVO). I need to do some more research before making a recommendation on the company’s stock, but the technology certainly has a high upside.