Profits and balance sheet developments at U.S. commercial banks in 2004

U.S. commercial banks continued to be highly profitable in 2004. Return on assets and return on equity declined moderately, but the economy's continued expansion and supportive financial conditions helped keep bank profits in the elevated range that has prevailed since the mid-1990s. Profits were trimmed a bit by a narrowing of banks' net interest margins as the yield curve flattened and competition put pressure on loan spreads. In addition, gains in non-interest income were less pronounced than in 2003, and non-interest expenses increased. However, the continued improvement in the overall credit quality of business and household loans allowed banks to reduce their provisioning for loan and lease losses, and delinquency and charge-off rates for all loan categories trended down. Bank balance sheets also expanded. A robust housing sector and generally low interest rates supported residential mortgage lending, and increases in demand along with an easing of lending standards and terms throughout the year boosted commercial and industrial loans. Banks also reported easing their standards and terms on commercial real estate loans, and such loans increased despite soft conditions in some markets. Still-low interest rates supported the continued growth of core deposits, but the greater rise in bank assets required banks to rely more heavily on managed liabilities, which rose strongly last year.Banks and banking ; Bank profits ; Bank assets

External Constraints on Monetary Policy and the Financial Accelerator

We develop a small open economy macroeconomic model where financial conditions influence aggregate behavior. We use this model to explore the connection between the exchange rate regime and financial distress. We show that fixed exchange rates exacerbate financial crises by tieing the hands of the monetary authorities. We then investigate the quantitative significance by first calibrating the model to Korean data and then showing that it does a reasonably good job of matching the Korean experience during its recent financial crisis. In particular, the model accounts well for the sharp increase in lending rates and the large drop in output, investment and productivity during the 1997-1998 episode. We then perform some counterfactual exercises to illustrate the quantitative significance of fixed versus floating rates both for macroeconomic performance and for welfare. Overall, these exercises imply that welfare losses following a financial crisis are significantly larger under fixed exchange rates relative to flexible exchange rates.

Political culture in Kirchnerism: Two hypotheses about the politicization

La propuesta de este artículo es analizar los cambios ocurridos en la cultura política en el kirchnerismo, específicamente en términos de la politicidad. Para esto se analizarán las trayectorias organizacionales y los debates generados en el espacio multiorganizacional militante a partir de dos hipótesis. La primera: el kirchnerismo como posibilidad identificatoria; la segunda: la demanda del salto a la política. El argumento central es que en una primera temporalidad (2003-2006) se produjo un proceso de politización manifestado en la emergencia de una nueva generación militante, de discusiones y propuestas por parte de las organizaciones. Este aparejó la formulación de la demanda del salto a la política que implicaba no sólo el otorgamiento de reivindicaciones de inclusión económica, sino fundamentalmente la constitución como sujeto político. Esta por motivos diversos no puedo concretarse, conllevando la dispersión del espacio militante kirchnerista.The purpose of this article is to analyze the changes in the political culture in Kirchnerism, specifically in terms of their politicity. For this organizational trajectories and debates generated in the space multiorganizational militant from two hypotheses are discussed. The first: Kirchnerism as identifying opportunity; the second: demand “leap into politics”. The central argument is that in a first timing (2003-2006) there was a process of politicization manifested in the emergence of a new militant generation of discussions and proposals from organizations. This formulation rigged demand “leap into politics” which involved not only the granting of claims for economic inclusion, but fundamentally the constitution as a political subject. This for various reasons I cannot materialize, leading to the spread of militant Kirchnerist space.Fil: Natalucci, Ana Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigaciones ; Argentin

The 17 min orbital period in the Ultra Compact X-ray Binary 4U 0513-40

The ultracompact low-mass X-ray binary 4U 0513-40 in the globular cluster NGC1851 exhibits large amplitude X-ray flux variations with spectral changes from low/hard to high/soft states which have not been reported previously in other ultracompact X-ray binaries. Using BeppoSAX, CHANDRA and XMM Newton archival data together with recent INTEGRAL observations, we reveal a clear sinusoidal periodic signal with a period of ~17 minutes when the source is in a typical high/soft state with a dominant soft thermal component. The periodicity disappears when the source is in a low/hard state and the thermal soft component is not required any more to model the data. These properties indicate the orbital nature of the detected signal and imply an high inclination angle of the binary system (>80{\deg}).Comment: accepted MNRAS 201

Metacognition and headache: which Is the role in childhood and adolescence?

Headache, in particular migraine, is one of the most frequent neurological symptoms in children and adolescents and it affects about 60% of children and adolescents all over the world. Headache can affect several areas of child’s functioning, such as school, physical activities, peer, and family relationship. The global and severe burden of this disease requires a multidisciplinary strategy and an effective treatment addressed all of the patient’s needs and based on cutting-edge scientific research. In recent years, research has focused on cognitive factors specifically in functions called metacognitive processes. Metacognition can be defined as the knowledge, beliefs, and cognitive processes involved in monitoring, control, and assessment of cognition. Metacognition seems to be closely related to the ability of theory of mind, the ability to infer, and reason about the mental states of other people in order to predict and explain own behavior. Recent studies found a relationship between metacognitive skills and anxiety, depression, motivation, academic performance, human social interactions, and stress symptoms. This relationship is very interesting for headache treatment, because these factors are the most commonly reported triggers in this disorder and there is a high comorbidity with anxiety and depression in children and adolescents with headache. So, headache and these comorbidities, in particular anxiety and depression, may have in common persistent and maladaptive patterns of thinking which are related to maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Further research should assess metacognitive processes of children and adolescents with headache in order to increase their ability to control their own cognitive processes and consequently monitor factors which may trigger the attacks

The macroeconomic effects of inflation targeting

Macroeconomics ; Inflation (Finance)

XMM-Newton and NuSTAR simultaneous X-ray observations of IGR J11215-5952

We report the results of an XMM-Newton and NuSTAR coordinated observation of the Supergiant Fast X-ray Transient (SFXT) IGRJ11215-5952, performed on February 14, 2016, during the expected peak of its brief outburst, which repeats every about 165 days. Timing and spectral analysis were performed simultaneously in the energy band 0.4-78 keV. A spin period of 187.0 +/- 0.4 s was measured, consistent with previous observations performed in 2007. The X-ray intensity shows a large variability (more than one order of magnitude) on timescales longer than the spin period, with several luminous X-ray flares which repeat every 2-2.5 ks, some of which simultaneously observed by both satellites. The broad-band (0.4-78 keV) time-averaged spectrum was well deconvolved with a double-component model (a blackbody plus a power-law with a high energy cutoff) together with a weak iron line in emission at 6.4 keV (equivalent width, EW, of 40+/-10 eV). Alternatively, a partial covering model also resulted in an adequate description of the data. The source time-averaged X-ray luminosity was 1E36 erg/s (0.1-100 keV; assuming 7 kpc). We discuss the results of these observations in the framework of the different models proposed to explain SFXTs, supporting a quasi-spherical settling accretion regime, although alternative possibilities (e.g. centrifugal barrier) cannot be ruled out.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, accepted for publication on The Astrophysical Journa

X-ray spectral evolution of V404 Cygni in the initial phase of the 2015 outburst

The black hole binary GS 2023+338 exhibited an unprecedently bright outburst on June 2015. Since June 17th, the high energy instruments on board INTEGRAL detected an extremely variable emission during both bright and low luminosity phases, with dramatic variations of the hardness ratio on time scales of ~seconds. The analysis of the IBIS and SPI data reveals the presence of hard spectra in the brightest phases, compatible with thermal Comptonization with temperature kTe ~ 40 keV. The seed photons temperature is best fit by kT0 ~ 7 keV, that is too high to be compatible with blackbody emission from the disk. This result is consistent with the seed photons being provided by a different source, that we hypothesize to be a synchrotron driven component in the jet. During the brightest phase of flares, the hardness shows a complex pattern of correlation with flux, with a maximum energy released in the range 40-100 keV. The hard X-ray variability for E > 50 keV is correlated with flux variations in the softer band, showing that the overall source variability cannot originate entirely from absorption, but at least part of it is due to the central accreting source.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal Letter