Good morning everyone. After a turbulent start to the week, the S&P 500 retraced its losses to cap the week up 1.2%. Same with the Dow while the Nasdaq did a little better – closing nearly 1.6% higher Friday. Greece’s chances of getting a bailout also look promising as pressure from both the U.S. and France puts German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a political bind. On the sadder side of the news, Egyptian-born actor Omar Sharif passed away. He was 83.
Here’s what else you should know:
Yellen seems on track to raise rates this year. Speaking to The City Club of Cleveland, Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen said that the underlying fundamentals of the U.S. economy were “solid” and that she expects “it will be appropriate at some point later this year to take the first step to raise the federal-funds rate and thus begin normalizing monetary policy.” MarketWatch
Chinese equity fund inflows soar to new highs. Despite seeing nearly $4 trillion wiped off the face of the earth, investors have flooded $13 billion into Chinese equity funds this week – the highest amount ever recorded. The vast majority of those flows however were concentrated in A-Share ETFs, exactly what Central Huijin – one of China’s sovereign funds – was instructed to start buying earlier this week, making things a little hazy. Bloomberg
Dick Fuld wins employee lawsuit. Ex-Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld had a major win Friday as a federal judge dismissed an employee lawsuit against him in New York. Former Lehman employees were hoping to hold him liable for the millions their retirement plans lost during the bank’s tragic demise. Reuters
Portugal celebrates its 14th year of drug decriminalization. Portugal’s “grand experiment” celebrates its 14th anniversary this month, and it may have a thing or two to teach proponents of the global drug war. Mises Institute
Photo credit: The International Monetary Fund via Flickr