Well, needless to say, Theresa May stole the overseas spotlight this morning when, just after 6 am EST, she called for snap elections in the UK. That triggered a knee-jerk move higher in GBP/USD and a concurrent jump in gilt yields: But it was a sharp move lower in iron ore that weighed on risk sentiment overnight as futures dropped 3.7%, following a nearly 2% move lower on Monday. As Bloomberg notes, “the raw material for steel-making entered a bear market this month as a procession of analysts, Australia’s government and even some miners said gains were unsustainable.” For whatever this is worth, Bloomberg also notes that “the...
New York-based Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC – Free Report) is one of the largest advertising, marketing and corporate communications companies in the world. OMC is expanding its global footprint and is moving into new service areas by leveraging its digital and analytical capabilities and partnering with innovative technology firms in key markets. However, OMC forms an integral part of the communications industry, which is highly competitive in nature and is susceptible to market risks of losing contracts related to media purchases and production costs. With rising operating costs and adverse currency translation effects gradually shrink...
UK Prime Minister May surprised investors by calling for a snap election on June 8. The Tory Party is ahead of Labour by over 20 percentage points. It currently enjoys a 17-seat majority in the House of Commons. The early election would put the next scheduled election in 2022, which is after the two-year Brexit negotiations are complete. The 2011 electoral law set fixed election dates. There are two ways around it. The first is a 2/3 majority vote approving of the early election. This is the course May will try first. A bill is expected to be submitted tomorrow along these lines. However, there it may not get sufficient support. That wou...
Goldman Sachs (GS) and Bank of America (BAC) released their latest quarterly earnings results before opening bell this morning. Goldman Sachs reported $5.15 per share in earnings on $8.03 billion in revenue, compared to the Wall Street estimates of $5.31 per share and $8.4 billion. In last year’s first quarter, the firm reported $2.68 per share in earnings and $6.34 billion in revenue. Bank of America reported earnings of 41 cents per share on $22.2 billion in revenue, compared to the analyst estimates of 35 cents per share and $21.6 billion in revenue. Goldman Sachs shares slump in early trading Goldman Sachs’ investment banking reven...
UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:UNH) early Tuesday posted better than expected first quarter earnings results and lifted its full-year outlook, sending its shares higher in premarket trading....
Whilst the US dollar has been in a bearish trend for the last few months, for the Japanese yen sentiment here has been the polar opposite with the yen index rising strongly in a bullish trend, in part driven by yen repatriation flows during March and coupled with a stalling in equity markets as risk on sentiment wavered. But as always with the yen, it is a question of patience, patience, and more patience, and patience is generally rewarded with the development of a longer term trend, and this has certainly been the case with the current move higher. The congestion phase here lasted for almost three months, from early January through to early...
Strong dollar or weak dollar, take your pick. The dollar took a break last week after President Donald Trump said that the dollar was too strong. U S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told the Financial Times a strong dollar was a positive in the long term. Overall this did not help the mood of the commodity sector that is acting like it had too many Easter eggs. Both precious metals and industrial metals are taking a hit and that is not helping oil as the market sells off in a light volume frenzy. Talk about rising U.S. oil output also dampened the market mood but the truth is, the increase in U.S. oil output is still just a small offset ...
An upside ‘lockout’ for sellers was not at all surprising, since virtually the entire ‘air pocket’ last Thursday was as anticipated; an ‘absence of bids’ just ahead of the dreaded military weekend. I suggested that sellers would get nowhere early Monday, and we’d go right back up again in a short-squeeze, ‘if’ we managed to avoid armed conflict with North Korea over the weekend. This remains an extended market and it’s coming back for outlined reasons as well as the technical ‘necessity’ to bring it back above a June S&P 2350 level and essentially try to reassert the ...
Financial stocks have been sliding over the last several weeks, but these companies remain comfortably in the lead for the trailing one-year return among US sectors, based on a set of proxy ETFs through Apr. 17. Financial Select Sector SPDR (XLF) is ahead by a strong 27.6% for the 12 months through Apr. 17, moderately above the number-two sector performance of 21.3% for Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK). But in a sign of what may be a leadership transition in progress, XLK has posted firmer performance in recent weeks compared with XLF. Some analysts say that slowing loan growth is a sign that financials are facing new headwinds. “The...