Yesterday’s upbeat report on consumer spending and income in the US provides fresh support for last week’s moderately hawkish comments from Fed officials, who hinted that another interest-rate hike is near, perhaps as early as next month’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. Yet support for pricing in a new round of policy tightening is modest at best via Treasury yields. Is that because job growth is expected to slow in this Friday’s employment report for July after two months of strong increases? Total nonfarm payrolls are on track to rise by a moderate 175,000 in August, according to Econoday.com’s consensus forecast....
The European Commission has concluded that Ireland granted undue tax benefits of up to EUR13B to Apple. This is illegal under EU state aid rules, because it allowed Apple to pay substantially less tax than other businesses. Ireland must now recover the illegal aid. Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of competition policy, said: “Member States cannot give tax benefits to selected companies – this is illegal under EU state aid rules. The Commission’s investigation concluded that Ireland granted illegal tax benefits to Apple, which enabled it to pay substantially less tax than other businesses over many years. In fact, ...
OVERNIGHT MARKETS AND NEWS Sep E-mini S&Ps (ESU16 -0.03%) are little changed, down -0.01%, as a nearly 2% loss in Apple in pre-market trading limits the upside in U.S. stocks. Apple retreated after it was ordered to pay back $14.5 billion when the European Commission said Ireland illegally slashed Apple’s tax bill. European stocks are up +0.85% at a 2-week high led by gains in bank stocks and with strength in European exporters as EUR/USD tumbled to a 2-week low. Gains in European equities were limited as mining stocks fell after the price of copper (HGU16 +0.17%) dropped -0.02% to a 2-1/4 month low. Asian stocks settled mostly...
Four years ago, in July 2012, an influx of investors in the U.S. real estate market began buying up homes at an accelerated rate, which prompted a sharp rise in median new home sale prices, which lasted for a year. During that time, the trailing twelve month average of median new home sale prices rose at a rate of $2,476 per month. After July 2013 however that phase of rapid inflation in median new home sale prices came to an end and the trailing year average of median new home sale prices then began escalating at the slower rate of $1,511 per month as the investor activity that had fueled the previous escalation in prices began to abate. T...
Gold is one of the favorite trading instruments in the precious metals asset class. Its appeal ranges from the intraday trader/speculator to investors involved in actual purchasing of the bullion. Well known for its status as a safe haven currency, some liken gold to the default currency for mankind. It is no wonder then that gold attracts a lot of attention, from fundamental analysis to the more technical trading strategies with gold. This is largely because gold can be traded in many ways such as spot gold (XAU/USD), gold futures (GC), gold ETF’s (GLD), and even gold (miner) stocks such as Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) or Goldcorp Inc. (GG). G...
<< Read Part 1: On Pricing Grids Photo Credit: Doug Waldron -==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Before I write this evening, I would like to point out what is going on with Horsehead Holdings [ZINCQ]. There was an article in the New York Times on it recently. It’s an interesting situation where an equity committee exists in a bankruptcy, largely because the management team looks like it is not trying to maximize the value of the bankruptcy estate, but is perhaps instead trying to sell the company off to creditors cheaply in an effort to receive a benefit later from the new owners. Worth a look, because if the equity commit...
Until the announcement moments ago by the EU that Apple have been ordered to pay up to €13 billion in illegal tax benefits, the quiet overnight market had been focused on the upcoming comments by Stanley Fischer, who is set to give a Bloomberg TV interview at 6:30am ET, where he was expected to expand on his recent hawkish comments. Heading into Fischer’s appearance, the dollar strengthened, global stocks rose, oil hovered around $47, while US index futures were largely flat and Treasuries fell. Between Fischer and this Friday’s payrolls report, there is hope on Wall Street that the Fed’s rate hike expectations will be mad...
USD/JPY struggled to settle under the round 100 level. When something cannot go down, it comes back up. The relatively hawkish speech by Janet Yellen in Jackson Hole and the subsequent “clarification” by Vice Chair Stanley Fischer sent the dollar screaming across the board. This greenback rally was also felt in USD/JPY, which topped 102. This might be a chance for the Bank of Japan to push the pair even higher. BOJ Governor Kuroda also spoke in Wyoming and left the door open for more monetary stimulus, but the weakness of the yen could come sooner and from outright intervention rather than new policy measures. “Make the trend your f...
Yesterday’s UK Holiday kept the markets somewhat calm. JPY was the weakest major currency yesterday due to the expectation of Bank of Japan easing in the near term while the US dollar continues to strengthen against the majors. Looking ahead, UK will release mortgage approvals and M4, US will release consumer confidence during US session later in today. Currencies: The Canadian dollar weakened to a two-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil fell, although it pared some losses as investors reduced bets for a U.S. interest rate hike as soon as September. AUD/USD and NZD/USD have also been well contained and capped by y...