Morning Briefing
Permian goes from tepid to red hot again on Chevron bid for Anadarko
Chevron (CVX) has agreed to buy Anadarko Petroleum (APC) for $33 billion in cash and stock. On the news shares of Anadarko are up 32.5% to $61.85. Shares of Chevron are off 4.91% to $119.81. Measured by oil and natural gas production, the deal puts Chevron...
Brexit deadline extended to October 31–now what?
Leaders of the European Union gave the United Kingdom until October 31 to get a Brexit deal done. The decision was a rejection of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's request for a shorter extension. European Union leaders simply didn't believe May's claims that all she...
No surprises in the Fed’s minutes released today but “significant uncertainties”
According to the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting, released this afternoon, everything is on the table. Here's a quote that sums up the thrust of the minutes, in my opinion. “Several participants noted that their views of the appropriate target range for...
Now it’s the European Union on the trade war front lines
Just in case you were worried that global trade wars were in any danger of calming down, today you can relax. Trade hostilities with the European Union are heating up. On Monday the Trump administration said it would impose tariffs on $11 billion in imports from the...
Numbers on factory orders and durable goods show economy remains in not-too-strong, not-too-weak Goldilocks track
Business investment remained weak according to this mornings report on durable goods. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft--a measure of business investment--remained weak in February, falling 0.1% for the month. However, shipments of those...
Jobs numbers show solid but slow growth in U.S. economy
The U.S. economy added 196,000 net new jobs in March. That's a huge increase from the 33,000 jobs added in February (revised upward from the original 20,000) and showed that the plunge in the February jobs total was an aberration. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com...
Recessions are built on negative shifts in sentiment so today’s news isn’t good
The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index fell to 58.9 from 60 in the week ended March 31, according to a report Thursday. That's an eight-week low. Survey respondents’ sentiment on their personal finances posted the steepest two-week drop since 2015. All three main...
News reports on U.S.-China trade talks progress dominate markets
The Financial Times is reporting today that a U.S-China trade agreement is roughly 90% done. The remaining 10% includes such big problems as enforcement mechanisms for the agreement and an end to China's policy of forcing technology transfers to Chinese companies as a...
Durables disappoint for February; confirm economy’s slow growth path
Not terrible news from today's report on durables. But nothing especially good either. New orders for durable goods fell 1.6% in February. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had expected a 0.9% decline. The big damage was done by a 4.8% drop in transportation...
This week starts with reversal of last week’s pessimism on global growth
Remember last week when bond prices soared and yields plunged as everybody yelled "Recession" and fled to safety? Well, this week has started with a reversal of that sentiment on: A tick higher in manufacturing prospects in China. The official Manufacturing Purchasing...
Slow happens: Fourth quarter GDP growth gets a trim
On the one hand, the revision that takes fourth quarter U.S. GDP growth down to 2.2% from a previous estimate of 2.6% feeds right into financial market fears about a slowing economy and a looming recession. On the other hand, it looks like the financial markets...Jim’s Stock Alerts
Download Jim’s eBook for Free
