Morning Briefing
Decent job growth in July; bond market prices in 100% chance of another interest rate cut on September 18
The U.S. economy added 164,000 jobs in July. That's down from the 193,000 jobs added in June (revised down from an initial 224,000) and slightly higher than the 160,000 jobs forecast by economists surveyed by Briefing.com At 3.7% the headline unemployment rate was...
Trump’s new round of China tariffs freaks out financial–especially bond–markets
So much for any hopes that the resumption of U.S-China trade talks would put an end to the tariff war in anything like the near term. The new round of talks only began on Wednesday, was adjourned after a day, and was scheduled to resume in Washington in September....
Fed cuts interest rates by 25 basis points; financial markets want more, more, more
Today the Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee cut the Fed's benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points. That's pretty much what the financial markets had been expecting--although a sizable minority of investors and traders had been hoping for a deeper cut of 50...
President Trump bashes China as trade talks resume
At the least the timing seems odd. Unless, of course, you believe, as President Donald Trump may, that China and its President Xi Jinping can be bullied into a trade deal. Speaking with reporters outside the White House as he headed for Jamestown, Virginia, Trump...Wall Street falling “in like” with gold
We don't know--precisely--what the Federal Reserve will do at the meeting of its interest-rating-setting Open Market Committee on Wednesday July 31. The odds on the CME FedWatch Tool say there's a 100% chance of an interest rate cut but there's still disagreement...
Goldilocks is alive and well, thanks to the U.S. consumer
The U.S. economy grew at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.1% in the second quarter, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported this morning. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com had projected that year over year growth in GDP would fall to 1.8%. So today's number...
A pause before tomorrow’s GDP report–and on worries about global growth
U.S. stocks paused as expected today ahead of tomorrow's initial report on growth in U.S. GDP for the second quarter. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com are expecting that GDP growth dipped to 1.8% year over year in the quarter, down from 3.1% in the first quarter....
Caterpillar earnings miss big, drag on industrials and Dow
Caterpillar (CAT) reported second quarter earnings this morning of $2.83 a share, well below the $3.11 a share expected by Wall Street analysts. And then, to make the future as grim as the present, Caterpillar rearmed its earnings guidance for the fiscal 2019 year of...
Justice Department to step up antitrust scrutiny of Facebook, Alphabet, Amazon and Apple
According to the Wall Street Journal this afternoon, the Justice Department is opening a broad antitrust review into whether dominant technology firms are unlawfully stifling competition. "The new antitrust inquiry is the strongest signal yet of Attorney General...
Could that be a debt ceiling/budget deal I see?
The White House and congressional Democrats are nearing a deal to raise the debt ceiling for two years and fund the government, CNBC, the Wall St Street Journal and other sources are reporting today. The deal would suspend the debt ceiling limit for two years and put...
The market dangers of this incompetent Federal Reserve
Add Thursday's remarks by New York Fed President John Williams to those of Fed chair Jerome Powell back in December and the record shows this team at the Fed is the "Gang that Couldn't Talk Straight." In December Powell sent the markets tumbling when he implied that...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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