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Please watch my new YouTube video Hot Money moves: China buys gold

Please watch my new YouTube video Hot Money moves: China buys gold

Today’s Hot Money Moves NOW is China Buys More Gold. Gold seems like a good asset to own right now but it’s also trading at record highs. So while gold is safe, especially if inflation goes up, how much higher do you expect gold to go? One thing to look at it is who is emerging as a buyer. Central banks have been buying gold to hedge risks and diversify, which has contributed to the record highs. Recently, the Chinese government announced that 10 big Chinese insurance companies will now be allowed to put up to 1% of their portfolios into gold. This hasn’t been allowed in the past and will provide about $27 billion for new gold buying. This is also just another sign that countries and businesses are looking to hedge risk by buying gold and it’s one of the safer places to be in an uncertain market.

China readies antitrust probe of Apple

China readies antitrust probe of Apple

China’s antitrust watchdog, the State Administration for Market Regulation, is laying the groundwork for a potential probe into Apple’s (AAPL) app store policies and the fees it charges app developers. Apple policies under scrutiny include the cut of as much as 30% on in-app spending that Apple collects and the company’s policy of barring external payment services and stores. The news is a reminder that China has weapons other than tariffs to employ in any trade war with the Trump Administration.

Please watch my new YouTube video: The Fed is caught between a rock and a hard place

Please watch my new YouTube video: The Fed is caught between a rock and a hard place

Today’s video is the Fed is between a rock and a hard place. Inflation has been stuck around 2.8% and the Fed would like to get it down to 2%. In January, the Fed paused any movement on interest rates but Wall Street remained hopeful for two cuts in 2025. The March 19 meeting will include a dot plot that will outline whether or not the central bank is thinking about any cuts for 2025. The problem is the Fed doesn’t know where the economy is going. There are too many uncertainties surrounding constantly changing Trump tariffs as well as the expected tax cut bill (which will result in higher yields and a market and economic stimulus). The budget also remains an unanswered question. These uncertainties, with the Fed also under huge political pressure from the Trump administration to make interest rate cuts, catch the Fed between a rock and a hard place and we won’t know how the Fed plans to address its dilemma until March.

Saturday Night Quarterback Part 2, on a Sunday says, For the week ahead expect…

Saturday Night Quarterback Part 2, on a Sunday says, For the week ahead expect…

This week its earnings, earnings, and earnings. From the tech giants and more. This week, we’ll discover three things. First, are tech company earnings as good as the market clearly expects. I think that with the exception of Apple (AAPL) and Tesla (TSLA) the answer will be Yes. Second, how much of this good news is already priced into the recent rally. These stocks could retreat even on news that’s as good as expected. An advance will, I think, require a surprise or two. And, third, how worried is Wall Street really, given the recent boom in all things AI, about capital spending at the big AI companies and falling profit margins.

Apple’s iPhone sales dove in China for the December quarter

Apple’s iPhone sales dove in China for the December quarter

Sales of Apple’s iPhones dove 18.2% in China during the December quarter, according to independent research firm Counterpoint Research. The company’s flagship handsets, China’s top sellers a year earlier, relinquished the top spot to Huawei Technologies. Apple slipped to third in the world’s largest smartphone market over the three months with a market share of roughly 15%. The drop in China drove a global slump of 5% in iPhone sales during the key shopping period, Counterpoint reported.

Drill baby, drill pledge sends oil prices down today

Drill baby, drill pledge sends oil prices down today

Oil slid as U..S President Donald Trump promised to boost U.S. crude production. Brent crude retreated almost 1% to near $80 a barrel.

Apple’s iPhone sales dove in China for the December quarter

Apple’s fourth quarter iPhone stumble is bad news for stocks

Apple (AAPL) sold 5% fewer iPhones globally and lost ground to Chinese rivals in the last quarter of 2024.
The iPhone slipped a percentage point to a 18% worldwide market share in 2024, according to Counterpoint Research data. rival Samsung Electronics also gave up share to Android smart phone makers from China, led by Xiaomi and Vivo. For the full year, Apple saw a 2% decline in sales, according to Counterpoint Research. In 2024 the global smart phone market grew by 4%.

Jobs surprise–economy delivers stronger than expected performance in December

Jobs surprise–economy delivers stronger than expected performance in December

In December U.S. economy in December added the most jobs since March and the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell. Nonfarm payrolls increased 256,000, exceeding all but one forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, while average hourly earnings rose 0.3% from November, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report showed Friday. For 2024 as a whole, the economy added 2.2 million jobs—-below the 3 million increase in 2023 but above the 2 million created in 2019. The data almost certainly assured that the Federal Reserve would not cut interest rates at its January 29 meeting. As of 11 a.m. New York time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury had climbed another 5 basis points to 4.74%.

China’s deflation problem got worse in December

China’s deflation problem got worse in December

China’s consumer price index rose 0.1% in December from a year earlier, in line with the median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Factory deflation extended into a 27th month, though the producer price index recorded a slower drop of 2.3%, the National Bureau of Statistics said Thursday. For the full year, consumer prices only inched up 0.2% from 2023, well short of the 1.1% gain economists had predicted at the beginning of 2024.

Fed’s December minutes another nail in the coffin for early interest rate cuts

Fed’s December minutes another nail in the coffin for early interest rate cuts

In minutes from the Federal Reserve’s December 17-18 meeting released on Wednesday, January 8, Federal Reserve officials clearly decided to move more slowly on cutting interest rates in the quarters ahead. “Participants indicated that the committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing,” minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee showed. “Many participants suggested that a variety of factors underlined the need for a careful approach to monetary policy decisions over coming quarters.” Please note the reference to “quarters” and not “months.”

More bad news for stocks from the bond market today

More bad news for stocks from the bond market today

The 20-year Treasury bond, a laggard on the government debt curve since its re-introduction in 2020, topped 5% Wednesday for the first time since 2023. The move looks to be fueled by concern that President-elect Donald Trump’s policies on tariffs and tax cuts will lead to wider deficits and rekindle inflation.