Markets bet that Fed will follow ECB this week to announce something “spectacular”
Gotta love that financial market enthusiasm for central banks. Last week the markets rallied on signals from the European Central Bank that it would cut its key interest rate--now at a negative 0.40%--to a negative -0.50%, lower the rates that banks pay to borrow...
Saturday Night Quarterback says, For the week ahead expect…
... well, expect that nothing much else will matter if the yuan-dollar exchange rate moves noticeably up or down this week. In a normal week, investors and traders would be studying reports on inflation (CPI), retail sales, initial claims for unemployment, oil...
People’s Bank signals that yuan devaluation will be orderly
U.S. stocks rallied strongly today, Thursday, August 8, after the People's Bank of China set its daily reference rate for its currency at 7.0039 to the dollar. That was stronger than the 7.0156 yuan to the dollar overnight estimate of 21 analysts and trader surveyed...No let up in President Trump’s pressure on the Fed to cut interest rates faster
More tweets today from President Donald Trump in his campaign to pressure the Federal Reserve into more aggressive cuts to interest rates. “Incompetence is a terrible thing to watch, especially when things could be taken care of sooo easily. We will WIN anyway,” the...
A rally in tech shares disguises return to risk off trading
Shares of Apple (AAPL) climbed 0.21% to lead the Technology Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLK) higher by 0.40% as of 2 p.m. trading in New York. That helped disguise what is otherwise a return to the risk off trading of Monday after Tuesday's rally--although with smaller...
People’s Bank signals its goal of an orderly retreat in China’s yuan, and markets recover–somewhat
Stocks rallied today on signs that the People's Bank intends to deliver an orderly drop in China's currency. This morning the yuan traded slightly above the critical 7 yuan to the dollar currency band. And the bank said it will sell $4.2 billion in yuan bills in Hong...
Financial markets fear what comes next in U.S.-China trade war
It would be unwise to assume that today's retaliation by China is the last tit for tat in the U.S.-China war. What "reasonable" fears are making rounds today? That the Chinese decision to let the yuan break the 7-yuan-to-the-dollar barrier isn't the end of the slide...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...
President’s remarks remind markets there’s still a trade war going on
At a cabinet meeting today President Donald Trump wanted to remind everyone that he could still impose additional tariffs on Chinese imports if he wants. The President also expressed impatience that the truce in the trade war with China hadn't yet resulted in a pickup...
China and Singapore show continued weakness in global economy
Trade analysts call Singapore's export-driven economy the canary in the coal mine for the global economy. In which case that canary is looking kind of wobbly lately. Singapore's GDP contracted at an annualized 3.4% rate in the second quarter. That's the biggest...
July interest rate cut from Fed looks like done deal after Powell testimony
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell had an opportunity this morning to talk down the odds of an interest rate cut at the central bank's July 31 meeting in testimony in front of the House Financial Services Committee. He didn't--and I think that makes a 25 basis point...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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