Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by 25 basis points; Trump, financial markets disappointed by guidance on future cuts
Today the Federal Reserve lowered its main interest rate another 25 basis points to a range of 1.75% to 2%. To say that the Fed's Open Market Committee was divided on the decision would be an extreme understatement: Five officials wanted to keep rates unchanged, while...The financial markets–and especially Treasuries–continue their September trend reversal
One way to understand of the recent market action--one way that makes sense to me--is to think of it as a big short squeeze. The drop in Treasury yields and the climb in Treasury prices went to far in August with Treasuries showing their biggest monthly gain in the...
Now it’s tit for tat “niceness” in U.S.-China trade war
Yesterday, Wednesday, September 11, President Donald Trump postponed the imposition of an additional five percentage points in tariffs on Chinese exports by two weeks. That follows on China's decision to exempt about $1.6 billion in U.S. exports to China from higher...
With newest tariff move Chinese prove again that they’re smart negotiators
Ahead of the resumption of U.S.-China trade negotiators next month China has announced a small set of exclusions--on $1.65 billion in U.S. exports to China--from 25% tariffs that were put into place last year. The exempt goods include such minor categories as alfalfa,...
Oh, those algorithms–market twitches as computers take seriously a meaningless report on China trade
China is ready to purchase more agricultural products from the United States, the South China Morning Post reported this morning. That sent U.S. stocks higher as computerized trading kicked in on the news. But the twitch didn't last long because human traders read...
China exports drop more than expected in August
China’s exports fell 1% (in  dollars) in August, China's customs administration announced on Sunday. Economists and analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had predicted that exports would increase by 2.2% . Imports dropped by 5.6% roughly in line with forecasts of a 6.4%...
Saturday Night Quarterback says, For the week ahead expect…
...lots of speculation on what the Federal Reserve will do and say about interest rates next week on September 18. What has become the routine squeaking and squawking about the U.S.-China trade war/trade talks. More fun and games from London (where the legal opinion...
Saturday Night Quarterback says (on a Sunday), For the week ahead expect…
... some things in the financial markets will be so similar to what they were before the Labor Day holiday that you might think you were never away at all. Not everything, though. Yes, the U.S.-China trade war will still be hanging fire. And the tariffs on $112...
I wish today’s gains were more convincing
Solid gains for U.S. stocks today, August 29. The Standard & Poor's 500 closed up 1.27%; the Dow Jones Industrial Average ahead 1.25; and the NASDAQ Composite gained 1.48%. But the lost some steam at the end of the day. But this was a low volume day ahead of a...
It’s just analysis, but reports say China’s Xi has a Trump trust problem
With the proviso that no one is inside the head of Chinese President Xi Jinping (except Xi himself) and that this is all speculative analysis which carries it's own bias, I think it's worth taking seriously reports that Xi may have a Trump problem that makes it almost...
Risk and uncertainty soared on Friday–and not for the reasons you might first think
The Chinese decision on Friday of last week to retaliate to earlier U.S. tariffs by slapping a 10% duty on $75 billion in U.S. exports to China certainty ratcheted up the financial market and economic uncertainty. They took the current U.S.-China trade war to a new...Jim’s Stock Alerts
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