Monthly Archives: January 2012
Personal Income: Prior 0.1%, Market Expects 0.4%, Actual 0.5%… Consumer Spending Unch, and the PCE Core is Up 0.2%
A Golden Cross is Expected to Occur Shortly in the S&P Chart; See What Happens Afterward Going Back to 1930
Data Preview: Many Things to Focus on This Week
Missing MF Global Funds May Never Be Recovered
TIPS Start to Out Pace Treasuries
Euro Zone Confidence Grows Slower Than Expected
ABB Offers $3.9 Billion for Thomas and Betts
Italian Bond Auction Fairs Well Despite Fitch Downgrade
Go figure; a downgrade would have sent rates to the moon three months ago, but now yields went down into an Italian auction. Most expect European auctions to sail smoothly this week.
Comments »China Holds Off on Reducing Bank Reserves
Bank of Canada Says Volcker Needs Reform or it Will Hamper Liquidity
Exxon Mobil Sells Japanese Refining Unit for $3.9 Billion
The Euro and European Markets Fall on Over Extended Debt Talks That Find No Resolve
The EU indicated over the weekend that Greece should give up their control of finances to the ECB. This point has been irking the Greeks and hampering resolve.
Comments »Asian Markets Fall on Concerns China May Not Ease
Global Markets Sell Off…..But For How Long ?
ALERT: EUROPE NEEDS TO RAISE $29 BILLION IN BOND SALES THIS WEEK
Italy auctions as much as 6 billion euros of five- and 10- year debt today, along with securities due in April 2016 and March 2021. Belgium sells as much as 3 billion euros of bills tomorrow, with Spain, Portugal, Germany and France issuing 13 different maturities in the five days.
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Sarkozy Announces French Financial Transaction Tax
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans to introduce a tax on financial transactions.
The 0.1% levy will be introduced in August regardless of whether other European countries follow suit.
The tax is part of a package of measures set out by the president to promote growth and create jobs.
Mr Sarkozy faces a presidential election in April, but is currently trailing in the opinion polls behind his Socialist rival, Francois Hollande.
In an interview with French television, Mr Sarkozy said he hoped the tax would push other countries to take action.
“What we want to do is create a shockwave and set an example that there is absolutely no reason why those who helped bring about the crisis shouldn’t pay to restore the finances,” he said.
“We hope the tax will generate one billion euros ($1.3bn, £0.8bn) of new income and and thus cut our budget deficit.”
Mr Sarkozy gave no further details on the tax, but a government source later told Reuters news agency it would target shares and not bonds.
Read the rest here.
Comments »3 Months After The MF Global Bankruptcy, We Find That $1.2 Billion (Or More) In Client Money Has “Vaporized”
Submitted by Tyler Durden
On the three month bankruptcy anniversary of the company whose rehypothecation gimmicks will one day be seen as a harbinger of everything that is broken with the multi-trillion ponzi system, but not just yet despite loud warnings otherwise, we are getting close to a final verdict of where the $1.2 billion (and possibly more as originally predicted by Zero Hedge – see below) in commingled client money may have gone. Note the use of the passive voice because using the active, as in money that MF Global executives stole from clients, is prohibited in a legal system in which nobody goes to jail for something as modest as $1.2 billion in theft. That verdict? “Vaporized.”
Read the rest here.
Comments »The Weekend Is Over And Markets Are Sliding
Well actually the weekend has been over for awhile now, but yes, the tone is negative to start the week.
Many markets are down over 0.5%, including US futures, and Japan’s Nikkei, which is shown here.
Forget Stocks—Chinese Turn Bullish on Booze and Caterpillar Fungus
BEIJING—For generations, Chinese men looking for a dose of vigor have sworn by a traditional remedy: fungus harvested from dead caterpillars, known in some quarters these days as Himalayan Viagra.
Now Chinese investors are using the rare fungus to try to boost something else—their investment returns. The fungus has doubled in price over the past two years and the top grade now fetches more than $11,500 a pound, according to Fuzhou-based brokerage firm Industrial Securities.
With Chinese stocks falling, real-estate markets flat and bank deposits offering measly returns, Chinese investors have been looking for help in strange places. Besides traditional medicinal products, they are plowing money into art-based stock markets, homegrown liquors, mahogany furniture and jade, among other decidedly non-Western asset classes.
Read the rest here.
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