Category: Markets
Chart of the Day: Dollar Top or Breakout?
Tough to bet on a triple top here. Looks like 82.60 is the next key level, which is the .618 fib retracement of the June 7, 2010/May 2, 2011 move
Full Text: Swiss National Bank Chairman, Philipp Hildebrand, resigns with immediate effect
The Swiss franc is moving up strongly on this news from the Swiss National Bank
Euro Pops to Start Week
In a Tokyo-less Asian session the dollar had begun the week bid, but this quickly reversed in early Europe, which saw the euro rise more than a cent off the $1.2666 low. It was largely a short-covering bounce, but as North American players take their posts, it is running out of steam, unable to take out the $1.28 level and trigger another round of short covering. Sentiment toward the single currency is still overwhelmingly bearish, but seems to be a growing sense that it may have come too far too fast
Markets Vanish – “In a Flash”
Government interference extends unstable market conditions longer than would otherwise be true. By doing so, George Eliot’s observation (at the bottom, here) is even more appropriate in
The fireworks will start with Spain or Italy
Here’s what I had to say about Europe on Capital Account with Lauren Lyster on Thursday night. I’m not bullish on the real economy there (but I still expect relative share outperformance due to lower P/Es). The US is having a bit of a data surge to the upside: housing, employment, manufacturing, all of these numbers have been better of late
Why Spain may be More Worrisome than Italy
At the end of last year, Italian 10-year yields were more than 200 bp on top of Spain. The spread has narrowed in recent days, but is still well beyond the euro era average of about 10 bp and the late 2008 extreme near 65 bp. There is more room for Italy to outperform Spain
Refunding Fears Take Toll on Europe
One of the key factors behind the poor sentiment toward the euro, which was pressed to new 13 month lows in Europe today, is the challenge posed by the sovereign and bank refunding needed this year, while rating downgrades loom around the corner. Euro zone sovereigns have an estimated 800 bln euros of debt servicing and spending to fund this year, while the banks have a little bit more
Jeffrey Gundlach’s Bond Outlook
Here’s the skinny on how Jeffrey Gundlach sees the best tactical bond market approach for US-based investors
Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2012
As always, I present you Byron Wien’s Ten Surprises for 2011. He is bullish yet again – on both the US and emerging markets
Dollar Comes Back Bid
The US dollar has come back bid today after yesterday’s rather shallow correction. Euro sellers re-emerged as the single currency approached its 20-day moving average for the first time in a couple of weeks. Although the PMIs are a bit better, it does not change the underlying economic picture. Nor does it impact the real concern about the sovereign and bank debt roll-over
A Tale of Two Markets
The Shanghai has turned down this evening after opening up and looks to continue the downtrend. That is one ugly chart. Meanwhile, the S&P500 looks like it really wants to resolve its wedge formation to the upside. After a year of head fakes, bull and bear traps, traders may have lost a little trust in the charts, however. A good employment number on Friday may provide a nice catalyst for some resolution
Chart of the Day: S&P500 2011 Heat Map
A visual representation of how stocks in the S&P 500 fared in 2011 with Green for gains and red for losses