European shares close sharply lower as a Monday panic again grips the periphery. Stoxx 50 -2.6%, Germany -2%, France -2.2%, Italy -4.1%, Spain -3.7%, U.K. -1.2%. If the last two Mondays are any predictor, European shares have bottomed for the week. Peter Lynch used to like to buy at the close on Mondays. [View news story]
There is reason to panic, but the market's not fully there yet because for some reason the market thinks QE will solve all problems. You've been preaching this "buy the panic driven dips" for a while now. Long term it makes sense, but I think we have farther to fall.
Among the Apple (AAPL) developer conference product rumors that didn't pan out: MacBook Airs with retina displays, an $800 MacBook Air, new iMacs, and (in the case of a speculative Jefferies note) the fabled Apple TV. There may be no better proof of why output from the Apple rumor mill needs to be taken with a large dose of salt. Apple shares finished down 1.6% after rallying early on, as disappointment over unrealized rumors set in. (more on AAPL) [View news story]
That has been the stock market for a long time. Buy the rumor, sell the news.
Weakness in Spanish and Italian bond markets turns into a rout, Spain's 10-year note now +23 bps to 6.45%, Italy's 10-year +24 bps to 6.01%. Madrid +1.1% after being 4.5% higher earlier. Milan -0.6%. S&P futures at session lows, +0.3%. [View news story]
"The private sector is doing fine." Pres. Obama later clarified his odd remark - private sector jobs remain 4.6M below their Jan. 2008 peak - but noted their relative strength vs. public sector job growth shows it has "not been the biggest drag on the economy." His point was that the loss of public sector jobs, down ~600K in three years, is a problem "the federal government could, with 100% certainty, fix." [View news story]
Our current President is a moron. Sad, but true. The government can fix everything and anything according to Obama. Why do we need the private sector? Obama will just raise the debt limit and throw money at your problems at the expense of the taxpayer. Thanks!
Terry: This has been the weakest post-recession jobs recovery in over 30 years. During President Obama's last 3.5 years he increased federal debt by approximately $4 trillion dollars (an unprecedented amount over a 3.5 year period). I'm glad all that money was well spent because our economy is booming now! haha. Not to mention all of his proposed government regulation which is causing companies to hit the brakes on hiring new workers. After companies cleaned house and fired so many people in late 2008 through mid-2009 it would be difficult not to have positive job growth in 2010 and 2011. Looks like his "strategies", if you can even call them that, aren't working.
"You're never going to ever achieve the necessary pool of money that you need (by) buying bonds," says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, whose February call to be 100% invested in equities came just about the time it paid to be 100% invested in bonds. The U.S. 10-year yields 1.56% vs. the S&P yield of 2%. [View news story]
Agreed. It is clearly a short term play. Treasury yields can't fall much farther for long.
"You're never going to ever achieve the necessary pool of money that you need (by) buying bonds," says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, whose February call to be 100% invested in equities came just about the time it paid to be 100% invested in bonds. The U.S. 10-year yields 1.56% vs. the S&P yield of 2%. [View news story]
You're kidding, right? My point is the market trend is risk-off, we're below the market levels from the date of his article, he made his call after a huge market rally from the lows in October 2011, all the data coming in is awful (do you see a trend and catch my drift?). It was bad advice to the mom and pop investors who might take his words as law. Look at some charts.
QE3 on the way? Think again. Just a month ago, before stocks tanked 6% in May, a bad jobs report would have been seen as a signal for Bernanke to jump back on his white horse and save the economy. But as Treasury yields plummet, the markets have already done what Bernanke would have attempted to accomplish. [View news story]
Agreed. Low rates aren't helping the economy much at all these days. Pushing Treasury rates lowering from here is a futile effort.
The Obama administration is telling Japan and other allied countries they must wait (past the election?) before moving forward on plans to buy U.S. natural gas. Several companies are seeking permits to export gas to countries lacking free-trade deals with the U.S., but LNG exports have become a hot-button topic for some lawmakers and environmentalists. (earlier) [View news story]
IMF head Lagarde tells The Guardian her agency has no intention of easing the terms of Greece's bailout package. Greeks need to help themselves by paying their taxes, she says, adding she has more sympathy for poor African children than Greek ones - interesting sentiments from one who was part of the regime that oversaw hundreds of billions transferred to financial institutions in the aftermath of the GFC. [View news story]
The U.S. has way too much federal debt because of ridiculous government spending, not tax cuts. This is a terrible use of taxpayers money and will cost us even more in the future unfortunately. Bush did increase federal debt, but Obama has increased federal debt at a much faster pace (see link below). I know what you're going to come back with, so look at how the year-over-year change in federal debt continues to rise at the same pace as it did during the 2008-2009 recession. Why the need for trillions more in government spending in 2011 and 2012 when things are going so well because of Obama's "policies" (cough, bs, cough)? You think the U.S. can generate an extra $4 trillion from increasing taxes?! I guess we'll all have no income in the future. We ultimately need to rein in outrageous government spending. As a taxpayer I didn't want the government to spend $4 trillion + so why should I have to pay for it?
@ Terry330: You should look at all the indicators to come up with an overall assessment of the economy. And the President doesn't deserve most of the credit given to how the economy performs, whether it is good or bad. You must be on Obama's re-election team or he has you brainwashed.
Market preview: U.S. stock futures are higher along with much of Europe, although not France and Spain, with the S&P benchmark +0.6%. Platitudes from the G8 that they want Greece to stay in the euro and polls showing increasing support for pro-austerity parties seem to be doing the trick. Yahoo is +4.4% on its Alibaba deal, but Facebook is -3.8% and below its IPO price, while Lowe's is -5.5% after a profit warning. [View news story]
Facebook IPO underwriter banks can't save the stock now (down 13%). It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.
The euphoria surrounding the upcoming Facebook (FB) IPO is reaching ridiculous levels, says Information Arbitrage. Retail brokers have stopped taking orders. The offering price range has been dramatically increased. And the amount of stock sophisticated investors and insiders are selling is enormous. So... What should one make of all this? Simple - buyer beware. The hype surrounding the IPO is similar to that of Blackstone's (BX -5.4%) in 2007, which has essentially been dead money ever since. [View news story]
I agree. I think Facebook will fly out of the gate and then be a dud. Everyone wants to buy. No big money will be left after the IPO.
European shares close sharply lower as a Monday panic again grips the periphery. Stoxx 50 -2.6%, Germany -2%, France -2.2%, Italy -4.1%, Spain -3.7%, U.K. -1.2%. If the last two Mondays are any predictor, European shares have bottomed for the week. Peter Lynch used to like to buy at the close on Mondays. [View news story]
Among the Apple (AAPL) developer conference product rumors that didn't pan out: MacBook Airs with retina displays, an $800 MacBook Air, new iMacs, and (in the case of a speculative Jefferies note) the fabled Apple TV. There may be no better proof of why output from the Apple rumor mill needs to be taken with a large dose of salt. Apple shares finished down 1.6% after rallying early on, as disappointment over unrealized rumors set in. (more on AAPL) [View news story]
Weakness in Spanish and Italian bond markets turns into a rout, Spain's 10-year note now +23 bps to 6.45%, Italy's 10-year +24 bps to 6.01%. Madrid +1.1% after being 4.5% higher earlier. Milan -0.6%. S&P futures at session lows, +0.3%. [View news story]
"The private sector is doing fine." Pres. Obama later clarified his odd remark - private sector jobs remain 4.6M below their Jan. 2008 peak - but noted their relative strength vs. public sector job growth shows it has "not been the biggest drag on the economy." His point was that the loss of public sector jobs, down ~600K in three years, is a problem "the federal government could, with 100% certainty, fix." [View news story]
Terry: This has been the weakest post-recession jobs recovery in over 30 years. During President Obama's last 3.5 years he increased federal debt by approximately $4 trillion dollars (an unprecedented amount over a 3.5 year period). I'm glad all that money was well spent because our economy is booming now! haha. Not to mention all of his proposed government regulation which is causing companies to hit the brakes on hiring new workers. After companies cleaned house and fired so many people in late 2008 through mid-2009 it would be difficult not to have positive job growth in 2010 and 2011. Looks like his "strategies", if you can even call them that, aren't working.
http://bit.ly/LwOIOt
http://bit.ly/Mjq6ai
http://bit.ly/MVnWAV
"You're never going to ever achieve the necessary pool of money that you need (by) buying bonds," says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, whose February call to be 100% invested in equities came just about the time it paid to be 100% invested in bonds. The U.S. 10-year yields 1.56% vs. the S&P yield of 2%. [View news story]
"You're never going to ever achieve the necessary pool of money that you need (by) buying bonds," says BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, whose February call to be 100% invested in equities came just about the time it paid to be 100% invested in bonds. The U.S. 10-year yields 1.56% vs. the S&P yield of 2%. [View news story]
May Nonfarm Payrolls: +69K vs. consensus of +150K, prior 79K (revised). Unemployment 8.2% vs 8.1% expected, 8.1% previous. [View news story]
May Nonfarm Payrolls: +69K vs. consensus of +150K, prior 79K (revised). Unemployment 8.2% vs 8.1% expected, 8.1% previous. [View news story]
http://on.wsj.com/LQvw9a
QE3 on the way? Think again. Just a month ago, before stocks tanked 6% in May, a bad jobs report would have been seen as a signal for Bernanke to jump back on his white horse and save the economy. But as Treasury yields plummet, the markets have already done what Bernanke would have attempted to accomplish. [View news story]
The Obama administration is telling Japan and other allied countries they must wait (past the election?) before moving forward on plans to buy U.S. natural gas. Several companies are seeking permits to export gas to countries lacking free-trade deals with the U.S., but LNG exports have become a hot-button topic for some lawmakers and environmentalists. (earlier) [View news story]
Does your White House team ever make a bad call?
Greece forks over €18B to recapitalize its four largest banks, allowing them to regain access to ECB funds after the central bank refused to backstop the illiquid banks last week. [View news story]
IMF head Lagarde tells The Guardian her agency has no intention of easing the terms of Greece's bailout package. Greeks need to help themselves by paying their taxes, she says, adding she has more sympathy for poor African children than Greek ones - interesting sentiments from one who was part of the regime that oversaw hundreds of billions transferred to financial institutions in the aftermath of the GFC. [View news story]
http://bit.ly/K2mc7I
May. Reuters/UofM Consumer Sentiment: 79.3 vs. 77.8 expected and 77.8 prior. [View news story]
Market preview: U.S. stock futures are higher along with much of Europe, although not France and Spain, with the S&P benchmark +0.6%. Platitudes from the G8 that they want Greece to stay in the euro and polls showing increasing support for pro-austerity parties seem to be doing the trick. Yahoo is +4.4% on its Alibaba deal, but Facebook is -3.8% and below its IPO price, while Lowe's is -5.5% after a profit warning. [View news story]
The euphoria surrounding the upcoming Facebook (FB) IPO is reaching ridiculous levels, says Information Arbitrage. Retail brokers have stopped taking orders. The offering price range has been dramatically increased. And the amount of stock sophisticated investors and insiders are selling is enormous. So... What should one make of all this? Simple - buyer beware. The hype surrounding the IPO is similar to that of Blackstone's (BX -5.4%) in 2007, which has essentially been dead money ever since. [View news story]