Uncertainty remains as to whether Greece will resolve its debt issues, but markets around the globe were mostly higher Tuesday and the euro recovered slightly from its earlier beatings. In the US, equity futures are pointing higher following the long weekend. One hour before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 28 points to 10,145 while the S&P 500 looks to open 4.30 points higher at 1,083.40. Last week the Dow and the S&P 500 each saw a gain of 0.9% ― for the latter it was the first weekly advance in more than a month. Commodities are also higher: WTI Crude oil is up $1.44 to $75.32 per barrel and Spot Gold is trading $12.50 higher to $1,113.60. In recent news regarding Greece, Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said Greece would have to cut…(read more)
Uncertainty remains as to whether Greece will resolve its debt issues, but markets around the globe were mostly higher Tuesday and the euro recovered slightly from its earlier beatings. In the US, equity futures are pointing higher following the long weekend. One hour before the opening bell, Dow futures are up 28 points to 10,145 while the S&P 500 looks to open 4.30 points higher at 1,083.40. Last week the Dow and the S&P 500 each saw a gain of 0.9% ― for the latter it was the first weekly advance in more than a month. Commodities are also higher: WTI Crude oil is up $1.44 to $75.32 per barrel and Spot Gold is trading $12.50 higher to $1,113.60. In recent news regarding Greece, Jean-Claude Juncker, who heads the Eurogroup of eurozone finance ministers, said Greece would have to cut…(read more)
Stock futures are sharply lower this morning after strong gains yesterday. The negative turn is in part due to overseas news as the central bank in China hiked reserve ratios by 50 basis points ― for large banks the ratio is now 16.5% and for smaller banks it is 14.5%. The dollar rallied on the news but equities and commodities sank. The New York Times noted this was the second time China has raised reserve ratios in five weeks and that this decision “came earlier than most economists had expected.” The move could slow inflation, the report said, but could also trim consumer spending as heavy borrowing has been allowing for rapid development and sales. 90 minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are down 62 points to 10,048 and futures on the S&P 500 are off 7.50 points…(read more)
Stock futures are sharply lower this morning after strong gains yesterday. The negative turn is in part due to overseas news as the central bank in China hiked reserve ratios by 50 basis points ― for large banks the ratio is now 16.5% and for smaller banks it is 14.5%. The dollar rallied on the news but equities and commodities sank. The New York Times noted this was the second time China has raised reserve ratios in five weeks and that this decision “came earlier than most economists had expected.” The move could slow inflation, the report said, but could also trim consumer spending as heavy borrowing has been allowing for rapid development and sales. 90 minutes before the opening bell, Dow futures are down 62 points to 10,048 and futures on the S&P 500 are off 7.50 points…(read more)
The Federal Reserve yesterday released an outline of their plan to remove the financial marketplace from the supportive influences of accomodative policy. Part of this outline included a statement on the fate of the Agency MBS Purchase Program. Here are the comments: "The Federal Reserve purchased $300 billion of Treasury securities and currently anticipates concluding purchases of $1.25 trillion of agency MBS and about $175 billion of agency debt securities at the end of March" Plain and Simple : NO CHANGE IN TONE FROM BERNANKE ON THE END OF THE MBS PURCHASE PROGRAM. Funds are still on schedule to run out at the end of March. While this is a necessary step in the overall recovery process, there will still be consequences to manage. Even though we have been reminded that the Treasury…(read more)
Freddie Mac today announced it would purchase " substantially all " of the seriously delinquent loans (+120 days) from their fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage Participation Certificate (PC) securities.(These are the main MBS securities at Freddie Mac). The company made the announcement Wednesday, saying that the decision to purchase the loans was a cost saving move based on criteria established in December 2007. At that time Freddie Mac said that it would, in the future, purchase loans that were 120 days or more delinquent at such time it was determined that the cost of guaranteeing payments to the holders of the securities, including advances of interest at the security coupon rate, exceeded the cost of holding the nonperforming loans in the company's mortgage related investment…(read more)
Stock markets may be reversing course after investors pushed down the Dow by 1.04% yesterday. Increased speculation that the European Union may bail out Greece is giving traders some optimism on what otherwise could be a slow day in news. One hour before the opening bell, the Dow is looking to open 66 points to 9,961 while futures on the S&P 500 Futures are up 9.10 points to 1,065. In another sign that risk may be back on the table, Crude oil is up 98 cents to $72.87 per barrel and Gold is trading $11.90 higher at $1,078.10. The US dollar, meanwhile, is trading lower. There’s not much in data that could sway markets one way or the other today. The only significant release is Wholesale Inventories, in addition to three auctions from the Treasury. Key Events Today: 10:00 ― After climbing…(read more)
A consumer survey conducted by Thomas Reuters and the University of Michigan indicates that it is sellers who are holding the housing market at low levels. In survey results released today, approximately 75 percent of homeowners who participated in the survey viewed current home buying conditions as favorable because of attractive home prices and low interest rates. However, nine out of ten of those home owners viewed the conditions for the sale of their own home as unfavorable, not because of lack of buyers, but because of price declines . The survey authors viewed these responses as predicting a long-term drag on the housing market for both economic and psychological reasons. There is, the report said, a significant barrier to purchasing a new home if the potential buyer's current home…(read more)
Equity futures are deep in the red this morning after substantial losses yesterday. The culprit continues to be European sovereign debt concerns in Greece, Portugal and Spain, which is sending European and Asian stocks rapidly south. Labor data from the US isn’t helping as jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 480k yesterday. The big questions today are how did January employment perform, and what impact can it have on the markets? Yesterday the Dow fell 268 points, or 2.61%, putting the the industrial index into four-digits for the first time since early November. The S&P 500 performed even worse as it shed 3.1% ― its worst single-day decline in nine months ― effectively erasing three months of gains. “The deepening correction in stocks has now cut the Dow 6.7% from its January…(read more)
Equity futures are deep in the red this morning after substantial losses yesterday. The culprit continues to be European sovereign debt concerns in Greece, Portugal and Spain, which is sending European and Asian stocks rapidly south. Labor data from the US isn’t helping as jobless claims unexpectedly rose to 480k yesterday. The big questions today are how did January employment perform, and what impact can it have on the markets? Yesterday the Dow fell 268 points, or 2.61%, putting the the industrial index into four-digits for the first time since early November. The S&P 500 performed even worse as it shed 3.1% ― its worst single-day decline in nine months ― effectively erasing three months of gains. “The deepening correction in stocks has now cut the Dow 6.7% from its January…(read more)
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