Market Movers Week of 21 October 2013
What We Learned From Last Week And The Next Budget Battle
by Cliff Wachtel, FX Empire
First, we look at what were the main
drivers of market sentiment, as depicted by our prime market sentiment
barometers, the top global stock indexes.
What We Read Today 22 October 2013
Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today's list.
The top of today's reading list
reviews what we learned from the financial crisis ........ and the
last article describes the global economic headwinds from ageing baby
boomers around the world.
Market Commentary: Averages Melt Up, But For How Long?
Closing Market Commentary For 10-22-2013
Markets generally melted upwards during the afternoon session on moderate volume.
By the 4 pm closing bell there was no big
sell-off or buying spree, just a moderate back and forth trading
between the bulls and bears. If you didn't know better one might think
this was normal trading day, but far from it as most savvy investors are
waiting for the other shoe to fall.
Prometheus: Hoisington and Hunt Third Quarter Report
For several years, economists Van
Hoisington and Lacy Hunt have maintained that the historic stimulus
programs implemented by the Federal Reserve following the financial
crisis in 2008 would fail to address the underlying, structural problems
that are causing persistent economic weakness in the US. In their
latest quarterly report, Hoisington and Hunt reassert their thesis [...]
Market Commentary: Averages Still High, But Enthusiasm Is Waning
Midday Market Commentary For 10-22-2013
Markets have fallen off their morning highs but continue to remain in positive territory.
By noon volume has remained moderate to heavy but declining from the morning activity. What happens next remains to be seen.
SEC Charges Diebold With FCPA Violations
from the Securities Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission
today charged an Ohio-based manufacturer of ATMs and bank security
systems with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by bribing
officials at government-owned banks with pleasure trips in order to
illicitly win business.
Australian Bushfires Cause State of Emergency in New South Wales
The
worst bushfires the Australian state of New South Wales has seen in
decades are defying all efforts to put them out. A state of emergency
was declared on Sunday.
Softer Evidence of Economic Pickup in September 2013 Sea Container Counts
Written by Steven Hansen
After two excellent months in a row, September data for both import and
export sea container movements were soft and mixed - but the three month
rolling averages continued to improve.
Read more >>
Richmond Fed Manufacturing Remains Weak in October 2013
All three regional
surveys released to date show manufacturing expanding in October 2013 -
but the Richmond Fed survey is very soft.
Market Commentary: Markets Soar Higher On The Opening Bell
Opening Market Commentary For 10-22-2013
Premarkets were up +0.10% and bumped up
to +0.30% after the 8:30 am announcement of the Jobs report adding 148 K
jobs and dropping the unemployment rate down from 7.3% to 7.2%.
However, the labor force participation rate, which gauges the proportion
of the population in the labor force, was unchanged at 63.2%.
Markets started melting up on heavy
volume at the opening bell and every 'Sheeple' was jumping in for the
ride. BY 10 am green volume was heavy, but not a record breaker by any
means. The DOW was lagging behind while the SP500 set new highs. Lots of
opening gaps were made (bearish) as the averages push higher.
Construction Growth Again Above Expectations in August 2013
Written by Steven Hansen
The data remains on the 2013 trend line, is above expectations - but rate of growth continues decelerating.
Read more >>
A Word from This Newsletter's Sponsor
URGENT: 30 Powerful Men Meet to Get Details of
Next Market Collapse
A U.S. attorney recently obtained some urgent information
about the timeline of the next stock-market collapse.
It comes from a closed-door meeting at the New York Stock
Exchange, inside a highly secured boardroom on the 6th floor.
Market Commentary: Markets Open Up - Hurray for Bad News
Opening Market Commentary For 10-22-2013
Premarkets were up and the markets opened
the same way because in the current bizarro world of the fed's money
printing threat of tapering - bad employment news is good news for the
markets. The manipulated markets prefer artificial stimulus to real
growth.
And the
BLS's job report was "not good" suggesting the Federal Reserve is unlikely to lower the pace of its asset purchases in the coming months.
BLS Jobs Situation Is Again Not Excellent in September 2013
Written by Steven Hansen
The
delayed September 2013 BLS jobs report was below expectations, and even
our analysis of the unadjusted data was disappointing.
Read more >>
Stratfor: U.S. Foreign Policy from the Founders' Perspective
By George Friedman, Founder and Chairman, Stratfor
Last
week I discussed how the Founding Fathers might view the American debt
crisis and the government shutdown. This week I thought it would be
useful to consider how the founders might view foreign policy. I argued
that on domestic policy they had clear principles, but unlike their
ideology, those principles were never mechanistic or inflexible. For
them, principles dictated that a gentleman pays his debts and does not
casually increase his debts, the constitutional provision that debt is
sometimes necessary notwithstanding. They feared excessive debt and
abhorred nonpayment, but their principles were
never completely rigid.
Read more >>
Thoughts About the JP Morgan Case
Written by Marshall Auerback, INET Economics.org
This was written after reading about the
reported $13 billion dollar settlement for JP Morgan Chase for
fraudulent mortgage securities activities.
Well, without trying to sound pornographic about it, size per se
doesn't matter. The reality is that given the amount of damage that was
inflicted on millions of American families, JP Morgan (or any bank)
couldn't begin to pay a fine that genuinely approaches the magnitude of
the harm done.
The Nobel Prize for Market Timing Goes to dot-dot-dot Cliff?
Money Morning Article of the Week
by Robert Hsu
According to the Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH), the best - and perhaps only - way to outperform the market over time is simple:
First, claim that beating the market over time is virtually impossible. Then, take home $1.2 million for "proving" it.
That was Professor Eugene Fama's approach, anyway, after co-winning the Nobel Prize in economics.
Comment on the Historic JP Morgan Settlement
Written by Elliott Morss, Morss Global Finance
The fact that JP Morgan, with its
high-powered attorneys, is now willing to offer $13 billion to settle
this and still allow at least some criminal cases to play out is highly
significant.
China: Is 16-20% Price Rise in a Year A Housing Bubble?
Econintersect:
In the U.S. the rise of average home prices by 50% over the four years
from 2003 to 2007 (annual rate of 10.7% compounded) has been considered
the mother of all American housing bubbles. This year several Chinese
cities are showing price gains year-over-year that are between 16% and
20%. This certainly sounds like a bubbly market.
Baverez: France is Ripe for Revolt
Written by Hilary Barnes
The French, and in particular France's
politicians, are always on the look out, usually in vain, for signs that
the country is about to be engulfed by one of the popular uprisings for
which it is famous, and the current unpopularity of President Francois
Hollande and his government, economic stagnation and high unemployment
are an auspicious moment for such speculation.
Infographic of the Day: Past Shutdowns & Stocks
Here's a
detailed look at how the S&P 500 performed before, during and after
the last 17 U.S. government shutdowns. But it appears stocks don't care.
Looking for a Better Way
by Roger Erickson
Everyone's "Looking for a Better Way" - How Do We As A People Actually Achieve It?
There's a steady stream of articles every
year on this topic, everywhere EXCEPT the front page of your local,
corporate media outlet.
Documentary of the Week: Steve Keen Lecture on Non-Equilibrium Economics
Econintersect:
This 40 minute lecture shows how the simplest model of labor and
capital produces non-equilibrium behavior when fitted with real data.
Furthermore, intimately related functions can both be functionally
similar but in different phases through time. Keen shows this for the
time variant modeled behavior of unemployment and wage level. The two
have an average correlation near zero, yet the two are interdependent
(strongly) with phase lags.
Gas Prices: Week Ending 21 October 2013: Just Under a Cent Gasoline Price Rise
Econintersect: Gasoline
prices rose an average of 0.5 cents nationwide this past week following
last week's fall of 1.1 cents from the week before. Since September
2nd, gas prices have declined 24.3 cents.
Average prices by region and a breakdown by grade follow after the "Read more>>".
More Than 50% of Americans View the IRS Unfavorably
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
According to a Pew survey, the majority
of Americans held a positive view of the country's federal agencies in
October 2013. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
proved the most popular - 75 percent of Americans viewed this agency
favorably while 14 percent held an unfavorable view.
