Uncertainty about the health of the global economy led investors to flee U.S. equities during Q3, primarily driven by worries about China’s growth prospects and the Federal Reserve’s decision to not raise rates. Sure, there are plenty of real and perceived headwinds, but on balance it seems that a recession here at home is not…
by Dirk Ehnts, Econoblog101 Inspired by Men Who Stare at Goats, the Macroeconomic Imbalance Procedure of the European Union ranks Germany in the category Imbalances, which require monitoring and decisive policy action. The country report on Germany from June 2015 reads: The current account consistently shows a very high surplus, which is projected to increase to 8 % of gross domestic product…
The worst stock market crashes in U.S. history have come during the month of October. There is just something about this time of the year that seems to be conducive to financial panic. For example, on October 28th, 1929 the biggest stock market crash in U.S. history up until that time helped usher in the…
The USD/JPY pair rose during the course of the session on Monday, using the 120 level as a bit of a springboard. With that, it looks like the market is favoring the upside in general, and that every time we pullback we should continue to have buyers step into this market. On top of that,…
The US dollar is trading softer though largely within yesterday’s ranges against the major currencies. The rally in equities carried over into Asia but European markets are narrowly mixed, and US shares are trading lower. Bond yields are mostly higher though US Treasury yields are paring yesterday’s push higher. The dollar-bloc continues to firm….
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) has just been upgraded to A+ status by the Morningstar credit ratings agency. This effectively means that Walt Disney offers creditors and investors a low default risk profile. The Walt Disney Company was trading at $103.78 towards the end of the trading session on Monday, 5 October 2015. The 52-week…
American Apparel has filed for bankruptcy protection. The overpriced and “trendy” clothing retailer’s board approved the petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which was filed in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. Per the New York Times, American Apparel’s business has been crippled by larges debts, a swift drop in sales, employee tensions over unionization, and drawn out legal…
The US stock market successfully tests its low I wrote in a TSI commentary published on Sunday that the S&P500 Index (SPX) appeared to have completed a successful test of its 24th August low early last week. This view meshed with the price action and the fact that by some measures, most notably the Investors…
We have just witnessed one of the most significant steps toward a one world economic system that we have ever seen. Negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership have been completed, and if approved it will create the largest trading bloc on the planet. But this is not just a trade agreement. In this treaty, Barack Obama…
Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT’s) have had a tough go of it in 2015. As the threat of higher short term rates looms overhead. I’m using the Vanguard REIT index fund (VNQ) in the chart above, which shows the prior retrace rallies have come in the vicinity of $7 off the lows. Here at $77…
