In a weekend of little macro newsflow facilitated by the release of the latest Star Wars sequel, the biggest political and economic event was the Spanish general election which confirmed the end of the PP-PSOE political duopoly at national level, with Rajoy’s leading block losing the absolute majority it had enjoyed since the last elections…
There is a mixed picture in Asia today as Chinese stocks are trading higher while Japanese Stocks are trading in the red, in a low volatility environment caused by the general lack of investor speculation amid a holiday week. The USD is slightly stronger against a basket of currencies while Gold dropped to 1066…
The Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate to 0.25-0.50%, the first since Dec 2008. The Fed had cut the rate at a time when the economy had slipped into recession, and a hike now indicates that the economy is largely healed to shoulder the same. Of course, the economy is not in bad…
Despite the outcome of Spain’s election which sent Mariano Rajoy, the Prime Minister, back into the seat of power, the Euro was able to hold its own. According to exit polls in Spain, the People’s Party failed to win a majority of seats in Parliament meaning that the Prime Minister could have some difficulty in…
Equities in emerging markets bounced higher last week, jumping 3.4% for the five trading days through Dec. 18 via the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets ETF (VWO). The gain–the first weekly advance since mid-November–marks the strongest performance among the major asset classes for the week just passed, based on a set of proxy funds. Although last week’s rally…
Last week,Microsoft has received a key upgrade from analysts at Goldman Sachs, who have admitted that the call they made more than two years ago was wrong. The stock has gained 84% since April 11, 2013, outperforming the S&P 500’s 29% gain over the same time frame. The Goldman team said they’ve upgraded the stock from Sell to Neutral and raised…
Asian stock markets reacted positively to the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) interest rate increase decision last week. The decision taken by the Fed on Wednesday was for an increase of the U.S. benchmark rate – the overnight interbank lending rate – from 0.25% to 0.5%, for the first time in almost a decade. The Fed decided…
At the FOMC meeting last week, the Fed raised interest rates for the first time since 2006. This was a historic moment marks the first rate hike after the Fed engaged in massive quantitative easing programs to combat the Global Financial Crisis and the Great Recession. However, we are not economists or economic historians. We…
The physical brick-and-mortar retailer for individuals who believe they are “too good” to set foot in a Walmart store (WMT – Analyst Report), Target (TGT – Analyst Report) is developing its own version of a mobile wallet. (Also read “Wal-Mart Pay: Is It a Threat to Other Mobile Payment Options?” for information on that subject.) Image via corporate.target.com Reuters reports that…
Although the Euro did experience a tremendous bounce following the latest European Central Bank monetary policy decision, the Yen continues to strengthen on the back of no additional measures from the Bank of Japan after the economy managed to narrowly avoid another recession. Challenging global trade conditions combined with persistent deflationary pressures at the doors…
