China Selloff Continues, US Consolidates Gains

China-sensitive markets continued their retreat overnight and into this morning. Shanghai fell 6.6% while Hong Kong fell another 1.4%. Copper remains under pressure falling another 1.0%. Crude Oil was soft overnight but has been bouncing back this morning. In addition to China, energy prices continue to be impacted by forces outside of demand including the […]
Commodities Fall as China Bears Strike Back

Sometimes no news is bad news. Sentiment toward China and related markets had improved dramatically over the last couple of weeks on anticipation of new stimulus for its struggling economy. That came to an abrupt end after comments by Chinese economic officials had no new commentary or details on stimulus. This news sent the Hang […]
Stocks Slide and Yields Rise To Start the Week

When looking at how equity markets respond to news we usually consider what does the news mean for liquidity (stocks like falling interest rates) and the economy (stocks like a positive environment for corporate earnings). Coming out of Friday’s very strong US Nonfarm Payrolls report, traders focus was that it was good for the economy […]
Nonfarm Payrolls Big Beat Sends Stocks Soaring

US nonfarm payrolls came in well above expectations (254K vs street 140K) sparking a surge in US index futures trading. The three main contracts are now up 0.3% to 0.8% with Nasdaq futures leading the way higher. Index futures had already been trending upward overnight on the news that US port workers agreed to call […]
Pound Plunge, Oil Rally and Employment Data In Focus Today

The China driven rally in equities and commodities of the last week appears to be fading. Hong Kong lost 1.4% overnight, Tokyo, which has been trading opposite to China markets in recent days, bounced back by nearly 2.0%. US index futures are down today, falling 0.1%-0.3%, as are most European indices, including losses of 0.4% […]
Oil Rallies on Growing Mideast Conflict

Iran’s missile attack against Israel sparked a rally in oil prices which has continued into today on fears that hostilities in the region could potentially escalate further. This morning US Crude Oil is up 3.0%, while Brent Crude is up 2.7%. Gold through this has been digesting previous gains, trading down 0.6% this morning near […]
US Dollar and Gold Rally Around Powell, Ports and PMIs

October is off to a quiet start for US equities with US index futures trading flat to down 0.25%. European bourses, meanwhile are climbing today with the Dax up 0.5% and the FTSE up 0.6%. Europe’s market party appears to be in response to Manufacturing PMI reports which came in even with or better than […]
Stocks and Commodities Sink as Focus Turns to Economic Troubles

The last day of the month and the quarter saw China finish strong with gains of 8.1% (no that is not a typo) for Shanghai, and 2.4% for Hong Kong. Unlike last week, however, this momentum has not carried into other world stock markets or commodities as focus has turned to mounting economic problems. In […]
China Rally Continues as Canada GDP Beats Expectations

World stock markets continue to rally heading into the weekend. Chinese equities continued to soar overnight on talk of monetary and fiscal stimulus as Hong Kong gained 3.5% and Shanghai soared another 2.8%. Positive momentum has continued into Europe, where the Dax is up 1.2% and the FTSE is up 0.3%. US index futures are […]
China Stimulus, Micron Earnings and Saudi Oil Production In Focus Today

Stock markets around the world have been rallying overnight and into this morning after Chinese President Xi and the country’s Politburo indicated that not only do they support the PBOC’s recent monetary stimulus moves, they also support using fiscal stimulus to support China’s economy and real estate market. On this news, Hong Kong rallied 4.2% […]