Corporate Earnings and Deals Attract Attention

Earnings season has kicked off this morning on a positive note. Delta Air Lines ($1.71 vs Street $1.53, up 7.3% premarket) and Pepsico ($2.29 vs Street $2.26) both beat expectations. Clothier, Levi Strauss, reports after the close today. Big deals in the Technology sector also continue to attract attention. Softbank* gained over 11% in Japanese […]
Metals and Oil Keep Climbing

With a 1.5% gain, Gold has blasted through $4,000/oz and continues to advance. It’s another good day for metals overall with Silver up 2.4%, Platinum up 2.3% and Copper up 0.4%. Meanwhile, the price of Oil continues it’s post-OPEC+ meeting rebound with a 1.7% gain so far today. Oil has ignored a larger than expected […]
Metals Approach Big Numbers

Metals continue to march higher today with significant round numbers in sight. Gold is up 0.5% today and has moved within a few dollars of the $4,000/oz level. Silver is holding steady near $48.50/oz, within striking distance of the $50.00 level where it peaked in 1981 and 2011. Copper is up 1.0% today, trading back […]
Politics and Mergers Move Markets on Monday

With the US government still shut down, investor focus has turned to developments elsewhere, particularly related to politics and corporate actions. The Nikkei soared 4.75% overnight on the news that Sanae Takaichi, a known conservative, has been elected as the new leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. On the other hand, the CAC is […]
Service PMI Reports and OPEC+ Meeting In Focus

With the US Government still shut down, there is no Nonfarm Payrolls report today. Service PMI reports have been rolling out overnight. Australia and Japan were better than expected, Europe has been a mixed bag. US ISM Service PMI (street 51.7) is due at 10:00 am EDT. Equity markets are mixed heading toward the weekend. […]
Overseas Stocks Soar Overnight

Stock markets around the world continue their strong start to the month and quarter. Overnight, the Hang Seng rallied 1.6% while the Nikkei gained 0.9%. In Europe, the Dax and CAC are both up 1.4%. The FTSE and Dow Futures are both quiet this morning, NASDAQ futures are up 0.6%. This suggests a broad based […]
US Stocks Slide as Government Shuts Down and Payrolls Disappoint

With US politicians failing to reach a budget deal, the US Government has started to shut down, negatively impacting sentiment toward US equities. US index futures are down 0.3% to 0.5%, giving back all of yesterday’s 0.2%-0.4% index gains and more. Equity markets in other parts of the world, meanwhile, have kicked off October with […]
Crude Oil Selloff Continues

The last trading day of the month and the quarter finds a number of markets which have staged strong performance lately backsliding a bit. US index futures are down 0.2%-0.3%, Gold is down 0.4% and Silver is down 1.4%. Some reports have suggested that this could be related to concerns over a potential US government […]
Oil Retreats on Increasing Supply

The price of Crude Oil is under pressure, falling 1.9% this morning. Over the weekend, exports from Iraq’s Kurdistan region resumed. In addition, traders have been speculating that OPEC+ may agree to an additional supply increase when it meets later this week. The new trading week is off to a positive start for stocks. US […]
Equities Pop on Inflation and Income Data

In the minutes following the release of new US economic data, equities have gone back into rally mode, shrugging off yesterday’s pullback. US personal income (0.4% vs Street 0.3%) and US personal spending (0.6% vs Street 0.5%) both beat Street expectations, indicating a robust economy. Meanwhile, core PCE inflation held steady at 2.9%, indicating inflation […]