Trade War Focus Turns To China

Stocks and currencies have stabilized overnight after President Trump postponed the implementation of tariffs against Canada and Mexico for one month after agreements were reached to improve border security. New 10% tariffs continue, however, and China has retaliated with new tariffs against some US goods and regulatory investigations against some US companies. This morning finds […]
Focus Returns to Earnings and Interest Rates

While the tech sector plunge took most of the attention Monday it ended up being more of a rotational day between sectors as the deep dives of 3.1% for the NASDAQ and 1.5% for the S&P were partly offset by a 0.6% gain for the Dow Industrials. Today US index futures have stabilized trading between […]
New Competition in AI Crushes Tech Stocks

The emergence of a new Chinese competitor in the Artificial Intelligence area, called DeepSeek, has sparked a severe and abrupt change in sentiment toward AI related stocks. Nvidia, who had been the darling of the group for over a year, is down 11.5% in premarket trading and NASDAQ futures are down 3.5%. S&P futures are […]
Investors Digest PMI and Earnings Reports

US index futures are trading flat to down 0.2% as traders pause to catch their breath at the end of a busy week and position for next week’s round of mega cap earnings reports. Overseas, Hong Kong rallied 1.8% and the Dax is up 0.4%, most other major markets have been quiet. Overnight, the Bank […]
Stocks Pause, Bitcoin Retreats as Treasury Yields Climb

US index futures are mixed this morning with NASDAQ futures down 0.5% and Dow Futures up 0.1%. This sluggishness following two days of strong gains for US markets following the Inauguration so far appears to be normal profit-taking. European markets are climbing this morning, with the Dax up 0.3% and the FTSE up 0.2%. The […]
Canada In Focus On Inauguration Day

US markets are closed for Martin Luther King Day today and being January 20th, it’s also Inauguration Day in the USA. Coming off a strong finish to last week, which saw major US indices close up 0.8% to 1.5%, US index futures are quiet this morning trading flat to down 0.1%. European trading is also […]
Earnings Season Starts With Big Bank Beats

The first day of earnings season finds US bank and asset manager results coming in well above expectations, sparking premarket rallies. Headliners include JPMorgan* ($4.81 vs street $4.09, up 1.1% premarket), Wells Fargo ($1.43 vs street $1.35, up 4.3% premarket), Blackrock ($11.93 vs street $11.24, up 5.0% premarket), Goldman Sachs* ($11.95 vs street $8.21, up […]
Light Inflation Helps Stocks to Rebound

It appears that the recent market correction may have run its course for now. Yesterday the Dow shrugged off early losses to finish with a 0.8% gain although the NASDAQ finished down 0.4%. With the exception of Tokyo which fell 1.8% overnight, overseas markets have been on the rebound, including gains of 2.5% for Shanghai, […]
Stock Selloff and Energy Rally Continue

Equity investors and cryptocurrency traders continue to react negatively to last week’s stronger than expected US Nonfarm Payrolls report. Signs of strength in the US economy have added to speculation that there could be significantly fewer interest rate cuts in the US this year dampening the easy money speculation that had underpinned 2024 gains in […]
Employment, Earnings and Potential Sanctions Drive Big Market Moves

There have been a number of positive developments this morning, but the market reaction to them in a macro and individual level has been very different. North American job numbers for December showed job creation accelerating. Both US Nonfarm Payrolls (256K vs street 154K and previous 212K) and Canada employment (street 90K vs street 25K […]