27 MAY 2013: INVESTORS LOSE OUT DUE TO BAD TIMING

Stocks took a breather last week after signs of cooling in China, and what some investors saw as a possible change in FED policies. The Nikkei, which has soared since last November on hopes of economic revival, was the hardest hit with Thursday’s 7,32 % fall. Other Asian and European markets dropped as well, but not so dramatically, raising questions whether the bull market has come to an end.

Some investors blame FED-chairman, Ben Bernanke for the turmoil. Others point to a seeming difference between Bernanke and the board’s published minutes for late April. Investors might, however, blame themselves for unrealistic expectations and their gamble on a change in FED’s policies.

Investors have different motives in their bet for a change. Some are appalled by FED’s money printing and that there is no predicted hyperinflation. Others hoped that Bernanke’s monetary experiments would be abandoned. Such abandonment would have meant that President Obama’s entire economic policy had failed. The third and biggest group of Wall Street investors simply blame themselves for missing out on the stock rally. The general indexes have beaten the hedge funds three times since January.

No wonder many of them are frustrated. Fat bonuses this year might hang on their own wishful thinking for a quick change. Change depends, however, on objective analysis, and a correct reading of Bernanke’s careful wording. In his testimony last week, Bernanke repeated word for word what he stated since last September.

FED will continue to buy 85 billion of bonds monthly till the 6,5 % target for unemployment and a steady growth is established. The US economy is not quite there yet. It might well take another 8 – 12 months. The grunting from dissatisfied FED board members is not something new.Their hopes for a change in policies have been reflected in the last eight FED minutes.

There will, of course, be a change. But the timing will be decided by economic data and FED’s consideration. Investors lost billions of dollars last week on a wrong bet on the timing for a change. By now, they have hopefully swallowed their anger and are ready to meet markets which are hopefully back on track, ready for rallies and continued new highs.
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24 MAY 2013: SERIOUS MELTDOWN IN GLOBAL EQUITIES

Dubious signals from the US Federal Reserve, FED, on continued monetary easing, and disappointing Chinese PMI numbers (a barometer on business leaders optimism), led to a serious meltdown in global equity markets yesterday. The Japanese Nikkei plunged 7,32 % with more modest losses in Europe, where London and Frankfurt indexes lost 2 %.

While FED’s Ben Bernanke testimony to Congress, warned against a premature end to the bond buying program, FED’s April minutes pointed to a split between those who want a quick termination of the program and those siding with Bernanke.  Monetary easing has been the driving force behind the last months steep increases in equities.

It is natural to see the steep plunge in Japan as a result of a doubling in stock prices over the last half year and the latest aggressive stimulus policies. Globally, there have been increased worries among investors as to whether equity markets, running ahead of fundamentals, are creating a dangerous bubble.  With news of an end to monetary easing and problems in China this created risk aversion and a sell off.

The fall in the US-indexes were modest following the onslaught in other markets. The last published jobless claims at 340,000, are 5000 fewer than expected.  There is still a long shot to the 6,5 % unemployment target set by FED, but fewer jobless claims would give the proponents of an early end to the bond buying programs new arguments.  

Oil prices which have kept surprisingly steady over the last month, decreased more than two dollars a barrel.

EUR/USD got support from higher than expected PMI indexes. As a result, EUR/USD from level of opening - 1,2855 was rolled away to a maximum of 1,2956 and this morning we can see pair traded on a level of 1.2932. GBP/USD behaved more frostily against volatility of both currency pairs and share indexes. Having reached quite strong support on 1,50 the previous trading day, pair showed moderate correction. The most important question of today is- whether the Yen finished it's decline? Taking into consideration all the factors, pair can quite roll down to the area of 100.00.

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24 April 2013: Apple lifts Asia after false tweet

Apple climbed 4,9% to USD 425,95 in after closing trade yesterday night after reporting strong second quarter earnings. Apple also unveiled plans to double the amount of capital returned to shareholders after for a long time being heavily criticized for not sharing excessive profits. The Apple quarterly report made stock markets in Asia to rally. Wall Street recovered Tuesday after initial sharp declines sparked by an Associated Press tweet about explosions in the White House.

The false tweet by hackers of two explosions at the White House that injured US President Barack Obama, provoked a steep drop in stocks. The benchmark S&P index fell 16,6 points or close to one percent in 3 minutes. Index values of USD 136 billion were wiped out. Stocks quickly recovered minutes later. The tweet episode illustrates the advantages, but simultaneously the fall outs of an instantaneous pricing technology.

Asian shares advanced on Wednesday on the back of Apple and other solid US quarterly earnings. The Euro came under pressure by soft German data which underscored the fragile state of the euro zone economy. The Asia-Pacific MSCI-index climbed 0,8%. The Australian stock index gained 1.4% along with a firmer Aussie dollar. The positive US numbers also gave a lift to oil and other commodities. Copper is up after several day’s decline. Brent crude trades at USD 100,54 a barrel. Gold (USD 1426) and silver (USD 23,15) prices are up after falling back during yesterday’s trading.

The more positive tone in global equities markets seem to indicate that investors regard continued monetary easing by major central banks as justified. Monetary easing encourages investments in shares. But that also means that stock markets don’t reflect the real economic fundamentals. Equities continue to rally in spite of sluggish manufacturing surveys and weaker economic data from both the US and China, the two major engines in the global economy.

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19 April 2013: Volatility reflects bearish mood

Wall Street fell further yesterday after disappointing forecasts by eBay and other heavy weight US-companies. Present quarterly results raise increased doubt on the market’s recent strength. eBay dropped 5,9%, and Apple shares extended their slide from Wednesday breaking the USD 400 level. The S&P technology index fell 1,4% after two sharp declines earlier in the week. The volatility index, Wall Street’s fear index, gained 6,4 as a reflex of increased market nervousness. Other decliners included Morgan Stanley. The flagship bank fell 5,4% adding to the bearish mood.

As global policymakers started their G-20 meetings in Washington yesterday there is growing concern about currency fluctuations and volatility. Key central banks are printing money and pumping new liquidity into markets. This tends to create more speculative bubbles than working places. The yen (JPY) fell broadly Friday morning after the Japanese Finance Minister stated that Bank of Japan’s (BOJ) aggressive monetary stimulus is aimed at defeating deflation. USD/JPY trades at 98,53 with the dollar raising 0,4%.

As the G20 meeting ends today there are deep worries on what easily can develop into a currency war. In its semi-annual report on currency practices US put Japan on notice. Japan’s economic policies are watched closely to ensure that Japan is not aiming at devaluing the yen to gain competitive advantage. Competitors in South East Asia as South Korea are especially concerned. A rapid raise in dollar versus Yen at these level, seems, however, not likely. USD/JPY has already depreciated 20% since last November. A strong short term gain in USD/JPY might, however, occur after the G-20 meeting is over. G-20 is expected to confirm the pledge from February to avoid competitive currency devaluations.

Euro/USD recovered to 1.3068 after a sharp drop during yesterday. In a meeting on Thursday the EU agreed to move ahead with a system of winding down banks without changing EU law. This would give the EU bank resolution mechanism a stronger legal basis. The resolution comes after a stormy debate in the European Parliament where both the EU Commission and the European Central bank came under heavy fire for their handling of the Cyprus banking crisis. In an interview the EU Commissioner for Economic and Monetary affairs, Olli Rehn, stated that changes to EU-treaties are more a long term goal than a condition for a banking union to operate.

The recent plunge in gold prices have led to a rally in India and China to buy gold and silver coins and products. Retail buyers see the steep fall in prices as a buying opportunity. Gold trades at USD 1398 up from a bottom level on 1322 earlier in the week. Silver has rebounded from USD 22,76 to 23,46. It is, too, early, to say whether we are witnessing a more firm upward trend; or increasing prices shall be seen as a natural technical correction.

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28 March 2013: Asian indexes are decreasing on news that China is going to limit foreign investments

China will encourage foreign investments into services and high technologies sectors, but at the same time will rigidly limit capital investments in construction, real estate, and also the projects, differing to high power consumption and polluting environment. This news brought negative impact on Asian stock markets where weaker than the others is Chinese continental SSE index. Most of all it was reflected in the banking sector, where Bank of Communications and China Merchant Bank are losing more than 4%.

On Wednesday, American market could not any longer ignore bad news coming from the Europe and did not continue its growth started the day before. Index of incomplete transactions on sale of houses in February decreased more strongly than expected 104,8 points. Following the results of the trading session the indicator of "blue chips" the Dow Jones Industrial Average index was closed with -0,23% on a level 14526,16 points, the S&P 500 lost 0,06%, and the index of the hi-tech companies Nasdaq grew up for 0,12% to a level of 3256,52 points.

In Europe, besides Cyprus – Italy is again coming to the headers of news feeds. On last placement of the Italian debt papers, Rome managed to attract only 6,91 billion euro from the planned 7 billion euro. In Nicosia, in turn, the authorities presented a package of measures for capital control. Among other things it should be noted that single withdrawal of funds won't exceed 300 euros, and it will not be possible to take more than 1000 euros out of the country. The Cypriot banks will open today after almost two-week break.

Prices for oil are stable this morning and both Brent and NYMEX are adding 0.22% and 0.33% accordingly. Brent is traded on a level 109.94$ per barrel and NYMEX on a level of 96.90$. Ascending movement proceeds against noticeable strengthening of the American dollar in relation to the majority of world currencies. Gold is losing 0.12% and is traded on a level of 1604.28$ per troy ounce.

EUR/USD pair is slightly correcting and is strengthening for 0.20% traded on a level 1.2804.

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11 March 2013: US-Dollar keeps the upper hand

The USD keeps the upper hand in the currencies markets and continue to gain both against a currency basket and major currencies as Euro, GBP and JPY. USD/JPY traded at 96,10 – a 3-and-a-half year high following surprisingly strong USD labor data on Friday. US employers added a more-than-expected 236 000 workers to their payrolls in February. The jobless rate fell to a four year low of 7,7%.

There is still a way to go before the unemployment numbers reach the 6,5% target set by the Federal Reserve (FED) and monetary easing is reconsidered. Before this target is obtained the US economy must produce more than 200 000 monthly jobs for the next three consecutive months. The strong February data has, however, created a momentum and new optimism that the US economy finally is turning and lying the financial crisis from the autumn 2008 behind.

Risk appetite was, however, curbed by a mixed bag of economic data from China painting a patchy recovery in the world’s second-largest economy. The data signaled a looming dilemma for policymakers, as inflation stood at a 10 month high in February. Factory output and consumer spending were weaker than forecast. The data caught commodity prices between growing optimism of increased consumption and a stronger dollar. Non-dollar holders are buying dollar-denominated commodities.

In Asia the MSCI-index for Asia-Pacific was up 0,1% while Shanghai fell 0,3%. The Dow Jones industrial average posted its fourth consecutive record high on Friday. European shares also jumped on the strong US labor data. The strength of the dollar is also a reflection of more fundamental money flows out of the yen and euro. These developments nudge the dollar higher. Currency speculators are boosting their bets in favor of USD and raised their short positions in most other currencies as yen, pound sterling GBP and Euro. Oil and precious metal prices keep steady.

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05 March 2013: Wall Street higher in closing rally

In a late-day rally Wall Street pushed major stock indexes near all-time highs despite concerns about growth and China’s housing market. Any slowdown in China could affect US growth. Commodities and US-materials have a big exposure towards China. This goes especially for giants as Caterpillar and Alcoa which lost respectively 1,8% and 1,1% and were the big losers in yesterday’s trade.

Asian shares followed suit and rebounded strongly on Tuesday after a sharp sell-off triggered by slumping Chinese stocks the previous session. The MSCI-index for Asia-Pacific shares won back 1.1% of the 1.3% lost on Monday. In a prepared statement for the opening of China’s annual parliament meetings, outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao, stressed that China would boost fiscal spending in 2013 in a bid to deliver on the promised 7,5% economic growth for 2013.

This boosted the Australian stock market which rose 1,5% outperforming its Asian peers. Japan’s Nikkei stock average rose 0,8% to 53 month high. At least for now markets continue to be bullish in spite of spending cuts in the US, lack of any kind of political resolution in Italy and weaker data from China including an overheated property market. Markets are flush with capital due to monetary easing and continuous low interest rates. For the time being this seems to trump every other concern.

There are no big movements in the currencies. Euro/USD is steady on 1.3015. EU Finance Ministers met yesterday to discuss bail-out terms for Cyprus (see separate article). USD/JPY is at the same 93,50 levels as seen at the start of the week. British pound, GBP, has avoided to slump below 1.50 and trades above 1.51. Oil prices have recovered from yesterday’s low. New York crude, NYMEX, is above USD 90 a barrel. Brent crude trades at 110,25. Gold and silver are marginally higher than at the start of the week. Gold at USD 1580 an ounce.

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04 March 2013: Asia tumbles on China worry

 Asian  shares slipped on  Monday as China tightened its grip on the property sector. Beijing increased Friday  required down payments and loan rates for buyers for second homes in cities where prices have been quickly  increasing  in an effort to contain housing costs. This had immediately a negative effect on the Chinese markets and led to a tumble in Asia. The MSCI-index for ASIA-Pacific shares are 1,3 % down after Shanghai shares slipped 2,3 %.

 Slower growth in  Chinese increasingly important services sector had also an impact. The growth in this sector was slower than in five months, reinforcing the view that the Chinese recovery remains modest. The slower Chinese growth had an immediate effect on Australia where the AXJO index fell 1.2 %. Japan was the only positive spot.  The Nikkei 225rose 0,6 % as the sole gainer in the region. Export companies were boosted by a weaker yen and surprisingly strong US manufacturing and consumer sentiment.

 The new Governor of Bank of Japan (BOJ) stated that BOJ is ready to take whatever measures necessary to get Japan out of the vicious deflation circle. USD/JPY trades at 93,33. In spite of its budget problems USD is trading on a six months high against a basket of currencies. Currency speculators have over the last week increased their bets in favour of the US dollar.

 Evidence of Europe’s problem with Spain at risk needing a state bailout is weighing in on the Euro.  Data presented on Friday showed that Germany and Ireland are the only Euro zone members with factory output growth last month. Joblessness within the Euro zone rose to an all-time high. The Euro steadied at 1.3015 after slipping to a low of 1.2966 on Friday, the lowest level seen in 3 months.

 Concerns about the negative impact from the USA spending cuts also weighed in on US crude which is down to USD 90.59 a barrel. Brent is trading at 110,50. Gold and silver prices are hurt by the strong dollar.

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