July 2017 Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Unchanged

July 2017 Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Unchanged

The market expectations for weekly initial unemployment claims (from Bloomberg/Econoday) were 235 K to 243 K (consensus 240,000), and the Department of Labor reported 244,000 new claims. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 244,000 (reported last […]
Make Way For Uncle Buck

Make Way For Uncle Buck

It has been a contrarian trade that has not yet worked out; by that I mean my short position on the Euro and preparation for a firming US dollar. Yesterday the market cheered the supposedly dovish Fed, and USD got smeared again as the world’s counter party paper boosted assets far and wide… on nothing […]
July FOMC Meeting And Gold

July FOMC Meeting And Gold

Yesterday, the Fed released its most recent monetary policy statement. How can it affect the gold market? In line with expectations, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged at between 1.00 and 1.25 percent: “in view of realized and expected labor market conditions and inflation, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at […]
131% Surge In Civilian Aircraft Orders Propels Durable Goods Report: Diving Into The Details

131% Surge In Civilian Aircraft Orders Propels Durable Goods Report: Diving Into The Details

Durable goods orders rose a whopping 6.5% in June led by civilian aircraft orders. Econoday economists expected a 3.5% rise. Excluding transportation, however, durable goods orders only rose 0.2% vs the Econoday consensus of 0.4%. Rounding out the report, a commerce department revision took May from -1.1% to -0.1%.   Aircraft orders don’t dribble out day by day, […]
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                        Canadian Bond Investors Overreact To The Bank Of Canada’s Rate Hike

E Canadian Bond Investors Overreact To The Bank Of Canada’s Rate Hike

So often investors take one move on the part of a central bank as a signal that the universe has changed fundamentally. This is the case with the knee-jerk reaction on the part of bond investors and currency speculators following the Bank of Canada’s decision to hike its overnight rate by 25pbs. Now, there are […]
‘They’re Playing With Fire!’: There’s No Geopolitical Risk Priced Into Oil

‘They’re Playing With Fire!’: There’s No Geopolitical Risk Priced Into Oil

Citi is out with a new take on crude, which is pretty interesting in the context of Goldman’s “green shoots,” note and against what certainly appears to be a brightening fundamental picture. As we detailed earlier today, oil hit an 8-week high on Wednesday, buoyed by EIA data which largely confirmed Tuesday’s bullish API numbers, jitters […]
‘Pot Odds’ Favor Downside In The Euro

‘Pot Odds’ Favor Downside In The Euro

(Video length 00:02:48) In Currency Cycles, we forecast the price action in the near term for the euro.  The euro may still have a little upside left, but having just undergone a big rally, it’s due for a pullback as its intermediate cycle comes to a close.  Ed. note: Pot odds are defined as the […]
Dow Chemical’s Q2 Earnings & Sales Trump Estimates

Dow Chemical’s Q2 Earnings & Sales Trump Estimates

Dow Chemical (DOW – Free Report) topped earnings expectations in second-quarter 2017, helped by its cost-cutting and productivity actions, improved pricing and continued focus on consumer-driven markets. The U.S. chemical giant registered adjusted earnings (barring one-time items) of $1.08 per share for the quarter that comfortably beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. On a reported basis, the […]
ConocoPhillips (COP) Q2 Earnings Crush Loss Estimate

ConocoPhillips (COP) Q2 Earnings Crush Loss Estimate

Houston, TX-based ConocoPhillips (COP – Free Report) is a major global exploration and production (E&P) company with operations and activities in 21 countries that include the U.S., Canada, UK/Norway, China, Australia, offshore Timor-Leste, Indonesia, Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Russia and Qatar. Currently, ConocoPhillips has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) but that could change following its second-quarter 2017 report which has […]
Home Ownership Rate: Up 1.3% YoY

Home Ownership Rate: Up 1.3% YoY

Over the last decade, the general trend has been consistent: The rate of home ownership continues to decline. The Census Bureau has now released its latest quarterly report with data through Q2 2017. The seasonally adjusted rate for Q2 is 63.9 percent, up from 63.7 in Q1. The nonseasonally adjusted Q1 number is 63.7 percent, […]