08Jul2015 Pre-Market Commentary: U.S. Futures Down, Chinese Stock Market Plunges Again, Greece Scrambling To Acquire Debt Relief

Written by Gary

U.S. stock futures indexes are drifting lower this morning as contagion from the plunge in Chinese stocks spread in a sign investors within China and overseas are losing confidence in Beijing. Investors continue to keep a wary eye on developments in the Greek debt crisis. Markets are expected to open lower, perhaps as much as one percent lower.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are broadly higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 1.29% while London’s FTSE 100 is up 1.02% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.85%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Barclays Chairman McFarlane axes CEO LONDON (Reuters) – Barclays Chairman John McFarlane has fired the British bank’s chief executive just three months after taking the lender’s top job, saying an injection of new blood would help accelerate strategic change and boost shareholder returns.
	Tsipras pleads for fair deal for Greece in EU parliament STRASBOURG (Reuters) – Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras pleaded in the European Parliament on Wednesday for a fair deal to keep his country in the euro zone, acknowledging Greece’s own responsibility for its plight, after EU leaders gave him five days to come up with reforms.
	European Stocks, Bonds Surge On Blatant SNB Intervention At around 645ET, EURCHF suddenly took off out of nowhere. This instantly lifted European stocks off new post-Greferendum lows, slammeds EU credit risk lower, lifted US equity markets, and drove Treasury yields higher. The SNB has declined to comment on whether it intervenened but we ask in all frankness, have we become so divorced from ‘free markets’ that China can blatantly enter markets to save them (and fail) and European markets can mysteriously go bid and no one bats an eyelid that this is all rigged. Charts: Bloomberg
	Exclusive: JPMorgan to pay over $125 million to settle U.S. credit card debt probes NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co has agreed to pay at least $125 million to settle probes by U.S. state and federal authorities that the bank sought to improperly collect and sell consumer credit card debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
	China stock market freezing up as sell-off gathers pace SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China’s tumbling stock market showed signs of seizing up on Wednesday, as companies scrambled to escape the rout by having their shares suspended and indexes plunged after the securities regulator warned of “panic sentiment” gripping investors.
	The Fed’s Changing Views On The Natural And Neutral Rates by San Francisco Fed — this post authored by Mary C. Daly, Fernanda Nechio, and Benjamin Pyle Over the past several years, the Federal Open Market Committee’s longer-run forecasts of the short-term interest rate and unemployment rate have steadily declined. These forecasts reflect the Committee’s views about the levels of the policy interest rate and unemployment rate that will eventually prevail when the economy returns to normal. A simple monetary policy rule illustrates how the reductions in these forecasts can imply a lower projected path for the policy rate.
	Frontrunning: July 8 Greece and China expose limits of ‘whatever it takes’ (Reuters) China no longer has a market: China Stock Sellers Frozen Out of 71% of Market (BBG) China’s Market Rescue Makes Matters Worse as Prices Lose Meaning (BBG) China Stocks Plunge as State Support Fails to Revive Confidence (BBG) China Market Rout Spreads From Stocks to Price of Pig Food (BBG) China’s State-Owned Firms Ordered Not to Cut Share Holdings (BBG) Greece Requests Three-Year Bailout in First Step Toward Meeting Creditors’ Demand (WSJ) Greece Faces Euro Exit Unless Demands Accepted by Sunday (BBG) No Money, No Supplies, No Workers: Life for Greek Small Business (
	U.S, UK, China economies weakening further, OECD says PARIS (Reuters) – The U.S, UK and Chinese economies are showing fresh signs of weakening while activity in the euro zone as a whole is firming up, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said on Wednesday.
	U.S. futures fall as China rout deepens (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell on Wednesday as a rout in Chinese markets deepened and as investors continue to keep a wary eye on developments in the Greek debt crisis.
	How Sensitive Is Housing Demand To Down Payment Requirements And Mortgage Rates? by Liberty Street Economics — this article authored by Andreas Fuster and Basit Zafar When a household is looking to buy a home, financial considerations are usually very important. In particular, in deciding “how much house to buy,” a household must ponder how large a down payment it can make at the time of purchase, and also how much it can afford to pay each month. The minimum required down payment and the interest rate on available mortgages (which determines the monthly payment) are key elements in the decision.
	China June trade seen contracting again, lending to quicken BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s imports and exports likely declined again in June after grim readings in May, fuelling expectations that more easing may be required, especially given an ongoing liquidity crisis in the country’s stock market.
	Will Greek “Hope” Offset “Limit Down” Contagion From The “Frozen” China Crash Today’s market battle will be between those (central banks) “hoping” that a Greek deal over the weekend is finally imminent (which on one hand looks possible after a major backpeddling by Tsipras – who may never have wanted to win the Greferendum in the first place – yesterday in Brussels and today during his speech in the Euro Parliament, but on the other will be a nearly impossible sell to Greece as any deal terms will be far harsher than the deal offered by the Troika 2 weeks ago and will have no debt reduction), and those who finally noticed that the Chinese central planners have effectively lost control. For those who may have missed the overnight fireworks, here are some more indicative Bloomberg headlines about China: China’s Stocks Plunge as State Intervention Fails to Stop Rout China Freezes Trading in 1,300 Companies as Stock Market Tumbles China’s State-Owned Firms Ordered Not to Cut Share Holdings China’s Market Rescue Makes Matters Worse as Prices Lose Meaning China Ramps Up Policy Response as Panic Grips Stock Market While pundits have been eager to downplay what is now a historic rout in Chinese risk assets, one that is matched by the depression of 2008 and which has sent the SHCOMP from up 60% for the year 3 weeks ago to barely green losing some 15 Greeces in market cap since mid-June… … the same pundits to whom neither the oil crash no …
	Greece and China expose limits of ‘whatever it takes’ LONDON (Reuters) – For a world so confident that central banks can solve almost all economic ills, the dramas unfolding in Greece and China are sobering.
	Barclays Fires CEO In Latest Rate-Rigging Euro Bank Shakeup It’s shaping up to be a rough year for CEOs at Europe’s most notorious rate rigging, scandal-laden investment banks. Just three months after Brady Dougan left Credit Suisse and barely 30 days since Anshu Jain and JÃ¼rgen Fitschen tendered their resignations at Deutsche Bank, Barclays has shown CEO Antony Jenkins the door. The move comes as Chairman John McFarlane (who took over as Chairman in April) looks to restrucutre what he calls a “cumbersome bureauacracy.” The bank did not mince words in its press release announcing the shakeup: “It became clear to all of us that a new set of skills were required for the period ahead. New leadership is required to accelerate the pace of execution going forward. Mr. McFarlane is ideally qualified in this respect.” Here’s WSJ with a look back at the outgoing Jenkins’ stint at the helm: Despite recent calls of dissatisfaction, the decision to name Mr. Jenkins as chief executive in August 2012 was broadly supported by analysts, and was described as “sensible”, “cool-headed” and “intelligent.” However, the honeymoon period was short-lived. One month later, Barclays was downgraded by Credit Suisse and J.P. Morgan over concerns about the profitability of its investment bank. Mr. Jenkins was a Barclays man. He joined the bank as a graduate trainee in 1983. After a six-year spell at Citigroup, he returned in 2006 an …
	Oil rises to $57 as Iran talks drag on LONDON (Reuters) – Brent oil bounced back from a three-month low to around $57 a barrel on Wednesday after an industry report showed a larger-than-forecast drop in U.S. crude stocks and Iran nuclear talks failed to produce a deal.