08Dec2015 Pre-Market Commentary: WTI Oil Falls Precipitously To Mid 36's, US Futures Down Sharply, Markets To Open Lower

Written by Gary

Global Markets and US stock future indexes are down 0.8% coming under pressure from weak Chinese trade data and fallout from Monday’s oil price decline. Continuing yesterday’s crude plunge of 6%, its lowest level in almost seven years, WTI has fallen to 36.80 in pre-market action.

US markets are expected to open sharply lower following crude oil prices.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are sharply lower today with shares in Germany off the most. The DAX is down 1.52% while France’s CAC 40 is off 1.30% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 1.19%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	U.S. fed funds rate remains at 0.13 percent NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. federal funds rate , which banks charge each other to borrow excess reserves, averaged 0.13 percent for a fifth day on Monday, according to Federal Reserve data released on Tuesday.
	Credit Suisse expects Swiss IPO market to rebound in 2016 ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse expects the market for initial public offerings in Switzerland to rebound next following an unexpectedly slow 2015, the Swiss lender’s head of domestic investment banking said on Tuesday.
	FTSE Russell suspends Volkswagen from FTSE4Good index series LONDON (Reuters) – Index provider FTSE Russell said on Tuesday it was suspending carmaker Volkswagen from its FTSE4Good index series because of an ongoing scandal over the firm’s cheating in diesel emissions tests.
	CP revises offer for Norfolk Southern, rebuffed again (Reuters) – Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd revised its offer to buy U.S. railroad operator Norfolk Southern Corp , less than a week after its previous $28.4 billion proposal was rejected – and was promptly rejected again.
	France’s Publicis loses P&G contracts in U.S. (Reuters) – French advertising agency Publicis Groupe has lost Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) media contracts in the United States, the company said on Tuesday, confirming media reports.
	Futures lower after weak China economic data (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were lower on Tuesday as oil prices steadied but remained close to their 7-year low and weak trade data out of China reignited fears of a global economic slowdown.
	Oil edges off 2015 low but stocks stay slippery LONDON (Reuters) – A surprise leap in Chinese commodity imports helped steady the ship for oil prices and energy-exposed currencies on Tuesday, although world stocks fell for the second day emerging market bourses hit a two-month low.
	Kellogg, Sony and others sign up to emissions goals PARIS/BERLIN (Reuters) – Kellogg , Sony , Coca-Cola Enterprises and a group of other companies have committed to targets certified by independent assessors to cut their carbon emissions, they said on Tuesday.
	Low inflation to give biggest global pay boost in three years: study LONDON (Reuters) – The slowing world economy looks set to get a boost from stronger consumer demand next year, as low inflation boosts the real value of workers’ pay rises to a three-year high, a survey said on Tuesday.
	World’s Fifth Largest Miner Announces Massive Layoffs, Suspends Dividend, Sells 60% Of Portfolio If you’re a miner, this is œnot the time for courage (to borrow a classic Gartman-ism). The global slump in commodities shows no sign of abating and a stubborn OPEC isn’t doing anything to help matters. Meanwhile, China’s economy continues to decelerate and while last night’s trade data showed demand œimproving , it’s important to put the import œbeat in context – imports still fell by nearly 9% Y/Y last month and while iron ore imports were up M/M in November, average prices for the first eleven months of 2015 are still down more than 39%. As MNI notes, œcustoms data showed that after seasonal adjustment, November imports were still 3.6% lower than a month ago. All of this has become par for the course and indeed, it now appears we may have entered a new era where sluggish global growth and trade has become the norm. Against this backdrop, commodities producers (both at the state and company level) are struggling to survive. The world is mired in global deflationary supply glut, and without a commensurate pickup in aggregate demand, it looks like this oversupply and overcapacity problem may be here to stay. In the latest example of just how bad things have gotten, Anglo American – the world’s fifth largest miner – just kitchen sink-ed it, announcing a sweeping restructuring, a massive round of layoffs, and a dividend cut. The company will reduce its assets by some 60% while headcount will be cut by a whopping 85,000 or, nearly two thirds. œWe …
	Frontrunning: December 8 Anti-Trump Effort Launches Super PAC (WSJ) Muslims decry Trump’s proposal to keep them out of US (AP) Debate Heats Up Over No-Fly List, Gun Sales (WSJ) OPEC Takes Down Oil Majors as Lower-for-Even-Longer Kicks In (BBG) Chinese Companies Are Trapped in IPO Logjam (WSJ) Republican Ted Cruz vaults into first place in new Iowa poll (Reuters) Washington denies U.S.-led coalition hit Syria army camp (Reuters) Fear at the tap: Uranium contaminates water in the West (AP) Investors Unchain Themselves From ETFs as Stock Volume Surges (BBG) Texas Won’t Get Chance This Week to Fight Refugees’ Arrival (BBG) Bank of France Sees Weaker Fourth-Quarter Growth After Attacks (
	Record Silver Coin Demand Signals Financial Trouble Ahead Record Silver Coin Demand Signals Financial Trouble Ahead Posted with permission and written by Steve St. Angelo of SRSrocco Report (CLICK FOR ORIGINAL) The world doesn’t realize it, but record global silver coin demand is warning that big trouble is coming to the financial system. More investors are waking up to the fact that there is something seriously wrong with the financial industry and broader stock markets and are buying more physical gold and silver than ever. This is especially true for silver. During the huge surge in physical silver investment demand from June to September this year, I heard from several dealers that investors were buying a lot more silver than gold. And this wasn’t just from the typical Mom & Pop buyers ¦ there were large silver volume purchases from wealthy clients. According to the Silver Institute 2015 Interim Report, total sales of offi …
	Anglo American to Slash Assets, Cut 85,000 Jobs Anglo American announced a radical restructuring of its business that includes more asset sales and cutting 63% of its workforce in a bid to weather the severe slump in commodity prices.
	A Fateful Mistake Haunts Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs faces fresh allegations that it failed to spot in time, then covered up, a share-count error that shortchanged Tibco Software Inc. investors by $100 million when the company was sold last year.
	October 2015 Consumer Credit Growth Slows Written by Steven Hansen The headlines say consumer credit rate of growth declined – and came in well below market expectations. Our analysis shows year-over-year consumer credit growth rate decelerated. Still consumer credit growth remains well above economic growth.
	November 2015 Small Business Optimism Index Has Significant Decline Written by Steven Hansen The National Federation of Independent Business’s (NFIB) optimism index collapses in November after three stagnant months. The Index had no significant changes in the three months prior. . The market was expecting the index between 95.6 to 96.6 with consensus at 96.0 – versus the actual at 94.8.
	Need to Know: The case for $20 oil is getting stronger by the day Oil prices at $20 is not just a fantasy, it’s quickly becoming a reality for this market.
	Futures Movers: Crude oil drops under $37 a barrel, erasing earlier gains Crude oil prices had recovered slightly after dropping to near seven-year lows overnight. But the advance didn’t last long.