Written by Gary
US stock future indexes are up fractionally keeping alive the so-called Santa Claus rally. The rally is the tendency for stocks to rise over the last five trading sessions of December and the first two sessions of January.
WTI oil prices and the US dollar are rising in pre-market trading after Saudi Arabia’s stock market dropped 3% in the first 15 minutes of trade this morning after the country unveiled a 2016 budget. Markets are expected to open higher.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are broadly higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.59% while France’s CAC 40 is up 1.43% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.42%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Deutsche Bank to sell stake in China lender for up to $4 billion FRANKFURT/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank has agreed to sell its entire 20 percent stake in Beijing-based Hua Xia Bank to Chinese insurer PICC Property and Casualty Co – a deal worth up to $4 billion that will help lift its capital ratios. |
| China December official PMI likely to show fifth month of contraction BEIJING (Reuters) – Activity in China’s manufacturing sector is expected to have contracted for a fifth straight month in December, a Reuters poll showed, likely consigning the world’s second-largest economy to its slowest annual growth in a quarter of a century. |
| Adidas not facing shareholder pressure to sell Reebok: FT FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Adidas is not facing pressure from activist shareholders to offload more assets, like fitness brand Reebok, the German sporting goods group’s finance chief told the Financial Times. |
| Toshiba says to seek new $2.5 billion credit line for restructuring TOKYO (Reuters) – Toshiba Corp , reeling from a $1.3 billion accounting scandal, said it intends to ask for a new 300 billion yen ($2.49 billion) credit line by the end of January to fund a large-scale restructuring. |
| China central bank says to keep reasonable credit growth, yuan stable BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s central bank said on Monday that it would “flexibly” use various policy tools to maintain appropriate liquidity and reasonable growth in credit and social financing. |
| In Latest Blow To Apple, Taiwan Makers Cut iPhone Shipments Up To 10%While the straws have been building on the camel’s back of Apple’s “no brainer” status over the past few months, today’s news from DigiTimes appears to be the most damning yet on the ‘peak Apple’ phenomenon. Apple share are fading off early market highs as demand for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus appear to have slowed down recently, shipments of iPhone devices from production lines in the fourth quarter of 2015 are likely to be 5-10% lower than originally expected, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers. As DigiTimes reports,
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| Drone Footage Of The Largest Ship To Ever Dock In The USEarly on Saturday morning, the largest containership ever to visit North America arrived at the port of Los Angeles, marking the U.S. debut of a new breed of ˜mega ships’ that have until now only been seen in Asia and Europe. The 398-meter, 18,000 TEU capacity MV CMA CGM Benjamin Franklin arrived just after 4 a.m. at APM Terminals’ Pier 400 at the port of Los Angeles after sailing from China according to a gcaptain report.
The ship, owned by France’s CMA CGM Group, is one of a new type of Ultra Large Container Vessels (ULCVs) being built at shipyards in Asia by some of the largest carriers to further increase capacity and efficiency on the world’s busiest shipping routes. The vessels are designed to carry more than 18,000, and in some cases even 19,000 twenty-foot equivalent containers, but until now they have been deployed exclusively on Asia to N. Europe trade routes. The company owner says the ship will be deployed on the Pearl River Express, a regular service connecting some of China’s main ports, including Xiamen, Nansha and Yantian, with Los Angeles and Oakland. The vessel will call at the port of Oakland next on December 31st before heading back across the Pacific to China.
But while one may question the need for such a massi … |
| Frontrunning: December 29The World’s Richest People Got Poorer This Year (BBG) Oil hovers near 11-year lows on abundant supply, slowing demand (Reuters) Oil-Producing States Battered as Tax-Gushing Wells Are Shut Down (BBG) A Bold Few Traders Earn Billions Flouting Rivals (WSJ) Islamic State ruling aims to settle who can have sex with female slaves (Reuters) Winter Storm Snarls Republican Presidential Traffic (BBG) Donald Trump Urges Supporters to the Polls (BBG) China continues suspension of retail fuel price adjustment (Xinhua) Beijing Warns Children to Stay Indoors as Smog Levels Hit Heavy (BBG) Yuan hits 4-1/2-month low in offshore trade, Swedish crown soars (Reuters) Fannie and Freddie Give Birth to New Mortgage Bond (WSJ) Belgium Makes Two Arrests to War … |
| A Bold Few Traders Earn Billions Flouting RivalsThe investors that did the best in 2015 are those that defied conventional wisdom. |
| Global Stocks Up Despite Pressure on MinersGlobal stocks climbed in the quiet trading week between the Christmas and New Year holidays, although another fall in beleaguered mining shares kept a lid on gains. |
| Fannie and Freddie Give Birth to New Mortgage BondThe federal government is trying to get taxpayers off the hook for billions of dollars of potential losses if another mortgage crisis arrives “and in the process, it is quietly giving birth to a new asset class. |
| Mexico Economic Growth Surprises On The Upside In Third Quarterfrom the Dallas Fed — this post authored by Jesus Canas Mexico’s economy grew at a faster pace in the third quarter than in the second. As a result, the consensus 2015 gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast was revised to 2.4 percent in November from 2.3 percent in October. The GDP forecast for 2016 stands at 2.7 percent. More recent data suggest that growth continued into the fourth quarter. Exports, employment and industrial production increased, but retail sales fell in September after five months of growth. Inflation is at historic lows, and the peso held steady in November.
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| Metals Stocks: Gold tries to tip higher after broad commodity slideGold futures were getting a modest bounce higher Tuesday after finishing lower in the previous session as the broad commodity complex came under pressure. |
| Deep Dive: 2015 year in review: The S&P 500’s winners and losersMarketWatch takes a look at the best and worst performers among S&P 500 stocks. |
| Why income investors should consider peer-to-peer lendingIt’s an interesting new investment opportunity for income-seeking investors willing to do a little extra homework. |
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