Written by Gary
Stock markets made a nice turnaround form the opening negative red ink (SPY +0.3%). Econintersect’s Economic Index forecast has marginally improved this month.
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Pompeo urges EU to exclude ‘high-risk suppliers’ from 5G networksU.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Thursday urged the European Union to exclude “high-risk” suppliers from all parts of 5G networks. | |
CIBC planning layoffs to cut costsCanadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will lay off employees in the months ahead to cut costs, a memo obtained by Reuters showed. | |
UBS Europe probed in Italy in asset manager fraud investigation: sourcesItalian prosecutors have investigated UBS Europe for possible money laundering and obstructing the work of regulators as part of a fraud inquiry into small asset manager Sofia SGR, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. | |
Oil falls to new three-month lows as virus fears grow, OPEC mulls meetingOil prices fell more than 2% on Thursday to the lowest in three months on concerns over the potential economic impact of the coronavirus that continues to spread worldwide, while the market also considered the possibility of an early OPEC meeting. | |
Global stocks, oil tumble on fears virus to hurt China’s economyGlobal equity markets tumbled on Thursday as the death toll from China’s coronavirus outbreak hit 170, pummeling oil prices and inverting a closely watched bond as investors worried about the world’s second-largest economy. | |
Wall Street slides on China virus concerns, Facebook earningsU.S. stocks dropped on Thursday as the coronavirus outbreak raised concerns about damage to the global economy, with what is shaping up to be a lackluster earnings season contributing to the decline. | |
Exclusive: New tensions surface over U.S.-Mexico seasonal farm tradeFresh battle lines are being drawn that could lead to farm trade restrictions between the United States and Mexico, a letter from a top Mexican trade official seen by Reuters shows, despite the goodwill generated by the newly signed North American trade pact. | |
Zuckerberg pledges Facebook users privacy upgrades after $550 million facial recognition settlementFacebook Inc has reached a $550 million settlement of claims it collected and stored millions of users’ biometric data without their consent, as Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg pledged better protections for users to address privacy concerns that have dogged the social media company. | |
Paris shops feel the pinch as virus keeps Chinese tourists awayFor some shopkeepers in Paris, home to prestigious stores where Chinese tourists love to splurge, an abrupt drop-off in visitors as China tries to contain a fast-spreading coronavirus health crisis is hitting hard. | |
Stocks Panic-Bid, Bonds Dumped After WHO Doublespeak Over “Global Pandemic”Stocks Panic-Bid, Bonds Dumped After WHO Doublespeak Over “Global Pandemic” Deaths surge, Cases spike, Human-to-human transmission in US, WHO says “global pandemic”, and the death count is rising faster than SARS… | |
GnS: Coronavirus Has The Potential To Trigger A Global DepressionGnS: Coronavirus Has The Potential To Trigger A Global Depression Submitted by Tuomas Malinen of GnS Economics Coronavirus and the world economy The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in China has shaken the global asset markets “and with good reason. The coronavirus has the potential of being the ‘trigger’ which will push the world into a global depression. Here, we briefly explain why. The outbreak It looks that the virus spreads very easily, through droplet infection and with a œlatency period that allows infected people to spread the virus before they themselves exhibit symptoms. This implies that the virus has already spread much more widely  than original estimates indicate. The individual cases popping up across the globe are one confirmation of this. Fortunately, the fatality rate is still relatively low: under 2 percent. However, this can change, especially if the virus mutates, and there’s already speculation, whether the figures provided by China can be trusted. China in trouble As we have been warning through 2019 (see, e.g., this and this), China’s economy is ripe for a serious dow … | |
In The Past 30 Years, The “Top 1%” Has Bought $1.2 Trillion In Stocks; The “Bottom 99%” Has Sold $1 TrillionIn The Past 30 Years, The “Top 1%” Has Bought $1.2 Trillion In Stocks; The “Bottom 99%” Has Sold $1 Trillion For years, the market had been stumped by what in 2019 we dubbed a “great conundrum” – namely, how was it possible that equity funds were liquidating stocks at a furious pace, with outflows hitting a post-crisis high last year, and yet stock prices not only kept hitting daily all time highs but unleashed a furious meltup in September which has lasted to this day? | |
Surviving The Unicorn ‘Winter’Surviving The Unicorn ‘Winter’ Authored by Mark Jeftovic via Guerilla-Capitalism.com, The theme for today’s post is from Scott Galloway’s (@profgalloway on Twitter) œCasper Should Not Go Public  post on Medium, which he wrote in response to the news that Casper, a mattress company I had never heard of, had filed to go public, having lost $73.4 million on $250.9 million revenues in 2017 and another $92.1 million loss on $357.9 million in 2018. | |
Second chance: Will Sitharaman strike the right chord?Second chance: Will Sitharaman strike the right chord?FM’s second Budget will have to be one that will restore both economic momentum and her political reputation. | |
What made the wheels turn for TaMo in Q3What made the wheels turn for TaMo in Q3The firm reported a net profit of Rs 17.39 billion for the three months to December, above analysts’ forecasts. | |
UK-EU divorce may spell good news for IndiaUK-EU divorce may spell good news for IndiaIndia is among the countries on the UK government’s list for a new post-Brexit trade campaign. | |
February 2020 Economic Forecast Index Slightly Improved But Remains In ContractionWritten by Steven Hansen Econintersect’s Economic Index forecast marginally improved this month but still shows the lowest level of growth since the economic slowdown in 2016. The current reading still remains marginally below the 2016 minimum. The ongoing weakness of manufacturing, transport, and imports continues to weigh on our economic forecast – but what is changing is the trend direction which is showing a leveling off or possible improvement. | |
Capitol Report: Trump impeachment trial: Roberts rejects Rand Paul’s question as vote on witnesses nearsSenators on Thursday began the second and final day of questions in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, as a vote on calling witnesses was expected Friday and Republican leaders eyed a quick verdict. | |
Capitol Report: How the stock market has reacted to State of the Union speechesPresident Donald Trump is scheduled to give his third State of the Union address on Tuesday, and the annual speech could come as the Senate is still mulling whether to keep him in office following his impeachment by the House in December. Here’s a look at how the Dow industrials have performed on days after the big presidential speech. | |
Concern about coronavirus in countries with ‘weaker’ health systems led to WHO declarationThe World Health Organization’s decision to name the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern is one of only five times that this has been done in the 13 years since the regulations have been in effect, according to media reports. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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