Written by Gary
US equity futures are trading lower after yesterday’s huge rally (SPY -0.4%). The futures are bouncing back and forth between gains and losses.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are mixed today. The CAC 40 is up 5.65% while the FTSE 100 gains 0.70%. The DAX is off 1.35%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Walmart taps Sameer Aggarwal as CEO of Indian unit, says in touch with suppliersWalmart Inc on Wednesday named Sameer Aggarwal chief executive officer of Best Price, its Indian cash and carry business, and said it was in touch with supplier partners for adequate stocking at its stores during the 21-day government sanctioned lockdown. |
| China to resume U.S. LPG imports as Beijing waives trade-war tariff: sourcesChina has begun buying U.S. liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) again after a hiatus of nearly 20 months as Beijing waived punitive tariffs to boost imports of U.S. goods as part of the Sino-U.S. Phase 1 trade deal, industry sources said. |
| Futures rise as Washington reaches deal on $2 trillion aid packageU.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, putting Wall Street on course to extend its massive bounce from the previous session, as Washington reached a deal on a $2 trillion stimulus package to help ease some economic pain from the coronavirus pandemic. |
| Kia Motors may make face masks at China factory to fight coronavirusSouth Korea’s Kia Motors Corp is considering making face masks at its Chinese factory to help battle the spread of the coronavirus, a spokesman said on Wednesday. |
| Treat with caution: rocketing stocks aren’t cause for comfortThose pining for a bottom to the gut-wrenching stock market selloff may be disappointed to learn that mega one-day rallies like the historic one witnessed on Tuesday are typically not the start of a durable recovery. |
| Oil extends gains as optimism over U.S. stimulus lifts global marketsOil prices extended gains for a third session on Wednesday, rising alongside broader financial markets as the United States is expected to approve a massive aid package to stem the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. |
| Factbox: Global oil, gas producers cut spending after crude price crashOil and gas companies are cutting spending plans in response to the new coronavirus and a push by Saudi Arabia and Russia to ramp up output. |
| AB Volvo postpones AGM due to uncertainty over coronavirus impactTruckmaker AB Volvo said on Wednesday it had decided to postpone its annual shareholders meeting due to the prevailing uncertainty around the effects from the global coronavirus outbreak. |
| Exclusive: Boeing plans 737 MAX production restart by May – sourcesBoeing Co plans to restart 737 MAX production by May, ending a months-long halt triggered by a safety ban on its best-selling jet after fatal crashes, people familiar with the matter said on Tuesday. |
| Why QE Is Not WorkingWhy QE Is Not Working Authored by Michael Lebowitz and Jack Scott via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
By formally announcing quantitative easing (QE) infinity on March 23, 2020, the Federal Reserve (Fed) is using its entire arsenal of monetary stimulus. Unlimited purchases of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed securities for an indefinite period is far more dramatic than anything they did in 2008. The Fed also revived other financial crisis programs like the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) and created a new special purpose vehicle (SPV), allowing them to buy investment-grade corporate bonds and related ETF’s. The purpose of these unprecedented actions is to unfreeze the credit markets, stem financial market losses, and provide some ballast to the economy. Most investors seem unable to grasp why the Fed’s actions have been, thus far, ineffective. In this article, we explain why today is different from the past. The Fed’s current predicament is unique as they have never been totally up against the wall of zero-bound interest rates heading into a crisis. Their remaining tools become more controversial and more limited with the Fed Funds rate at zero. Our objective is to assess when the monetary medicine might begin to work and share our thoughts about what is currently impeding it. All Money is Lent in Existence. That sentence may be the most cruci … |
| February Durable Goods Orders Jumped Ahead Of Global Coronageddon, Thanks To War-SpendingFebruary Durable Goods Orders Jumped Ahead Of Global Coronageddon, Thanks To War-Spending Preliminary data for February durable goods orders showed a surprise improvement (up 1.2% MoM vs expectations of a 0.9% drop) as it appears COVID-19;s impact hadn’t begun to hit quite yet. This resurgence has pushed the YoY growth in headline durable goods orders back into the positive (up 3.0% YoY – the best since January 2019) |
| ABN Amro Abandons 106 Year Physical Gold Business, Clients Forced To SellABN Amro Abandons 106 Year Physical Gold Business, Clients Forced To Sell Seven years ago – to the day – Dutch megabank ABN Amro changed its precious metals custodian rules to “no longer allow physical delivery.” Have no fear, they reassuringly added, your account will be settled at the bid or offer price in the ‘market’ and “you need to do nothing” as “we have your investments in precious metals.”
At the time, we wondered if this was the canary in the coalmine of potential physical shortages in the precious metals markets. Soon after we saw notable selling pressure in the gold markets with Spot (physical) selling leading futures lower… |
| Futures Slide After Bailout Deal Struck As Schumer Says Buybacks BannedFutures Slide After Bailout Deal Struck As Schumer Says Buybacks Banned The event everyone was waiting for and knew was just a matter of time, resulting in Tuesday’s biggest one-day rally since 1933 – namely the Congressional taxpayer daylight robbery coronavirus bailout deal which started at $850BN and has since grown to $2 trillion (with an additional $4 trillion in Fed purchasing power) – was finally reached just after midnight on Tuesday and in the early minutes of Wednesday. A vote in the Senate, as well as House approval are still pending. The result was initial euphoria as the S&P jumped to 2,499 – the exact same high hit last on quad-witching Friday last week… before it rolled over as the news was sold… |
| Has the coronavirus lockdown come too late in India?Has the coronavirus lockdown come too late in India?The govt was too slow to roll out testing, and the self-quarantine system for travelers had giant holes in it. |
| India may have to rely on guesswork to push big decisionsIndia may have to rely on guesswork to push big decisionsData void in the Q1 of the calendar year threatens to impact govt policymaking and corporate decisions. |
| Bulls defy lockdown: What’s driving the rallyBulls defy lockdown: What’s driving the rallyThe Finance Ministry is working with officials to finalise the stimulus plan. |
| Trucking Industry Growth Improved In February 2020 – No Obvious Coronavirus Impact
Headline data for the American Trucking Association (ATA) and the CASS Freight Index show that truck volumes improved but significantly differ on year-over-year growth. |
| ‘You could be next ” be prepared.’ Financial advisers tell MarketWatch how they’d use $1,200 stimulus checksThe White House and Senate agreed to a $2 trillion deal early Wednesday. |
| Market Snapshot: As Dow wipes out over 3 years of stock-market gains, here’s a warning about calling the bottomSome investors might feel a strong temptation once the market finally shows some stability to declare that the lows are in. But some Wall Street veterans have a word of advice. |
| Economic Report: Durable-goods orders surge in February on strong demand for autos, but the coronavirus crunch is comingOrders for durable goods posted the biggest increase in February since last summer in the what’s likely to be the last good report for a while in light of the toll the coronavirus has taken on the U.S. economy. Orders for durable goods jumped 1.2% last month. |
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