13May2020 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Futures Climb Ahead Of Fed Chair Powell’s Address, DOW Up 147 Points, US Dollar Weakens, Gold At 1711

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are broadly lower today with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 is down 1.56% while Germany’s DAX is off 1.33% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.80%.

Futures climb ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s address

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, after Wall Street’s main indexes fell sharply in the previous session, with markets also awaiting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell amid recent speculation over negative interest rates.

Sony braces for lowest profit in four years, hit broadly by coronavirus

Sony Corp expects operating profit to drop at least 30% this financial year to its lowest in four years as the company anticipates a hit to demand for its TVs, cameras and smartphone image sensors from the coronavirus outbreak.

Airline SAS to require face masks on all flights

Swedish-Danish airline SAS said on Wednesday wearing a face mask would be compulsory on all its flights through to the end of August to reduce the risk of coronavirus contagion.

Fear of coronavirus second wave stalks stock markets

Global stocks fell on Wednesday as fears about a second wave of coronavirus infections gripped financial markets.

Qatar Airways in talks to defer Airbus, Boeing orders: SCMP

Qatar Airways, one of the Middle East’s biggest airlines, is in talks with Airbus and Boeing to defer aircraft orders for several years, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Wednesday.

Mitsubishi slashes SpaceJet budget, drops variant

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) said it was more than halving the annual development budget for its SpaceJet regional jet as the coronavirus pandemic squeezes profit, and will suspend plans for a possible variant seen as key to winning future orders, particularly from U.S. airlines.

CMA CGM taps French loan scheme to boost cash in coronavirus crisis

Shipping group CMA CGM has obtained a 1.05 billion euro ($1.1 billion) loan to be 70% guaranteed by the French government as it seeks to bolster its cash position during the coronavirus pandemic, which has hammered international trade.

EasyJet, Germanwings lose legal fight against EU’s Italian airport ruling

Easyjet and Lufthansa’s Germanwings on Wednesday lost their challenge against an EU ruling ordering Italy to recover illegal state aid granted to airlines serving Sardinia.

Maersk sees drop in global ship container demand this year

Shipping group A.P. Moller-Maersk warned of a sharp drop in global container volumes due to the coronavirus pandemic, with weaker retail sales and depressed car production dampening demand.

Producer Prices Plunge By Record In April: Gas Prices Plunge, Booze Bounces

Producer Prices Plunge By Record In April: Gas Prices Plunge, Booze Bounces

After the collapse in consumer prices (surging food costs offset by a collapse in energy costs), producer prices are expected to follow suit but actually printed far worse than expected. Headline PPI fell 1.3% MoM – a record and notably worse than the 0.5% drop expected, plunging YoY into deflation…

Rabobank: US-China Relations Are About To Fall Off A Cliff

Rabobank: US-China Relations Are About To Fall Off A Cliff

Submitted by Rabobank’s Michael Every

The title of today’s Daily may go over the head of those who don’t speak French (even very poorly, like me). It nonetheless still coveys a message, I hope ” albeit one that has yet again gone right over the head of Bloomberg. Our ‘go-to’ market news service had decided that its daybreak headlines for me were: a US virus reopening story; a record US budget deficit, and; President Trump tweeting about negative rates. All of them are newsworthy ” but none of them are new.

The on/off reopening is already a meme we know well and are seeing everywhere. The record budget deficit is a surprise how? We all know the spending bills just passed and the collapse in tax revenue to be seen. Even negative rates, while not something the Fed wants, are lower than where Fed Funds is now ” and higher than in Europe and Japan, while now New Zealand is flirting with negative rates while adding even more asset purchases (which saw NZ down sharply to the 0.6010 level). Why wouldn’t Trump push for the US to be lower-er than the lower-er-est rates out there when the US budget deficit is about to get as big as it is in Japan, and public debt is heading off on the same path?

What Bloomberg doesn’t mention as major news is that the US Senate is set for action as soon as this week on approval of a bill that would impose US sanctions on Chinese individuals seen as responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The Senate has already unanimously passed a first reading of a version of The Uyghur Human Rights Policy Act 2019, and the House passed …

Port Of LA Chief: “We Will Need To Reinvent Ourselves”

Port Of LA Chief: “We Will Need To Reinvent Ourselves”

Authored by Kim Link-Wills of Freight Waves,

The Port of Los Angeles loses approximately $400,000 in revenue with each canceled sailing. With 28 blanked sailings forecast for the remainder of the second quarter through June 30, that’s $11.2 million in revenue the port won’t collect.

œBut the story is much greater than that, said Port of LA Executive Director Gene Seroka of the coronavirus pandemic.

œSo many folks now are seeing the impacts, whether it be on quarterly earnings announcements, their decisions on personnel, what we see in the knock-on effects across the industry.

Futures Stage Another Overnight Rebound As Dollar Tumbles Ahead Of Powell NIRP Speech

Futures Stage Another Overnight Rebound As Dollar Tumbles Ahead Of Powell NIRP Speech

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The pajama-traders were active again overnight, ramping US equity futures to overnight highs of 2,870 some 45 points above the late Tuesday lows when fresh fears about new China sanctions accelerated yesterday’s selloff.

Sitharaman kicks off the great Indian reboot with 15 measures

Sitharaman kicks off the great Indian reboot with 15 measuresThe first instalment of the mega package today focussed on the revival of the MSME sector.

Collateral-free automatic loans for MSMEs

Collateral-free automatic loans for MSMEsThe FM added that these loans will have a 4 year tenure and moratorium for 4 months.

Indian cos getting downgraded like anything

Indian cos getting downgraded like anythingRatings have been cut for 847 domestic firms in the period, pushing up refinancing costs.

April 2020 Sea Container Counts For Imports Improve But Remain In Contraction

Written by Steven Hansen

The container counts for the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are deep in contraction – but imports were not as bad as last month whilst exports worsened.

12 May 2020 New York Fed Weekly Economic Index (WEI): Index Decline Continues Well Below Great Recession Levels

Written by Steven Hansen

The New York Fed’s Weekly Leading Index (WLI) continues to decline and continues to show an economy that is significantly worse than seen during the Great Recession.

Key Words: Dr. Anthony Fauci responds to rebuke by Rand Paul: ‘I give advice according to the best scientific evidence’

Fauci was challenged by Paul, a Kentucky Republican who had been a vocal advocate of reopening businesses now.

Investors should prepare for a U.S. œeconomic depression, warns Kyle Bass, but China’s fate could be even worse

Kyle Bass made his name betting against the U.S. housing market more than a decade ago, and now he is predicting an economic contraction that could be more than three times as severe as that suffered during the Great Financial Crisis.

Three stunning charts from U.K. GDP ” including the spike in toilet paper demand

U.K. GDP may have better than economist forecasts in the first quarter but it still made for historically bad reading.