Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Financial Market Mid-day Report

Market participants have decided to concentrate on positives versus negatives today.
Much better than expected Econodata from around the world has trumped worries about Iran and EU debt crisis.

Most PMI numbers absolutely blew passed expectations (table below), with some climbing back into expansion territory. Was Dec surge one-off due to Holiday sales demand?? Across the board strength like this can not be discounted. We need to keep an eye on next month's reports for a developing trend.

On the other side of this, Iran is flexing its military muscle. WTI has gone above $100 and is breaking out. This is not going to help consumers at all. I knew a week ago it would be a while before we see sub-$3 a gallon gas again.

In EU the spread between 10 Yr French and German bonds is widening again. This is, no doubt, due to expectation of French AAA rating downgrade. Let's get it over with already, S&P!!

click on charts to enlarge



No comments:

Post a Comment