Bobbys Corner-Open Market-January.12.2012

Good Morning:

Spanish and Italian bond auctions fared very well-with yields on the Italian bonds falling up to 40bps in the wake of strong demand.
The euro rose to the 1.2750 level-which is where we are sitting on presently.

As expected the ECB left interest rates unchanged at 1%. 
The BOE also kept interest rates unchaged at .5%-and left the asset purchase program in place.
Fitch Rating’s Riley stated that Italy faces a “material risk” of a downgrade by the end of the month.

US Treasury Sec’t Geithner is in Asia looking for support on oil sanctions against Iran. He should be in the US working on how to rebuild the US economy-not traveling the world.
China has rejected limiting oil imported from Iran-but Japan will be joining the sanctions.  Japan has been in talks with Saudi Arabia to replace any oil that they will not get from Iran.

Gold-Silver & Oil are all higher.

Asian equity markets  were lower-while Europe is higher.  US Futures are also higher.  

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-December.8.2011

Good Morning:

Currency markets were fairly stable overnight as market participants awaited the ECB interest rate decision.  The ECB did cut it’s benchmark interest rate 25 basis points, which was highly expected by analysts.
It seems that the pressure of a downgrade of Italy has temporarily been quelled, after PM Monti announced his newest austerity plans for the faltering Italian economy.
Concerns of S&P cutting the AAA rating’s of Germany and France are very real-as European leaders need to come to an agreement of their plan to fix the debt crisis that is taking over the Euro Zone.  

The Bank of England left interest rates and their QE program unchanged.  This was widly expected by market participants.

The JPY traded stronger as nervousness over the European debt crisis is pushing demand for the safe have of Japan’s currency.

Weekly US jobless claims were 381K-nice to see it below 400k.

Equity markets were lower in Asia-but Europe is showing positive number now-as are US Futures.

Oil is higher, as is Gold and Silver.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-November.18.2011

Good Morning:

The ECB was back in the markets buying Spanish and Italian debt again-but at the same time newly appointed ECB chief Mario Draghi reiterated that the ECB will not become the lender of last resort to the Euro Zone-let’s wait and see what happens.

The GBP gained against the USD-even after comments from the Bank of England that with the weak UK economy-they may consider additional monetary stimulus.  The BOE will most probably start to reevaluate this in the beginning of 2012-after they are able to evaluate the data from 2011.

Italian 10 year bonds are still trading below the 7% handle-which is a very significant psychological level.

World equity markets were and are lower-Dow Futures are higher at this time.
Oil, Gold and Silver are all higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Oct.6.2011

Good Morning:

In a move that makes no common sense-the ECB left interest rates unchanged at 1.5%.  The markets were expecting a 25 basis point cut to help spur economic activity in the depressed Euro Zone’s economy.  With the EU’s banking sector in tatters-you would think they would react logically and lower rates versus looking for other monetary easing policies to help lift their economies.  

With Greece on the verge of a potential default-the European community is looking for it’s member countries to work in a coordinated effort to inject needed capital into the banking sector.  With European banks heavily burdened with Greek (along with Spanish, Irish,Portuguese and Italian) debt, the fear of the further tightening of bank funding along with the overall credit markets is a major global concern. 
  
In other news across the pond-the BOE left interest rates unchanged at .5%.  They also added additional QE (Quantitative Easing) to their ongoing monetary easing policy.   With the BOE seeing inflation rising, along with  a potential strain in bank funding in the coming months-they felt compelled to add addition QE without lowering interest rates at this time.

All eyes will be looking for any additional indication on whats tomorrow’s non farm payroll and unemployment data will be.

I was very sad to hear of the death of Steve Jobs from Apple-he really was a visionary.

World equity markets are higher and US Futures are also higher at this time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Oct.5.2011

Good Morning:

A fairly calm overnight session-especially after yesterday’s see saw in the US equity markets.  For those who missed it-the Dow was off as much as 260 points-but in the latter part of the day the markets rallied to end the day 150 points higher.
 
The Euro picked up-after declining against the USD.  It is now back in the mid 1.33 level.  The GBP lost ground, and moved to the lowest level against the USD in almost 1 year.  UK government data indicated that the economy grew less than expected last quarter.  This will add pressure to the Bank of England to keep interest rates low for the foreseeable future.  Rumors in the market point to the BOE continuing, if not increasing, it’s bond purchasing program.  Additionally, some Asian currencies are seeing strength, as investors anticipate continued monetary easing in Europe and the US to boost the struggling world economies.

 World equity markets rose, and US Futures are also higher at this time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Sept.8.2011

Good Morning:

A fairly uneventful overnight session ahead of today’s busy schedule of policy news and speeches. 
We start with rate announcements by the BOE and ECB (both rates were left unchanged).
This will be Trichet’s farewell press conference, and traders are looking for any signs of a change in policy.  This will be followed by speeches today by Fed Chairman Bernanke and this evening by President Obama. 
President Obama will outline his new $300 billion jobs program.  Let’s all hope that this speech has some real “punch” to it-and is not a political campaign speech. 

US unemployment claims rose this week-as yet another sign of the struggling US labor market.  With the global and US economy at risk for a double-dip recession, firms are looking to cut their labor costs, and are slow at ramping up production.

Equity markets and Futures are lower.
Gold is higher-Oil fairly stable at $88/bar.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-April.7.2011

Good Morning:

The ECB raised their benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.25%.  This was wildly expected in the marketplace.  The Euro has since weakened. The ECB raised rates as the fear of inflation in the region was stronger that the sovereign debt issues plaguing the EU.  With inflation raising and the German economy booming-the markets expect the ECB to boost rates again before year end. This is the first interest rate hike since 2008.
Portugal is getting ready to sort out a bailout package.  Estimates are that this bailout may reach as high as 75 billion euros ($107 billion), as Portugal becomes the 3rd nation in the EU to seek a bailout.  Unnamed officials stated that they do not anticipate any other EU sovereigns to need financial assistance-but I think that we have heard this before.
In other news:  The Bank of England left interest rate and their QE program in place.  The Bank of Japan offered a lending program to assist companies affected by the earthquake-and commented that this may decrease growth in Japan for months (I think years) to come.

 Asian equity markets were mixed-and European markets along with US Futures are higher at this time.

Oil jumped over $109/barrel in overnight trading.

Oil:$108.91                                                                          Gold:$1459.70

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-March.25.2011

Good Morning:

Portugal was downgraded after the prime minister resigned when legislators rejected new austerity measures.  S&P lower Portugal’s long term sovereign credit rating-short term ratings remain on negative watch.  S&P stated that “the resulting increased political uncertainty could hurt market confidence and heighten Portugal’s refinancing risk”

Both the ECB and BOE are feeling pressure to increase interest rates, as signs of inflation creep into their economies.  This is a very delicate situation-as raising interest rates may slow economic recovery.  The Euro Zone and UK are both still reeling from the global recession, along with the EU battling  a sovereign debt crisis-this may be reason enough to hold off on any rate hikes. 

In Japan-news that the No.3 reactor at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant may be cracked and leaking radiation.  The spread of radiation in the food and water supply is of major concerns-even as the Japanese government states that the health threat remained minimal.

In other news, NATO is slated to take over control of the no-fly zone over Libya as soon as this weekend.

Worldwide equity markets rose, and US Futures are higher at this time.  The technology sector lead the way-with Oracle and Accenture beating alalysts’ estimates.

Oil:$105.55                                                                 Gold:$1436.60

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK 

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