Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Feb.8.2012

Good Morning:

The Greek saga continues-as the markets await Greek prime Minister Papademos is again set to meet in Athens to discuss and hopefully come to an agreement over the debt crisis in his country.  The scheduled meeting has been delayed-which is hardly a surprise to anyone

In US political news-Rick Santorum, Former US Senator of Pennslyvania  swept all 3 Republican primary contests last night.  This has certainly made the race a different animal.. Life will be difficult for Newt Gingrich now-and does this show that Mitt Romney does not have the support of the American Mid West.  I am sure that President Obama was very happy with the results-as this shows an even further divided Republican party-and that will be very helpful for the re election of the incumbent President.

World equity markets and US Futures are higher.

Oil is trading just under $100/bar.

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Feb.7.2012

Good Morning:

In an unexpected move, the Reserve Bank of Australia left their benchmark interest rates unchanged at 4.25%.  With signs of growth in North America and Asia-the RBA opted to leave rates steady for the time being.  The RBA will monitor the growth of the global economy, and will set their interest and monetary policy accordingly.

In other news-it seems that Greece is getting closer to an agreement with their creditors.  We have heard this for the past few weeks-so when we get confirmation-I will let you know.  In the meantime-European leaders are running out of patience for Greece to get their monetary policy in place.

Fed Chairman Bernanke will be speaking to Congress today-after last friday’s positive jobs data-will his  tone be different?  No likely.

Equity markets are lower-as are US Futures.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Feb.6.2012

Good Morning:

I have returned after my knee surgery.  The surgery went well-and now my job is to do physical therapy and get back up to speed.

I see that very little changed- Greece is still trying to work out their latest mess.  The discussions between the parties regarding austerity measures to ensure the bailout funds for March (as Greece has a 14 billion payment due) are virtually at a stand still.
There needs to be agreement within the Papademos’ government regarding these new austerity and the restructuring of government  programs and staffing.
EU officials are waiting for the Greek government to come to terms with the new package which includes “wage and pension reductions, along with job cuts and tougher tax enforcement programs”.

Asian equity markets were higher-but with no news out of Greece-European equity markets dropped lower-and US Futures are lower at this time.

Last night the NY Giants won the NFL Superbowl-and the big winners were the advertisers and networks.  Commercials cost up to $3.5 million for a  30 second spot during the game.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-January.27.2012

Good Morning:

With a looming 14 billion euro payment due in March-the Greek government is in continuous talks with their private creditors to restructure their debt.  This has been the centerpiece of the currency markets for the past week.  Creditors are insisting on ECB participation in the Greek debt mess.
In other news from the Euro Zone:
Portuguese bond yields reached new highs-as market participants are in  the mindset that Portugal may need a second bailout to work out their debt mess.
Spain’s unemployment rate rose to over 22%-as the loss of construction jobs continues to hamper any employment recovery.

US  Q4 GDP rises 2.8%.     

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

Oil is higher-still below $100/bar.  Gold is lower.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

I will be out of the office next week-as I am having knee surgery.  I will hobble back on Feb 6.

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-January.26.2012

Good Morning:

With the ongoing sage between the Greek government and private investors continuing-there have been reports of the private sector accepting a interest rate of less than 4%.  This is a major barrier that will now allow Grrece to seriously revamp their debt.  Greece has a 14 billion euro payment due in March-and without the help of the IMF or ECB-they will not be able to meet this deadline.
This news pushed the EUR/USD pair into the mid 1.31 handle (1.3173).
Italy sold 4.5 billion euro worth of 3 year notes-with the lowest yield since last August.  The yield was 3.763% versus 4.853 on the last 3 year note auction.

Yesterday’s press conference by Fed Chairman Bernanke brought the possibility of a third round of QE to the markets if unemoloyment remains high-so I guess we will see more QE by the 3rd quarter of this year.
He also talked about keeping interest rates low through 2014.

Gold, Silver and Oil are all higher-as are equities and futures.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-January.25.2012

Good Morning:

Another choppy night of trading as Euro and GBP led the parade.
With better than expected German IFO data-the EUR/USD pair rose to the mid 1.30 range before falling back into the mid 1.29 range.
GBP did worse-as lower than expected Q4 GDP surprised the markets.  With manufacturers cutting production, and the service sector stagnant-is the UK looking at a double-dip recession?  The BOE will be assessing it’s QE program to see if additional stimulus will not only be needed-but will it do anything in reality-only time will tell.
Greece is still negotiating with private bond holders to work out new interest rates for a bond swap.  The prospects are not looking rosy.

Apple Inc blew out Q4 earnings-expected earnings $10.16/share-real earnings $13.87/share.  Apple is now the largest company in the world.  They have jumped over Exxon/Mobil to take the #1 spot.

Last night President Obama gave his “State of the Union” speech.  He called for higher taxes on the rich, and more government spending (I have no idea where this money will come from) for job creation.  It was a very political and partisan speech-pitting Democrats and Republicans against each other.  In my opinion-the fighting between parties has added to the problems in Washington.   

 This afternoon we have the statement from the FOMC-and a news conference By Chairman Bernanke.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-open Market-January.24.2012

Good Morning:

The euro was firmer in overnight trading-after a report from the Euro Zone pointed to an expanding manufacturing and service sector.  This expansion data was unexpected, and much stronger than expected.
In a move to support local growth-the Reserve bank of India left their benchmark interest rate unchanged, but lowered their reserve ratio, in the hope of bringing more foreign investment to India.  With Europe in crisis mode-the RBI is looking to attract foreign investments that may of gone to the EU or other world business centers instead.

It seems that the Greek government and their bondholders are not able to come to an agreement on how to solve the nations debt crisis.
Finance ministers from Europe have been reluctant to pour more money into Greece.  The finance ministers have been hoping that the bondholders could offer some relief.

Asian equity markets were mixed-Europe is lower-as are US Futures.

Tonight at 9PM EST President Obama will give his “State of the Union” address.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-January.19.2012

Good Morning:

In some of the saddest corporate news in a long time-Eastman Kodak Co filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors this morning.
Kodak revolutionized photography-when it introduced the “Brownie Camera” over 100 years ago.  As the world moved to digital technology for cameras-Kodak was stuck with their film technology-and was never able to jump into the digital marketplace.  R.I.P.

Spain and France had very solid results and participation during today’s bond auctions.
European sovereigns will need to sell some $1 Trillion euros worth of debt this year-and we hope that the markets will be able to absorb all of this debt.  If it is priced right-the buyers will show up.  

Today we have data on CPI and Philly Fed.  We will also see data on jobless claims-which came very close to the majic 400K number last week.  It is expected to fall below 390K this morning.

Equity markets were higher-as are US futures at this time.

Gold, silver and Oil are all higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

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