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.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

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-December.1.2011

Good Morning:

The euro picked up against the USD and JPY-after Spain and France had good bond auctions.  The euro also showed strength after six central banks acted together to cut the borrowing costs of USD.   
Spain sold 3.75 billion euros of bonds-which was the maximum target of 5 year notes-with a yield of 5.544% compared to 4.848% at the last auction on Nov.3.
France sold  1.57 billion euros of 10 year bonds at 3.18%-slightly lower than the 3.22% at the Nov.3 auction.
Comments from ECB President Draghi describing the role of the ECB, and that the ECB will be willing to do more-if policy makers do there job, and get their act together.

The continued sovereign debt crisis in Europe will be a main focus of the markets.  The action by the 6 central banks yesterday was positively embraced by investors.  The fact that this action was needed-shows how dire the bank funding situation is.

Jobless claims were higher-up 6K to 402K.

Remember-tomorrow is the US employment data report.
Non Farm Payrolls  are expected to be up 120K-and the Unemployment rate should stay at 9%.

US Futures are slightly lower
Gold is up-Oil is down.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-November 16.2011

Good Morning:

The ECB was out in the markets again buying Italian, Spanish and Portuguese debt, in a move to ease tensions in the Euro Zone’s credit markets.  The ECB is still commenting that they will not be the lender of last resort for the EZ-but with Dutch,French, and Austrian bonds also under pressure-the ECB will need to become a vital part of cleaning up the credit crisis that is now growing out of control.
In other news across the pond-the GBP lost ground-as statements from the BOE stated that the UK economy faces a “markedly weaker” outlook.   Is this a sign that the BOE may need to add more stimulus to their economy?

Gold, silver and oil are all lower at this time.

World equity markets were and are mostly lower (except the CAC).  US Futures are also lower at this time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-October.31.2011

Good Morning:

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) intervened in the FX markets as the USD/JPY came very close to breaching the 75.00 barrier at the start of Asian trading.  The pair moved about 300 points after the announcement. With the vital export business again in jeopardy with the USD/JPY at 75, the BOJ needed to move, as they have been talking about intervening for weeks.
The JPY moved quickly, but shortly thereafter gave back some of the momentum that had been established just after the intervention.  Comments from BOJ officials seem to indicate that  intervention will need to continue.
 
The EUR/USD pair sold off, and dropped though the key 1.40 level overnight.  With doubts rising about the effectiveness of the EFSF European rescue plan-the pair took a bit of a licking.
The ECB was seen in the marketplace again last night buying Italian and Spanish debt.

Dow Futures are lower-along with gold and oil.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK
 

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-October.28.2011

Good Morning:

The Forex markets were in consolidation mode in overnight trading after yesterday’s 200 point rally in the EUR/USD pair after the EU summit.
China is now in the forefront, as the leaders of the EFSF are in Asia looking for commitments of capital for the fund.
Reports show that China already has a 600 Billion Euro stake in the region-so it seems likely that they will have interest in continuing to support the European credit markets.
In other European news-Spain’s unemployment rate rose to a 15 year high-climbing above 21 percent.  This is the highest level in the Euro Zone, and most certainly puts a damper on any recovery in the regions 4th largest economy.
The GBP took advantage of the nervous markets and rose-as investors look at UK assets for relative safety.

Asian equity markets rose-as European equity markets were lower-and US Futures are lower at this time.
Oil, gold, and silver are all lower at this time.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-October.25.2011

Good Morning:

Risk on-as equity markets,oil,gold all higher in overnight trading.

The euro moved higher ahead of tomorrow’s meeting of European leaders.  The leaders are looking to bolster the regions rescue fund. 
The first step would be to provide debt relief, and then to recapitalize the Greek banks.  One of the main concerns is to avoid contagion spreading to Spain and Italy.
European leaders are pushing for the banks to take huge losses on their Greek portfolios.  The banks are considering what would be acceptable in terms of how much they are willing to write off on their investment in Greece.  
The sovereign debt crisis that started about 2 years ago has pushed Greece to the brink of default, has brought many other countries financial situation to light (and the light is not very bright), and has caused turmoil in the global marketplace.
Even though Europe has done alot in the last 2 years to help keep the situation under control, they need to do more-quickly.

World equity markets are higher-as are US Futures.
Commodities are also higher across the board.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-October 14.2011

Good Morning:

FX markets prepare themselves for this weekend’s G-20 meeting, and expectations are high that the Euro Zone will come up with a meaningful monetary plan to deal with the regions sovereign debt issues.

In other news-S&P downgraded Spain, and placed them on negative watch.  This followed Fitch rating-who downgraded the country on October 7.  Fitch also cut Italy’s rating on the same day.  Spain’s leading bank-Santander was also downgraded earlier this week.

In additional signs of stress on the banking system-Fitch cut the rating of UBS, Lloyds, and Royal Bank of Scotland.  The rating agency also put more than a dozen banks under negative watch.

World equity markets all traded higher-and US Futures are also higher this morning.
Oil, Gold, Silver are all higher this morning.

HAVE A GREAT DAY-WEEKEND & GOOD LUCK

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