Bobbys Corner-Open Market-April.12.2012

Good Morning:

The greenback was mixed versus most of their counterparts.

Italy saw their cost of borrowing increase to the highest levels since January 2012 at today’s bond auction.  The auctions are well received,  but yields in Spain and Italy along with most of the EU are moving higher.  Concerns over debt contagion from Spain is putting pressure on the bond markets throughout the EU.
Greek January unemployment rose to 21.8% from 21.2% in December.

Some good news out of the FOMC:
It seems that both Dudley and Yellen have stated that their is still support of keeping interest rates low through 2014-and longer if necessary.  Also they stated that the door for additional QE is open.

Oil is back over $103/bbl.

Asian equity markets were higher-along with Europe and US Futures.

Gold is slightly lower-while silver is higher.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-April.10.2012

Good Morning:

Worries over rising Spanish borrowing costs pushed the euro lower.  Spanish 10 year bonds hit a yield of 5.9% from 5.8% earlier.
Spanish/German 10 year government bond spreads rose 424 bps from 402 bps earlier. Bank of Spain’s Ordonez stated that he expects more bank mergers in 2012, banks may need additional capital, Spanish exports are growing, and Spanish banks have  made 112 bln euros in provisions from 2007-2011.  These are just a few reasons why many economists believe that the country will be the next country in the euro zone to need a bailout.
Italian/German spreads on 10 year government bond yields widened out to 391 bps from 371 bps earlier.

Gold and silver are higher.

Oil is lower@ $102.15 bbl.

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

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-April.4.2012

Good Morning:

Spain was on center stage overnight: 
Spanish auction results were very disappointing.  The auctions resulted in selling only 2.69 billion euros out of a target of 3.5 billion euros.
Spanish./German 10 year government bond yield spreads widen to 376 pps.
Spanish 5 year credit default swaps also rose.  Which is a sign of growing euro zone concerns.
Spain’s PM Rajoy commented that Spain’s situation is of “extreme difficulty’.

S&P commented that Europe should pull out of recession in late 2012.  I am not sure where they get the data to make this assessment-but that S&P.

Gold continues to trade lower-after yesterday’s $42 drop after the minutes from the FOMC dashed any QE3 hopes.  

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

Oil is trading just under $103/bbl.

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-March.12.2012

Good Morning:

Looks like a quiet start to the week-with the US economic calender bare for today.

Last week brought us the news that Greece will get the needed funds to stave off a default on March 20.  So for the time being the risk of default is off the table.  Greece has a bond payment of 14.5 billion euros due next week.
10 year borrowing costs have fallen under 5% for both Italy and Spain,  but Portugal is paying more than 13% for the same maturities.

On Tuesday, the Republican Presidential primary season keeps going-with the candidates heading down South.

Commodity markets are lower-with gold, silver and oil leading the way.

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

HAVE A GREAT DAY & GOOD LUCK

Bobbys Corner-Open Market-Feb.14.2012

Good Morning:

Moody’s downgraded Spain, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Malta overnight.  They also  placed France, Austria and the UK on  negative watch.  The cuts were not a surprise to the markets-and bond auctions in the region did well today.

Bank of Japan left their interest rates unchanged, they will increase their asset buying program, and will introduce a 1% cap on consumer inflation.

In other news-the price of oil on the NY Merc jumped to over $101/bbl as nervous market participants continue to fear supply disruptions from Iran.  It seems that the US Navy’s 5th feet which is based out of Bahrain are prepared to take steps to keep the Strait of Hormuz open for shipping. 

Gold and silver are lower-while oil is on the rise.

Asian equity markets were mixed-as European and US Futures are lower at this time.

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.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

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