U.S. Economic Data Amidst the troubles in Europe, oil spill off of the U.S. coast, insider trading, and an overall volatile market; this week’s market action seemed fairly calm. At one point in the week rumors began to float about China possibly conducting a major selling operation of European debt. Around the same time China […]

U.S. Equities Major Earnings Announcements This week (as of Thursday (5/20/10)) the U.S. large cap stock index fell almost 6% on what many are calling “Continued Euro Worries”. There, could be a number of issues ranging from technical levels to global economic issues, politics, or simply over priced equities that could explain the recent market […]

Global Markets React to Euro Bailout This Monday we saw the EU, along with the IMF release a near trillion dollar rescue plan of the EU region.  After the sharp and historical selloff the markets witnessed last week, Monday opened much higher (close to a 4% gap in most indices) on the news of the […]

Market Volatility Increases, Short Term Shift to Risk Aversion This week volatility came back to the markets after what had seemed to be a parabolic move upwards in the major equity indices over the past few months. Many traders are describing the situation as the inevitable occurrence they were all waiting for, at least in […]

Industry Activity Energy: Refineries Behind as Oil Prices Continue to Rise Recently we covered the bullish breakout in crude oil prices and the opening of oil exploration by the current administration. Along with oil prices, we noted the overall energy sector bid and potential profits to be made in the area. Among the different industries […]

The United States Recovery The ISM manufacturing number came in at 59.6 and was better than estimated; indicating that the manufacturing industry is exhibiting increased productivity. Analysts expected an Increase from 56.5 to 57 but were surprised with the large jump the index made. Benjamin Tal, a senior economist at CIBC World commented: “Manufacturing is […]

Markets React to Healthcare Reform On Sunday, March 21, 2010, after nine months of healthcare reform debate, the U.S House of Representatives voted 219-212 in favor of the unprecedented $940 billion healthcare overhaul that will extend coverage to 32 million more Americans. Although stock futures pointed lower on Sunday night, the markets experienced a 20 […]

The Escalation of Inflation in China The Chinese Consumer Price Index (CPI), a chief measure of inflation, rose to a 16-month high in February, up to 2.7 percent from a year ago, which was 1.5 percent in January this year; beating forecasts of 2.3 percent. Additionally, the Producer Price Index (PPI), a major gauge of […]

Current Account Balance: China and the United States The chart below consists of the current account balances of the United States, China, and emerging economies. The Current Account Balance of a country consists of three economic components: the trade balance, net factor income from abroad, and net transfer payments. The trade balance is defined as […]