unemployment
Financial Markets Feeling the Strain of A Breakdown in International Trade Relations
May 31, 2019
President Trump is imposing a tariff on all U.S. imports from Mexico in retaliation of that country’s failure to contain the flow of migrants crossing into the United States. China is ramping up its response to President Trump’s recent protectionist acts against Chinese exports and especially the action against Huawei. U.S.-EU trade talks also have […] More
A Shift from Fixed Income Assets Into Stocks
September 14, 2018
The second week of September came and went without the feared announcement of much higher U.S. tariffs. Even though that danger remains looking ahead, there’s been a return ot riskier assets. Share prices in the Pacific Rim rose 1.2% in Japan today, 1.0% in Hong Kong and Singapore, 1.3% in Indonesia and Taiwan, and 1.4% […] More
Lots of Data but Not Much Market Movement as Monthend Approaches
August 30, 2018
The dollar’s down 0.3% against the yen but up 0.2% relative to the loonie, euro, Aussie dollar and Chinese yuan. Ten-year sovereign debt yields have slid back 3 basis points in Germany, 2 bps in the U.S. and 1 basis point in Great Britain, but the 10-year Japanese JGB firmed a basis point. Gold and […] More
Plenty of News to Focus Upon
April 27, 2018
The meeting between the presidents of South Korea and North Korea agreed to end their multi-decade war and to deescalate nuclear armament. Share prices in the Pacific Rim climbed 1.3% in New Zealand, 1.0% in Hong Kong, and 0.7% in Japan, South Korea, India and Australia. British GDP growth slowed more than forecast last quarter, […] More
Stock Market Declines Associated with Recessions
August 20, 2011
U.S. recessions are inevitably associated with weakening share prices. A recession from December 1969 to January 1970 saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average drop 35.9% from 985 on December 3, 1968 to 631 on May 26, 1970. The next recession occurred between November 1973 and March 1975. The DOW fell 45.1% from 1,052 on January […] More
North American GDP and Unemployment
September 30, 2010
Canada and the United States released subdued GDP figures today. Canadian July GDP slipped 0.1%. Although negative growth in July had been expected, this was the first decline in eleven months, and weakness was pervasive. Manufacturing and construction respectively contracted by 0.7% and 0.5%. Energy, utilities, retail and wholesale turnover fell by 0.6%, 0.4%, 0.5% […] More