Random Market News, 16
August 2017
"The Trump administration will demand significant concessions from
Canada and Mexico in the renegotiation of the North American free-trade
agreement, including a requirement for cars and trucks made in the free-trade
zone to have U.S. content."
"IA: AGM season shows investors 'holding business to account'.
Shareholders ramped up opposition to listed company pay proposals this
year, according to the UK’s asset management trade body.
The Investment Association (IA) said data from the 2017 annual general
meeting (AGM) season showed FTSE350 companies were responding to investor
pressure to reduce executive remuneration.
Recent analysis from the CIPD and the High Pay Centre showed that UK chief
executives’ average pay fell 17% in the past 12 months."
"Mortgages, Cars, Credit Cards Drive Household Debt Higher.
US household debt has surged more than 15% in just four years.
US aggregate household debt balances increased for the 12th consecutive
quarter in Q2 to $12.84 trillion, a $114 billion (0.9%) increase from Q1,
according to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York."
https://www.ai-cio.com/news/mortgages-cars-credit-cards-drive-household-debt-higher/
https://www.newyorkfed.org/microeconomics/hhdc.html
~3.2% 90+ days
delinquency rate for total household debt in 2Q17. Down steadily from peak of ~8.7%
in 1Q10.
"Trump signs order to speed infrastructure
construction."
"GMO's James Montier Picks Emerging Markets
in World Starved of Value.
Strategists tell investors to ‘Just Say No’ to U.S. equities.
Spread between EM and U.S. shares is in 90th percentile: GMO."
"Ratio of market caps to nominal GDPs."
https://www.ft.com/content/c4de73e2-17a1-11e7-9c35-0dd2cb31823a
"China Shows How Not to Sell $11.7 Billion in Shares.
China United retracts statement on share sale in Shanghai.
‘Confusion right to the very last moment,’ investor says."
"Eurozone growth smashes forecasts.
The economies of the 19 countries sharing the euro
currency expanded by more than previously forecast, as a slew of positive data
suggest that the recovery in the bloc is well on track."
http://www.dw.com/en/eurozone-growth-smashes-forecasts/a-40113502
Data dump.
VIX ~11.74. 10-yr treasury volatility (TYVIX) ~4.03.
http://www.cboe.com/products/vix-index-volatility/volatility-on-interest-rates
Large TYVIX
spike to ~6.4 at 2pm today.
Implied Fed rate hike/cut probability for September 20th
is ~1.4%/0.0%, November 1st is ~7.3%/0.0%.
http://www.cmegroup.com/trading/interest-rates/countdown-to-fomc.html/
10yr Sovereigns.
https://www.investing.com/rates-bonds/government-bond-spreads
https://tradingeconomics.com/bonds
FX.
https://www.investing.com/currencies/streaming-forex-rates-majors
https://tradingeconomics.com/currencies
Equity.
https://www.investing.com/indices/major-indices
https://tradingeconomics.com/stocks
Commodities.
https://www.investing.com/commodities/real-time-futures
https://tradingeconomics.com/commodities
News feed.
"Fed
Policymakers Divided Over Stimulus Unwind
Several Fed
policymakers were prepared to announce a start date for the shrinking of the US
central bank’s balance sheet at the latest rate-setting meeting, but most
preferred to wait for additional information on the economic outlook and
developments potentially affecting financial markets, minutes from last FOMC
meeting showed.
Canada Foreign
Stock Investment Shrinks in June
Foreigners sold
CAD 923 Million of Canadian securities in June 2017, following a net
acquisition of CAD 29.44 billion in the previous month and below market
expectations of CAD 23.45 billion acquisition. Non-resident investors sold net
CAD 2.58 billion of Canadian bonds of which they sold CAD 8.77 billion of
government bonds and bought CAD 6.2 billion of money market instruments.
Meantime, Canadian investors bought a net CAD 13.2 billion worth of foreign
securities, led by foreign equity and investment fund shares, after purchasing
a net CAD 4.3 billion in May.
Eurozone Q2 GDP
Growth Confirmed at 0.6%
The Eurozone
economy advanced 0.6 percent on quarter in the three months to June of 2017, in
line with the preliminary estimate and following a 0.5 percent growth in the
previous period. Among Eurozone's largest economies, GDP growth picked up in
Spain; was unchanged in France and Italy; and slowed in Germany.
Dutch Jobless
Rate Falls To 5-Year Low in July
Dutch
seasonally adjusted unemployment declined to 4.8 percent in July of 2017 from
4.9 percent in the prior month. It was the lowest jobless rate since June 2011,
as the number of unemployed went down by 10 thousand from a month earlier to
436 thousand while the number of employed rose 42 thousand to 8,636 thousand.
Senegal
Industrial Production Drops 9.4% in June
Industrial
output in Senegal contracted 9.4 percent year-on-year in June 2017, following a
3.3 percent growth in the previous month, due to lower production of paper and
cardboard (-50.8 percent from -31.6 percent in May), food products (-35.9
percent from 13 percent) and machinery (-21.7 percent from -28.2 percent). In
addition, mining output shrank 11.3 percent (-11.2 percent in May), while
energy production grew 3.4 percent (12.3 percent in May).
Thailand Holds
Key Rate Steady at 1.5%
The Bank of
Thailand left its benchmark policy rate steady at 1.5 percent on August 16th
2017, in line with market expectations. Policymakers said the growth outlook
improved due to a a recovery in exports while the
domestic demand expansion was not yet sufficiently broad-based and inflation is
expected to rise at a slightly slower pace than previously estimated.
Philippines
Annual GDP Growth Beats Forecasts in Q2
The Philippines
economy grew an annual 6.5 percent in the June quarter of 2017, following a 6.4
percent expansion in the previous quarter and below market consensus of a 6.2
percent growth. Private consumption and government spending both grew at a
faster pace, while investment and exports slowed. For 2017, the economy is
expected to advance between 6.5 to 7.5 percent. On a quarter-on-quarter
seasonally adjusted basis, the GDP expanded 1.7 percent in the second quarter
2017, compared to an upwardly revised 1.3 percent growth in the December
quarter and above market expectations of a 1.6 percent growth.
KOSPI Continues
Recovery On Wednesday
South Korea's
KOSPI finished up 14 points, or 0.6 percent, to 2348 on Wednesday 16th of
August, as tensions over the Korean Peninsula eased after president Moon Jae-In
called for renewed talks with North Korea, emphasizing that the US would
require his consent for any further military action. Foreigners also increased
their buying activity of Korean equities this week. According to the Financial
Supervisory Service, a total of 712.2 trillion won - 605.7 trillion Won in
listed stocks, and 106.5 trillion Won in listed bonds were purchased by
non-domestic investors in July. It was the first time that foreign Korean stock
ownership exceeded 600 trillion Won. Technology and
materials stocks boosted the index on Wednesday, with electronics giants
Samsung jumping 2.7 percent and SK Hynix adding 1.6 percent.
Japan Trade
Surplus Narrows 17% YoY in July
Japan's trade
surplus fell 17.0 percent to JPY 418.77 billion in July of 2017 from JPY 504.53
billion in the same month a year earlier but above market consensus of a
surplus of JPY 392.0 billion. Exports rose 13.4 percent from a year earlier to
JPY 6,494.89 billion while imports increased by 16.3 percent to JPY 6,076.19
billion.
Stocks in New
Zealand Hit All-time High
NZX 50
increased to an all-time high of 7855.
Wheat Hits
13-week Low
Wheat decreased
to a 13-week low of 421 USD/Bu.
Corn Hits
31-week Low
Corn decreased
to a 31-week low of 353 ¢USD/bu."
https://tradingeconomics.com/stream
http://www.marketwatch.com/newsviewer#
https://global.handelsblatt.com/
https://blogs.wsj.com/dailyshot/
"Labor Rising On List Of
Site Selection Concerns For Warehouse Users.
Access to skilled labor pools has become a primary
factor among retail companies in search of new distribution centers. This need
for qualified talent has ramped up costs for these companies as they compete
for the same employees in markets across the country."
"PSA takes blockchain
plunge with PIL and IBM.
PSA International, Pacific International Lines and IBM
have signed a Memorandum of Understanding pledging to explore how best to
implement blockchain technology in global supply
chains."
"HMM looks north to Arctic passage.
South Korea’s largest ocean carrier is considering
launching a regular liner service via the Arctic Sea, a move that could cut
transits between Asia and Europe considerably.
The Northern Sea Route (NSR) provides the shortest
maritime path between Asia and Europe, allowing shipments from Busan to
Rotterdam that take 24 days to be shortened to 14 days. The NSR is currently
available for just four months out of the year due to heavy ice conditions
during the winter, but this could be potentially extended due to global
warming."
http://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/hmm-looks-north-to-arctic-passage-68700.aspx
"Transplace announces
TPG is new equity partner.
Earlier this week, non asset-based
third-party logistics (3PL) services provider Transplace
said it has selected TPG Capital, the global private equity platform of
alternative asset firm TPG, as its new equity partner. Transplace
officials said that TPG will acquire Transplace from Greenbriar Equity Group LLC, Transplace’s
equity partner going back to May 2013, when it acquired.
Transplace was
established in 2000 as a collaboration among six transportation carriers—J.B.
Hunt Transport Services, Covenant Transport, Swift Transportation Co., M.S.
Carriers Inc. (which subsequently merged with Swift), U.S. Xpress Enterprises,
and Werner Enterprises. When the companies first joined together to establish Transplace, it was viewed as a way to bring shippers and
carriers together through a Web-based platform to efficiently collaborate on
transportation and logistics planning and execution."
http://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/transplace_announces_tpg_is_new_equity_partner
"Newborn Unicorns: Meet The New Class Of $1B+ US Startups.
The first six months of 2017 saw the emergence of a dozen new VC-backed US
unicorns, including rocket launch vehicles, health insurance companies, and
at-home cycling services.
Last quarter, the US unicorn “birth rate” ticked up significantly as 9 new
VC-backed companies reached $1B+ valuations (compared to only 3 companies in
Q1’17), the highest quarterly total since the close of Q3’15, according to our
Q2’17 Venture Capital Funding Report with PwC. All together,
that means 12 US-based startups joined the global unicorn club in H1’17."
https://www.cbinsights.com/research/new-unicorn-startups-us/
"Amazon expands program that pays Alexa developers for top-performing
voice apps."
"How a Paraplegic User Commands This Exoskeleton: "Alexa, I'm
Ready to Walk".
Bionik Labs’ ARKE is the latest robotic exoskeleton that enables paraplegic
people to rise to their feet and walk using their paralyzed legs. And it’s the
first to integrate the hardware with the Amazon Echo platform, allowing
exoskeleton users to control the device with simple voice commands addressed to
Amazon’s Alexa, the virtual assistant used in home automation."
"Scientists discover powerful potential pain reliever.
A team of scientists led by chemists Stephen Martin and James Sahn at The University of Texas at Austin have discovered
what they say is a powerful pain reliever that acts on a previously unknown
pain pathway. The synthetic compound, known as UKH-1114, is as effective at
relieving neuropathic pain in injured mice as a drug widely used for pain
relief called gabapentin, but it works at a much lower dose, with longer
duration of action."
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2017-08-scientists-powerful-potential-pain-reliever.html
"Supervolcanoes: A key to America's electric
future?
In a study published today in Nature Communications, scientists detail a
new method for locating lithium in supervolcanic lake deposits. The findings represent an
important step toward diversifying the supply of this valuable silvery-white
metal, since lithium is an energy-critical strategic resource, said study
co-author Gail Mahood, a professor of geological
sciences at Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.
Oregon's Crater Lake is a prime example. Over tens of thousands of years,
rainfall and hot springs leach out lithium from the volcanic deposits. The
lithium accumulates, along with sediments, in the caldera lake, where it
becomes concentrated in a clay called hectorite."
https://phys.org/news/2017-08-supervolcanoes-key-america-electric-future.html
Startup/SME of the Day.
"Besides maintaining superior
wine quality, wine on tap in stainless steel kegs reduces the cost of
traditional bottle packaging and transportation. By eliminating this packaging
(bottles, corks, capsules, labels and cases), there is a lot less to ship and
recycle, lowering the carbon footprint of the wine and hospitality industries."
Kegs for wine.
"World's biggest beaver dam can be seen from
space.
This woodland construction is the world's biggest
beaver dam, which at 2,790ft is more than twice the length of the Hoover dam
and can be seen from space."
FR: ILO
Unemployment Rate, 1:30 AM ET
GB: Retail
Sales, 4:30 AM ET
EZ: HICP, 5:00
AM ET
EZ: Merchandise
Trade, 5:00 AM ET
EZ: ECB Minutes,
7:30 AM ET
US: Jobless
Claims, 8:30 AM ET
US: Philadelphia
Fed Business Outlook Survey, 8:30 AM ET
CA:
Manufacturing Sales, 8:30 AM ET
US: Industrial
Production, 9:15 AM ET
US: Bloomberg
Consumer Comfort Index, 9:45 AM ET
US: E-Commerce
Retail Sales, 10:00 AM ET
US: Leading
Indicators, 10:00 AM ET
US: EIA Natural
Gas Report, 10:30 AM ET
US: Fed Balance
Sheet, 4:30 PM ET
US: Money
Supply, 4:30 PM ET
CN: House Price
Index, 9:30 PM ET
http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3063-globalEconomicCalendar.html
https://tradingeconomics.com/calendar (More complete listing, including consensus)