Every Reason For The Spread

Sunrise Market Commentary - Fixed Income: Risk off pushes German bond yields to new lows - Risk off sentiment pushed core bonds higher and non-core bond yield spreads re-widened substantially. The Summit didn't bring new information, but another hole found in Spain's regions' budgets might get attention today. - Currencies EUR/USD cedes the 1.2624 support - On Wednesday, the EMU debt crisis was again omnipresent. Markets feared that the EU leaders wouldn't be able to take decisive action to address the debt crisis. Extreme risk aversion pushed EUR/USD to a new low for 2012. The losses of EUR/GBP were more contained, as poor UK retail sales and rather soft BoE minutes kept the door open for more policy stimulation. The Sunrise Headlines - In the final hour of trading, US ...

U.S. Review Modest Growth on a Broadening Base - The underlying tone of the recent economic reports remains consistent with modest economic growth. Consumer spending ended the first quarter on a solid note and spending is now on track to grow at a 2 percent pace in the second quarter. - Reports from the regional manufacturing surveys showed some weakness but the National ISM report came in stronger than expected. The nonmanufacturing survey, however, came in below expectations. - Nonfarm employment rose by 115,000 jobs in April and the unemployment rate fell 0.1 percent to 8.1 percent. Modest Growth on a Broadening Base This week's ISM report came in better than expected, rising 1.4 points to 54.8 in April, which greatly relieves fears built up from the weaker factory orders ...

Weekly Economic and Financial Commentary U.S. Review A Rough Start To April Another week of softer U.S. economic data weighed on market sentiment this week. More hints of slower economic growth are appearing in the data, consistent with our forecast that U.S. GDP growth slows to a 2.8 percent annualized pace in the first quarter and continues slowing to a sub 2 percent annualized pace in the second. Initial jobless claims jumped by 13,000 in the first week of April. February imports plunged 2.7 percent, small business confidence fell in March for the first time in seven months and core inflation is on the rise. A Rough Start to April United States economic data releases so far this month have not been kind to the bulls on Wall Street. The poor March payroll report rattled some ...

(Reuters) - Gary Feeman has been searching for a job for 16 months. He's not ready to give up just yet, but the 60-year-old worries he is running out of options. Feeman is among the more than 5 million Americans who have been out of work for more than six months and who represent the heart of the crisis in the labor market. Their plight also poses a warning that U.S. unemployment may not drop back to its pre-recession levels and could be stuck higher than many policymakers expect. Feeman, from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, has sent out as many as 100 resumes. But the former maintenance director at a small amusement park in the area, has had only one interview in person. That was in January. "I have tried everything under the sun," he said. "The frustrating thing to me is that when ...

The Weekly Bottom Line : 16/03/2012 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States Market participants are clearly trading on what everyone else seems to be feeling: the recovery is back. But the Fed, for its part, is not yet willing to admit that the economy has entered a new, stronger phase. Though the quickening pace of job growth is a positive sign, disposable income growth is still stagnant, and the recent run-up in commodity prices threatens to erode consumer spending growth. Europe's troubles haven't gone away. If market sentiment get's too far ahead of itself, the Fed may be tempted to fight back with another round of asset purchases. But if rising borrowing costs are a product of a stronger recovery then the Fed should be less concerned. Increased spreads may actually be ...

We hope you enjoy today’s issue of The Daily Reckoning, dear reader. It’s costing us a fortune to produce; NZ$0.68 per minute (up to NZ$29.90 for 24 hours), to be exact. That’s what the hotel charges for accessing the Internet. Seems kind of strange, really. They give us sausages and eggs for breakfast, along with a stellar selection of fresh-squeezed juices and pastries…then, when we’re overfed and slow to compute, they slam us for thirty bucks for a day worth of something Starbucks outlets around the world give away for nothing. And it’s limited data! How are we supposed to reckon when we can’t stream our favorite Justin Bieber songs straight into our headphones? This remote island nation is not cheap, as we’re coming to find out. Just to give you an idea… A 25 minute taxi-ride from ...

The Weekly Bottom Line : 27/02/2012 HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK United States U.S. stock markets have been on a tear over the past several weeks reflecting newfound optimism in the economic outlook. The housing market is leading the improvement in economic indicators and showed continued momentum this week. Existing home sales rose to levels last seen during the homebuyer tax credit of early 2010. Supported by continued job gains, the housing market looks to be turning a corner. The one caveat to rising optimism is rising gas prices. As tensions with Iran push up crude oil prices, consumers are feeling it at the pumps. A sustained gain in oil prices presents a key downside risk to recent economic momentum. Canada Canada's S&P TSX, which is up a solid 3% over the past two ...

Have you ever had any doubts about gold? Does it sometimes feel like it should be performing better? Are you concerned about its volatility? Do you worry about how it might perform in the future? Have you ever wondered about its true purchasing power? Maybe you’re nervous about a big drop in price again? I decided to go directly to the source to address these concerns: Gold himself. He put his arm around me and asked me to tell you a few things… I hear that you’ve had some worries about me. I understand. Your world is a very uncertain place right now. And when it comes to money, it looks as though your leaders don’t understand some basic monetary principles, making things even more unsettling. But I want you to know that the problems you’re experiencing are actually nothing new. I’ve ...

(Reuters) - Brent crude's premium to U.S. oil could be poised for another record run after jumping 50 percent over the past week, as an expected build in Midwest inventories again exerts pressure on the U.S. benchmark. The Brent-WTI spread, which measures the difference between London-based Brent and the U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI), has jumped past $19, up sharply from near $12 at the start of last week. With U.S. refiners starting seasonal maintenance just as a major pipeline starts carrying more crude, traders said the oil glut in the U.S. Midwest that helped drive last year's record spread was back on their radar. That should widen the discount between what refiners pay for oil around the WTI delivery point of Cushing, Oklahoma, compared with the price paid by ...