Market Overview

Perverse IncentivesWe haven’t written about Australia’s residential real estate bubble for some time (readers may want to check out last year’s post “Australia’s Bubble...

Financial stress in the US continues to trend upward, according to four benchmarks published by Federal Reserve banks. The numbers overall suggest that stress in the financial system is at the highest...

The S&P 500 was last near its all-time highs in mid-July 2015. Since then, what do you think has been the worst-performing sector of the U.S. stock market?You may have guessed the energy sector,...

There are no significant economic releases for the euro area today apart from France consumer confidence.In the US non-manufacturing PMI is due for release. In terms of the housing market, new home...

The past year has been a difficult one for the Peoples Bank of China, as they attempt to paper over the rapidly cracking façade that is the yuan. Although capital flight has always been a thorn...

A confluence of factors are raising anxiety levels among investors, and it is being expressed in heightened volatility. The S&P 500 was turned back yesterday from the key 1945 level, and global...

DOW – 188 = 16,431SPX – 24 = 1921NAS – 67 = 450310 Y – .02 = 1.75OIL – 2.09 = 31.30GOLD + 17.10 = 1226.40The G20 is meeting this weekend in Shanghai. The US will call on...

Market BriefHere we go again. Since the beginning of 2016, financial markets have had a tough time choosing sides between bulls and bears, and as you can see the market is in risk-off mode this week....

After six consecutive days of the VIX (US volatility index) falling, we have seen volatility come back with a vengeance.Whether we see the VIX push back into the 30% level is something that is...

The Japanese yen pulled back from its recent highs in late Asian trading on Wednesday after oil prices attempted to move higher again. Oil futures fell sharply on Tuesday after Saudi Arabia ruled out...

Pound still on the ropesGBP has fallen below the 1.40 level versus the USD for the first time in 7 years overnight as traders and investors continue to express their unhappiness with EU referendum...

Crude oil reached as high as 33.53 overnight but pared back some again after Saudi Oil Minister Ali Al-Naimi effectively ruled out production cuts by major producers anytime soon. WTI is trading at...

The Distributive Trades Survey will show if strong UK retail sales can roll on A rebound is expected in today’s flash US Services PMI for February New January home sales in the US are on track...

Score one for Chinese consistency. Back in December, Chinese officials suddenly announced that they were pulling back the Minxin PMIs of smaller and mid-sized businesses in both manufacturing and...