Saturday, April 29, 2017

QUICK OVERVIEW

  • Trump on North Korea: “Major, major conflict possible” (Reuters) Trump says he thought being president would be easier than his old life. He misses driving, feels as if he is in a cocoon, and is surprised how hard his new job is. 
 
  •  (Fed) 53% of small employer firms reported being profitable in a 2016 survey, while 27% reported a loss. 
 
  • Trump wants to cut the corporate tax rate to 15% from the current 35%, which would be supportive for stocks if he can pull it off. A cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15% would cost the government some $2 trillion over ten years, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. But deficits are clearly insignificant to republicans when they are in charge… 
 
  • EUR/USD rose to a (almost) 5-1/2 month high as the results of first round of France's presidential election showed that heavily-favored pro-EU candidate Macron leading against Ms. underwater Pen. 
 
  • Mar Chicago Fed national activity index unexpectedly fell -0.19 to 0.08, weaker than expectations of +0.16 to 0.50. 
 
  • The Bundesbank said, "the German economy is likely to have significantly gained momentum in Q1 of 2017" and that sentiment in manufacturing is "extraordinary optimistic." 
  •  German IFO business climate index rose +0.5 to 112.9, stronger than expectations - a 5-3/4 year high. 
 
  •  As Japan's population shrinks, its workforce has declined to 77.2 million in 2015 from a peak of 87.2 million in 1995. By 2065, it's expected to drop to just 45.2 million. 
 
  • Rumors have raised their head “again” that Trump wants to exit Nafta – Ag markets don’t seem to like the idea much, wonder why. Oh, never mind he changed his mind.
 
  •  Record low number of young Americans own homes, and gap in home-ownership between young + old is biggest on record 
                               
  • Median sales price for new houses sold in the U.S. rose $22,000 in March to $315,100 
 
  • The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast a near normal Southwest Monsoon for 2017 suggesting that June to September rainfall is likely to be 96 percent of the Long Period Average. Above normal high temperatures are forecast from April to June as much of the country will witness heatwave conditions. 
 
  • According to Russia’s Federal Statistics Service (Rosstat), Russia’s headline consumer price index (CPI) was down to 4.3 percent in March 2017 from 5.4 percent in December 2016