QUICK OVERVIEW

• U.S. Real average hourly earnings rose 0.3 % for year ending March 2017

• CPI rose 2.4 % over the 12 months ending March 2017

• Initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 10,000 last week to 244,000.

• Unemployment rates decline in 274 metropolitan areas over the year ending February 2017

• Camden and Dallas had highest percent increases in employment for year ended February 2017

• U.S Producer Price Index for final demand goods increased 4.0% over the year ending March 2017 

•  One-third of Americans say real estate is best long-term investment.  Residents of the West, men especially confident in real estate Stocks rank second, with strongest support from higher-income adults.

• U.S. Mar housing starts fell -6.8% to 1.215 million, weaker than expected.

• Mar building permits rose +3.6% to 1.26 million, stronger than expectations of +2.8%.

• U.S. Mar manufacturing production unexpectedly fell -0.4%, weaker than expexted, and the biggest decline in 7 months.

• U.S. Mar industrial production rose +0.5%, as expected.

• Mar capacity utilization rose +0.4 to 76.1%, as expected..

• The IMF raised its 2017 global GDP forecast to 3.5% from a Jan estimate of 3.4%.

• China Retail Sales (Mar) 10.9% YoY vs 9.7% expected, 10.9% prior

• China Industrial Prod (Mar) 7.6% YoY vs 6.3% expected, 6.0% prior

• Since October, about 89,000 workers in general merchandise stores have lost their jobs, which is more than the number of people employed in the entire US coal industry

• Exhaust cleaning scrubbers will be the cheapest way for larger ships to comply with the 2020 International Maritime Organizations (IMO) 0.5pc sulfur cap on marine fuels, according to BP

• 4/21/2017,  is  the first time since the lights came on, the UK has gone 24 hours without coal-fired generation..
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With the close of DJI below 20530 and DJT below 8914 our opinion of Dow Theory is now bearish.

QUICK OVERVIEW

•  (Reuters) North Korea should halt any plans for nuclear and missile activities "for its own security", a Chinese newspaper said on Wednesday, warning that the United States is making clear it doesn't plan to "co-exist" with a nuclear-armed Pyongyang.

• Following repeated missile tests that drew international criticism, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on Feb. 26, cutting off the country's most important export product.

•  Despite rising global tensions and fears of inflation, gold prices have stayed relatively calm. Reminds me of the adage “never sell a quiet market short”.

• The CME announced on that it is in the final stages of testing a venue for trading spot gold that's based on the blockchain, the distributed-ledger technology that powers the bitcoin network.

• Gold demand continues to grow, consumption by Turkey, India, China and Russia alone have exceeded world global mine supply since 2013.

•  Trump says $ is too strong. He’s also considering reappointing Janet Yellen as Fed chair.

•  (Reuters) Global stocks of corn, wheat, rice and soybeans combined will hit a record 671.1 million tonnes going into the next harvest - the third straight year of historically high surplus, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That's enough to cover demand from China for about a year.

•  54% of Canadians surveyed expect housing prices to rise indefinitely, only 4% expect price drop in 1 year

• (Economist) In America, Chinese investors bought some 29,000 homes in the 12 months to March 2016 with a total value of $27bn, according to the National Association of Realtors.

•   (AP) " Apple is joining the fiercely competitive race to design self-driving cars, raising the possibility that a company that has already re-shaped culture with its iPhone may try to transform transportation too.

• Elon Musk plans an electric semi truck for local, regional, and long-haul routes. Also on tap: a pickup truck, a compact crossover, and a next-generation convertible roadster.

•  U.S. mass shootings in 2017 = 121, so far..

 

Weekly Charts are up-to-date