So much for yesterday’s market “downturn.” Maybe the bears have more in store, but my guess is, at least for near term, an occasional push to the downside is all they have to offer, which, by the way, is a good thing. The market needs a little rebalancing, now and then.
One reason the bears are having trouble gaining solid footing is the US consumer.
- Core retail sales last month were bolstered by sturdy gains in receipts at clothing, furniture, electronics, and sporting goods shops, among others. Sales at electronics and appliance stores rose by the most since April.
The problem the bears have is that no matter what the fluctuating month-to-month data flow says, the US consumer just keeps on spending across the board and the market likes this. The market understands that US consumers spending ultimately means the core economic numbers will remain positive and forward moving.
- The better-than-expected increase in core retail sales suggested consumer spending would likely accelerate from a two-year low touched in the third quarter and probably limit downside risks to economic growth during the fourth quarter.
Along with the forward-looking sense above, the market also is getting a nod from the children in Washington D.C. The temperamental brats are now suggesting enough is enough when it comes to spending and the US budget and the market likes this as well.
- In an interview with Reuters, Representative Tom Cole of Oklahoma said that the 29-member Senate-House negotiating committee “would like to achieve” a two-year budget. A two-year deal, Cole said, would help Congress pass spending bills in a more efficient manner and ease the series of government shutdown threats that have been in play since 2011.
On top of the above, the economic data out of Britain seems to be trumping the economic data out of the rest of Europe. It appears the market likes the solidity of the data.
- British factory orders have jumped unexpectedly this month to their strongest level since March 1995, the Confederation of British Industry’s monthly industrial trends survey showed on Thursday.
Okay, okay, so I had a relapse. I spent quite a bit of today’s writing real estate on the resurging global economy. I know, I know, you think I have a problem, but I can stop whenever I want to. Really, I can just quit, but not right now.
On top of the above economic data, news from the World Trade Organization suggests the world might be coming together to resolve differences that have plagued the WTO since its inception. If the organization can pull this off, it means freer global commerce, which translates to more global commerce, which means more opportunity for struggling global economies, such as the whole of Europe.
- The World Trade Organization is close to the first worldwide trade reform since it was formed 18 years ago.
Alright already. Quit nagging me. I can write about other stuff, you know, stuff like what I have been writing about – opportunity in the market. In fact, here is a big chunk of information that points out that even though opportunity is broad-based, and the big boys often go after it in a big way, they don’t always succeed. In fact, sometimes, they look like broken water pipes as their money just spews everywhere.
- Earlier this year, Intel Corp rented temporary retail space in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago for a splashy launch of Intel TV, a new Internet entertainment service that the chipmaker promised could revolutionize the television industry.
Translation: They threw a lot of money at a good idea, an idea whose time has come.
- At his first annual investor day on Thursday, Intel’s CEO Brian Krzanich is expected to discuss the growing use of chips in everyday devices, plans to breathe new life into PCs, and Intel’s growing contract manufacturing business – but not Intel TV.
Oops! The broken pipe is fixed, but everywhere one looks, it is wet with money.
- Intel’s retreat is a disappointment not only to former British Broadcasting Corp executive Erik Huggers, who led the project, but also to others in Silicon Valley who saw it as part of a wave of next-generation digital television products that might help break open a market tightly controlled by a handful of cable companies and entertainment conglomerates.
And. herein is the problem with the new kids trying to break into the old-boys’ network – it is tight. The truth, however, is that it is not as tight as it once was. Netflix has cracked the once formidable grip the Hollywood, New York gangs have on the entertainment industry. Google and Apple are coming on hard, but my money will not be with them. I will find the underdog with tenacity, innovation, and vision. That is where the opportunity is.
Oh, and speaking of opportunity …
- At a dusty Texas oilfield, Apache Corp has eliminated its reliance on what arguably could be the biggest long-term constraint for fracking wells in the arid western United States: scarce freshwater.
More on NG opportunity coming your way. Stay tuned.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
