Author: Scott Hoffman

The ADP employment report showed a drop of 20K in payrolls; a bit better than the -50K forecast.  There was some good employment news from Japan, a good GDP report from Australia, and bullish economic comments from a PBOC...

There was talk about a new Greek austerity plan to be announced next week.  In addition, PMs Merkel and Papandreou will meet on March 5th; there are hopes that a bailout will come out of all this.  These hopes brought...

Stocks are a bit higher on a story that the EU is piecing together a bailout plan for Greece.  This would take some of the strain off the EU economy in the short run.  China’s PMI fell in January, while it rose...

Asian stocks were higher overnight; they were helped by an upbeat budget and economic report in India. Elsewhere, there was a rumor that Deutsche Bank CEO Ackermann was meeting with Greek officials to discuss a €15 Bln....

Chinese stocks were higher after the government said they will extend support to industry amid weak global demand.  That didn’t help the rest of Asia or Europe, as apparently more traders read yesterday’s story...

An attendee at the webinar I did yesterday asked me about my comment this morning on bond futures.  I said:  “Sell Short day; the swing high at 118-01 is resistance.  117-24 is the reference...

Asian stocks were lower overnight after the reports showing lower consumer confidence in Germany and the US.  Greek unions called for a second day of strikes to protest the government’s austerity measures.  Greek...

Yesterday I highlighted a breakout setup in the T Bond futures (read it here), That setup gave a good pop today after the weak consumer confidence number.  Let’s look at how you could have traded it. The daily chart...

Overnight the German IFO business confidence index fell; this fall put pressure on the Euro.  BoE Governor King made downbeat comments on the UK and EU economies.  An ECB member said that the EU will have to help...

There were a lot of boring markets today.  After the ‘old’ 8:30 open, S&Ps had about a 6 point range.  For whatever reason, no one was doing much today. The good news is that volatility tends to be...