Today is a short day and that is just as well. Geopolitical concerns have jumped to the forefront of issues to worry about for the market. Oh well, nothing to do about that …
- Asian and European shares, as well as U.S. stock futures, have fallen across the board today, weighed down by a kaleidoscope of factors that includes tepid Chinese services PMI, caution ahead of the U.S. jobs report on Friday, massive unrest in Egypt, and the re-emergence of the Eurozone debt crisis via trouble in Greece and Portugal.
None of the above is an issue, really, but the market needs a wall of worry I suppose. China is old and not worthy news, as it is fine, the jobs report is a bit of a spine tingle, though, even if the prelim report that came out today shows more of the same – okay growth.
- Egypt’s army is reportedly preparing to remove President Mohamed Mursi after he declared that he would not bow to demands from protestors to step down.
Why the market cares about Egypt is beyond me. The country is not an oil producer and if the army does pull off a coup, it will keep the Suez Canal open. In fact, a coup is just what that country needs to get it running politically and economically again. As to the Eurozone, political strife from the austerity there is not new, nor is it dangerous. The union is moving into a stimulus phase and that will quell the current tensions.
Keep your eye on the ball. Stay focused on what the real issue is, which brings us back to the jobs report. This data is what the market ultimately cares about. Jobs are dependent on economic growth, right? Consider the following then.
- Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft – seen as a measure of business confidence and spending plans – increased 1.5 percent instead of the 1.1 percent rise the department had reported last week.
- Unfilled orders for factory goods – a good indicator of future manufacturing activity, rose 0.8 percent in May. Unfilled capital goods orders excluding defense and aircraft were up 1 percent.
· After putting in a robust first half of the year, automobile sales will head even higher during the second half, forecasts Automotive News‘ Jesse Snyder. A fresh slate of new models and the ongoing boom) in demand for pickup trucks will help bring in eager buyers for automakers.
Before I leave you to your celebration of the fourth of July, and a nice respite from any anxiety about the market, put the data below in your computation bank and use it to figure out how to make your money work. Have fun …
- Investor’s Intelligence reports that Bullish Sentiment rose on the week to 43.8% from 41.7%
- The Big Three (GM, Ford, Fiat) in particular look set up to take advantage of positive industry fundamentals to keep up their trend of taking U.S. market share from Japanese automakers.
Trade in the day; Invest in your life …
