Spain is going after its debt. The new conservative government seems serious about getting things back in line financially, at least that is my impression after watching a governmental debate on the issue. The kids are still in the streets, though, and they are still mad, but so far, things remain under control, at least for the moment. As for me, well, I am still learning about my little town of Sant Antoni. Following in that quest, today I hiked quite a long trail that winds up and down the cliffs along the coast. The topography is actually similar to the upper central and northern California coastline, and it is equally as beautiful, although, I must say, the water color is a wholly different shade of blue. It is quite beautiful …
The DIJA just topped 13,000 yesterday, and then fell way back before staging a late-day rally. I just happened to be watching as the index climbed ever closer, almost got there, fell back, almost got there, fell back, and then boom. Frankly, it was fun. I expected the pullback once it hit that magic number, as the Dow has not seen 13,000 since May 20, 2008. Things sure have changed since those days of denial and misunderstood realities.
I guess one could say the Greece outcome was “baked into the cake.” It seems the market was expecting it, and when it came, finally, the idea of taking profit seemed reasonable. That is why I expected what happened yesterday. Even though Greece is now put to bed for a bit, we still have the EU accord and the second ECB dole out to contend with at the end of this month. Look for both to get into the headlines before too long.
On a completely different note, you worldwide players may soon get some universality regarding standardized accounting practices around the globe.
A senior U.S. regulator was “optimistic” on Monday about finding a framework for the world’s top economy to use global book keeping rules for investors to compare cross-border companies. More than 100 countries, including Europe, use accounting rules from the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and are waiting to see if the world’s biggest capital market, with up to 12,000 listed companies, adopts them too.
My guess is the SEC will follow through on this and get it done, and if they do, it is one more and one rather large step to an even tighter global market. A one-world economy is coming …
Being here in Europe means a completely different time zone from which to watch the market. I am getting used to it. The thing is I can watch the European market do its thing before the U.S. market opens. I can tell you after a few days of watching the European market, it is just as dubious as the U.S. market. We still have a ways to go before either market starts believing something good is coming down the line, but in the meantime, the news on the U.S housing market speaks to U.S. economic momentum still moving in the right direction.
U.S. home re-sales surged in January to a 1-1/2 year high, and the supply of properties on the market was the lowest in almost seven years, pointing to a nascent housing recovery. The National Association of Realtors said existing home sales increased 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 4.57 million units last month, the highest since May 2010
You betcha … Keep on truckin’ housing market.
Trade in the day – Invest in your life …
