On Friday (Feb. 27), the 4th quarter U.S. GDP was revised downward to 2.2% from the original 2.6%.
"U.S. stock markets shrugged off the revision," wrote Fox Business. And why wouldn't they -- after all, the conventional wisdom says that as long as the economy is growing, so is the stock market.
Except, it's not exactly true.
See, if that notion were true, then you'd have to assume that the U.S. economy was in a bad shape in 2007, when the stock market began its biggest decline since the Great Depression. But the facts show the opposite.
NFTRH 322 covered the usual range of markets, from US to global stocks to precious metals and commodities to currencies and indicators. It also included an extended economic discussion about the realities of the strong US economy and its dangerous underpinnings.
The economic segment began with this look at the Semiconductor Equipment sector, which was our first indicator on economic strength exactly 2 years ago and will be an initial indicator on economic deceleration when the time is right.
Checking the Semiconductor Book-to-Bill ratio (b2b), this all-important forward looker came in pretty decent for November. Per the data we reviewed in an update last week, the bookings, which is the most important component, was pretty good at $1.22 Billion compared to October’s $1.1 Billion.
The graph from SEMI does not include the November data. I added an arrow showing the current level of the b2b.
Our original graph is marked up as well to show the longer trend. There is a spike up happening and this may or may not be related to an overall year-end sales spike in some high end capital equipment that happens like clockwork at the end of each year in Machine Tools (ref. sales graph below). I do not have the level of knowledge about the Semiconductor Equipment industry to speak authoritatively about its more structural capital spending cycles. So this is just a possibility to consider. Continue reading "Semiconductor Equipment Sector Update"→
The Gold Report: The World Gold Council, which gets its numbers from Thomson Reuters GFMS, reports that total gold demand in Q2/14 fell by 15% versus the same period in 2013. Furthermore, physical bar and official coin demand were basically cut in half while jewelry demand fell by 217 tons or 30%. What do you make of all of that?
Christos Doulis: Clearly, there has been less enthusiasm for owning gold in recent years. A lot of that has to do with the concept of gold as a safe haven. Six years ago, when the financial crisis was in full swing, gold was $800900/ounce ($800900/oz), but on its way to $1,900/oz in September 2011. The fears associated with that period have largely receded and we're seeing a decrease in both gold investment and jewelry demand, which is often a form of savings in non-Western nations. We're seeing a reaction in demand because the fear component that drives interest in the gold space is down significantly.
TGR: Meanwhile, central bank gold purchases were up 28% year-over-year. Is that the silver lining?
CD: I'm a goldbug in that I think everything that has happened since 2008 is ultimately positive for precious metals prices. We've had a massive money printing exercise. The markets are running because there's so much money and the money has to go somewhere. The fact that central banks are buying gold tells me that goldthe currency between states and central banksis still regarded as an important part of the reserve mix. While the demand for gold among general investors may have decreased during the last few years, the policy makers in the central banks are well aware of the seeds that have been sown in a fiat-currency race to the bottom.
Just as the U.S. economy is strengthening, other countries are threatening to drag it down.
Employers in the U.S. are creating jobs at the fastest pace since the late 1990s and the economy finally looks ready to expand at a healthy rate. But sluggish growth in France, Italy, Russia, Brazil and China suggests that the old truism, "When the U.S. sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold," may need to be flipped.
Maybe the rest of the world will sneeze this time, and the U.S. will get sick.
That's the view of David Levy, who oversees the Levy Forecast, a newsletter analyzing the economy that his family started in 1949 and one with an enviable record. Nearly a decade ago, the now 59-year-old economist warned that U.S. housing was a bubble set to burst and that the damage would push the country into a recession so severe the Federal Reserve would have no choice but to slash short-term borrowing rates to their lowest levels ever to stimulate the economy. That's exactly what happened. Now, Levy says the United States is likely to fall into a recession next year triggered by downturns in other countries, the first time in modern history.
"The recession for the rest of the world ... will be worse than the last one," says Levy, whose grandfather called the 1929 stock crash and whose father won praise over decades for anticipating turns in the business cycle, often against conventional wisdom. Continue reading "If Other Countries Sneeze, Will The U.S. Catch A Cold?"→
When the Federal Reserve first suggested a gradual tightening of its monetary policy in May 2013, investors began to wonder if the long-running bull market would come to an abrupt end.
A quick spike in interest rates at the time gave a sense that times were indeed changing. Yet investors end up shrugging off that noise: The SP 500 rose an impressive 22% between July 1 of last year and June 30 of this year. Toss in dividends and investors garnered a 25% total return -- roughly the amount investors should expect to garner over a three year period in normal times.
But these are not normal times. The stunning 191% gain for the SP 500 since bottoming out in March 2009 is remarkable in light of the fact that the subsequent economic rebound after the Great Recession has been quite tepid. Low interest rates, a huge amount of global liquidity and very high corporate profit margins all get credit for the bull market that has exceeded the wildest expectations of even the most aggressive market strategists.
At this point, it might seem the wisest path to sit back and enjoy the ride, waiting for another 20% gain over the next 12 months.
Yet before you grow too complacent, you need to take a closer look at factors driving the market higher and assess what kind of backdrop we should expect in the six months ahead. Here are key events and factors you should be tracking.
The Economy
At this point, there are really only two points of economic interest: unemployment and inflation.
The former is falling and the latter may be rising. We now know that the U.S. economy created at least 200,000 jobs for the fifth straight month. That's the first time that has happened in more than a decade. The next payroll report comes on Aug. 8, and if that report also highlights a gain of at least 200,000 jobs, then it's hard to see how the Fed will stick by its "no rate hikes in the near future" policy. Continue reading "Here's Your Market Roadmap For The Rest Of 2014"→
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