Succinct summation of week’s events . . .
Positives:
1) Oil prices moderate but for both good and bad reasons
2) Day of Rage ends up being Day of Nothing, Saudi stocks rally this week
3) Retail Sales good but what’s next with higher gasoline prices?
4) US Treasury finds aggressive buyers for 10 and 30 yr debt
5) NFIB small biz optimism index hits best since Dec ’07
6) Central banks in Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea and Malaysia take steps to moderate inflation pressures
Negatives:
1) China reports unexpected trade deficit
2) Gasoline prices up another .05 to $3.54, hasn’t fallen in 24 days
3) Initial Claims rise but remain below 400k
4) UoM confidence drops and follows fall in Bloomberg poll as one yr inflation expectations jump to 4.6% from 3.4%
5) Higher than expected US trade deficit leads to cut in Q1 GDP forecasts
6) Moody’s downgraded Spain’s credit rating, yields continue to rise in Greece, Ireland and Portugal
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