Succinct summation of week’s events:
Positives:
1) Retail sales in March were solid
2) 4 week avg in Initial Claims falls back to 390k
3) Nikkei closes at highest level since initial selloff after earthquake
4) ECB and PBOC both raise rates to fight rising commodity prices and normalize rates
5) German factory orders in Feb surprise to upside
Negatives:
1) Gasoline prices rise another .10 according to AAA to $3.74
2) Implied inflation rates in both the 5 yr and 10 yr TIPS rise to the highest in 5 years
3) ECB and PBOC both raise rates, can economic growth handle it?
4) Portugal goes hat in hand to the EU/IMF and chooses to pile more debt onto too much debt
5) US ISM services index falls 2.4 pts from Feb, Japanese supply disruptions and higher commodity prices are cited
6) II says “scary levels” as Bulls rise to 57.3 from 51.6 and Bears plummet to 15.7 from 23.1 with the spread between the two at the most since Oct ’07.
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