Week Of Earnings Announcements
This week could definitively determine the route U.S. equities are going to take. Tuesday: Procter & Gamble and Intel; Wednesday: JP Morgan, Thursday: Goldman Sachs and Citigroup; Friday: Bank of America and General Electric. I suspect banks will report something similar to previous quarter; but the market impact would not be so profound. I still believe that the banking crisis will have round two, but not at this moment, probably in few quarters. Interesting Bloomberg article today on bank earnings composition. Bloomberg story: Writedowns on Mortgage Servicing Make Even JPMorgan Vulnerable . We will see when the reality catches up with accounting.
On the volatility front we have VIX flirting with support levels looking for a breakout on the down side.
Chart 1. VIX Index
Chinese new lending facilitated by four major banks has reached new lows. Caijing story: New Lending by Four Biggest Banks Hits New Low. Depressed exports and slowing lending doesn’t sugest usual super growth in China.