WSJ: QE 2 Will Be Completed As Planed
FED pre-announcement via. WSJ…
Archive for March, 2011
Rig Count Weekly – March 6, 2011
Number of crude oil drilling rigs rose for 18; Number of natural gas drilling rigs fell for 7.
Tanker Weekly – March 6, 2011
Baltic Dirty Tanker Index rose 20.3%; Baltic Clean Tanker Index was up 12.7%.
As I wrote earlier civil war in Libya is driving rates up. Under the assumption European imports of Libyan crude will be replaced by West Africa crude and West African crude exported to Far East substituted with Saudi crude the distance to which crude is transported could be actually reduced. So, when the tankers reposition according to the new transport setup, what remains is only uncertainty driving the markets.
February Nonfarm Payrolls Rose 192.000; Unemployment Rate At 8.9%
Nonfarm payrolls rose 192.000 in January; Consensus was at 196.000; January reading was an increase of 63.000 (revised +27.000). The unemployment was reported at 8.9% vs. prior reading of 9.0% and consensus of 9.1%.
Private payrolls were up 222.000 vs. 200.000 consensus and 68.000 reading in January (revised +18.000).
Positive report.
Morning Reading – Friday, March 4, 2011
*** The Big Picture: Sam Zell to Carl Quintanilla: BULLSHIT! ***
*** The Big Picture: Headline of the Day: Greenspan Says Government ‘Activism’ Hampering U.S. Recovery ***
*** The Big Picture: NFP: Likely Improvement May Lead to End of QE, ZIRP ***
*** The Big Picture: Chart of the Day: Components of the Gasoline Price ***
*** FT Alphaville: The global economy is critically ill ***
*** FT Alphaville: Mean-reverting US government bonds ***
U.S. Freight Carloads Weekly – March 4, 2011
U.S. railroads originated 296,252 carloads, up 2.1% compared with the same week in 2010 and down 3.1% compared with 5-year average. Week over week change was -0.2%.
Video Of The Day: Bloomberg: Faber Says U.S. Stocks Will Outperform Emerging Markets
March 3 (Bloomberg) — Marc Faber, publisher of the Gloom, Boom & Doom report, talks about the outlook for global stock markets. Faber also discusses the U.S. economy and commodity markets. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Trichet Paves The Way For A Interest Rise Next Month
Bloomberg:
European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said the ECB may raise interest rates next month to fight accelerating inflation pressures.
An “increase of interest rates in the next meeting is possible,” told reporters in Frankfurt today after the centralbank left its key rate at a record low of 1 percent. “Strong vigilance is warranted,” Trichet said, adding that any increase would not necessarily be the start of a “series” of moves.
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims At 368.000; Down 20.000
Initial jobless claims in the U.S. were reported at 368.000 vs. 295.000 consensus; last week revised (down 3.000) reading was at 388.000.
Four weeks moving average sharply lower.
Morning Reading – Thursday, March 3, 2011
*** William H. Gross – Two-Bits, Four-Bits, Six-Bits, a Dollar ***
*** Zero Hedge: A Deep Walkthru For Silver Manipulation – Redux ***
*** Pragmatic Capitalism: PERSPECTIVE ON THE COPPER/OIL DIVERGENCE ***
*** FT Alphaville: Bahrain’s strategic importance, graph du jour ***
*** FT Alphaville: Quick, to the MRO ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: The Obvious Cover ***
*** The Slope Of Hope: AAII Sentiment Survey ***
*** Bloomberg: Cargill Buys Almost 1 Million Tons of Sugar in Expiring Futures Contracts ***
U.S. Petroleum Weekly – March 3, 2011
To repeat: If Libya doesn’t restart producing with full capacity soon the price of oil will go up.
In U.S.: Markets are well supplied, demand historically speaking weak, refiners cutting refining capacity and crude oil imports. WTI – Brent pricing disparity still very high.
Video Of The Day: CNBC – Jobs Unveils iPad 2
CNBC’s Jon Fortt has the story on Apple’s Steve Jobs taking the stage today to unveil the new iPad.
ADP Employment Rose 217,000 In February
ADP Employment rose 217,000 in February vs. revised (up 2,000) gain of 189,000 in January.
This was widely off the mark in recent months, but if we judge just on this nonfarm payrolls on Friday (rule of thumb) could be slightly lower than 193.000 consensus.
Challenger Job-Cuts For February At 50,702
Challenger’s count of layoff announcements was reported at 50,702 in February vs. 38,519 in January.
Slightly up…
MBA Mortgage Applications Fell 6.5%
MBA mortgage applications fell 6.5%; Prior reading was an increase of 13.2%; On year level MBA Basic Index is down 29.3%.