HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stock markets recovered Wednesday as better-than-expected U.S. data gave investors hope of a turnaround in the world’s largest economy and helped offset their fears of a swine flu pandemic.
After two days of declines, most of the region’s major markets posted broad-based gains. Airline stocks, slammed in recent days amid worries about the disease’s toll on travel, rebounded sharply. The dollar strengthened against the yen, while oil prices were steady.
Investors were cheered after a closely watched measure of U.S. consumer confidence soared in April, suggesting Americans may be ready to spend again — a boon for export-driven Asian countries. An easing in the pace of home price declines also boosted sentiment. Read more…
The Yen has been the main story overnight as the currency has re-established its safe-haven status with the potential “swine flu” pandemic sending cautious investors to the sidelines. The fact that the health concerns are based in the Western hemisphere has heightened concerns as it could negatively impact the U.S. economy where the most stimulus has been enacted and is the expected source of growth to help stem the current global downturn.
Talking Points
• Japanese Yen: Finds Support On “Swine Flu” Fears
• Pound: Housing Markets Continues to Show Weakness
• Euro: Deflation Concerns Remain
• US Dollar: Durable Goods Orders On Tap
Dollar, Yen Find Support On “Swine Flu” Pandemic Fears, Adding To Concerns Over Bank Stress Tests
Market sentiment has stabilized over the past week as traders wait for fundamentals to either catch up to optimism or draw the budding recovery to a grinding halt. Ongoing earnings releases, first quarter growth reports from the world’s largest economies and a series of meetings attended by global policy makers can decide the fate of growth and optimism for months to come.
• Dollar, Yen And Risk Appetite Await G20 Meeting And US GDP
• Do Better Than Expected Earnings Signal A Turn For The Economy?
• Where Will Optimism Develop Without Confirmation Of A Recovery?
A consensus has formed that the government’s massive money printing and debt-powered spending binge will soon destroy the destroy the dollar, crippling the remaining savings of anyone dumb enough not to buy “real” assets–like gold.
John Mauldin, president of Millennium Wave Advisors, thinks that’s ridiculous. He’s also author of the popular e-letter.
The Fed is printing money, Mauldin says, but overall credit is being destroyed. The government is desperately trying to bring back inflation, so we can lessen the real burden of our huge debts, but this will take a year or two at best.
So in the meantime, Mauldin says, ignore the gold bugs. They’ve been wrong for 25 years and they’ll keep on being wrong for the foreseeable future.
A consensus has formed that the government’s massive money printing and debt-powered spending binge will soon destroy the destroy the dollar, crippling the remaining savings of anyone dumb enough not to buy “real” assets–like gold.
John Mauldin, president of Millennium Wave Advisors, thinks that’s ridiculous. He’s also author of the popular e-letter, “Thoughts from the Frontline.”
The Fed is printing money, Mauldin says, but overall credit is being destroyed. The government is desperately trying to bring back inflation, so we can lessen the real burden of our huge debts, but this will take a year or two at best.
So in the meantime, Mauldin says, ignore the gold bugs. They’ve been wrong for 25 years and they’ll keep on being wrong for the foreseeable future.
A consensus has formed that the government’s massive money printing and debt-powered spending binge will soon destroy the destroy the dollar, crippling the remaining savings of anyone dumb enough not to buy “real” assets–like gold.
John Mauldin, president of Millennium Wave Advisors, thinks that’s ridiculous. He’s also author of the popular e-letter, “Thoughts from the Frontline.”
The Fed is printing money, Mauldin says, but overall credit is being destroyed. The government is desperately trying to bring back inflation, so we can lessen the real burden of our huge debts, but this will take a year or two at best.
So in the meantime, Mauldin says, ignore the gold bugs. They’ve been wrong for 25 years and they’ll keep on being wrong for the foreseeable future.
(Reuters) – U.S. banks will be briefed by regulators as early as Friday on how they performed in government “stress tests,” before the results are made public later, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing government officials.
Some estimates of likely losses that were used in the stress tests were tougher than expected, the newspaper said.
“Under a more adverse scenario, which assumes a 10.3 percent unemployment rate at the end of 2010, banks would have to calculate two-year losses of up to 8.5 percent on their first-lien mortgage portfolios, 11 percent on home-equity lines of credit, 8 percent on commercial and industrial loans, 12 percent on commercial real estate loans, and 20 percent on credit card portfolios,” the paper said, citing a confidential document from the Federal Reserve.
On Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said most U.S. banks have enough capital to keep lending, but a pile of bad debts is fostering doubts about their health and slowing a recovery.
An official at the Federal Reserve said last week that results of the tests, designed to see how the nation’s 19 largest banks would fare should the U.S. recession prove unexpectedly severe, would be made public on May 4.
The official said regulators will try to prove the rigor of the tests by releasing a document on Friday that explains the underlying assumptions. The document will outline the methodologies employed and serve as a guide on how to interpret the results.
Forex Trading Outlook April 20th, 2009. Forecast for Dollar, Yen, British Pound and Swiss Franc. Also include a brief outlook of US Stock Markets in regards to Bank of America and IBM.
- Euro Breaks Below 1.3000 – German ZEW Survey Could Impact Trade on Tuesday
- British Pound Tumbles Against Safe-Havens – UK CPI May Fall Back Into BOE’s Inflation Target Range
- Canadian Dollar Under Pressure Ahead of Bank of Canada Rate Decision – What to Expect
US Dollar, Japanese Yen Rally on Flight-to-Quality as Investors Fear Results of US Bank Stress Tests The US dollar and Japanese yen surged on Monday as risk aversion shook the markets once again. Indeed, there is substantial uncertainty about the health of the financial markets as the US government performs stress-tests on the 19 biggest US financial institutions, and the results will not be announced until May 4. Until then, investors could remain jittery, especially when they see announcements like the one released by Bank of America today, as they said the net charge-off rate rose to 2.85 percent from 1.25 percent a year earlier, while credit-card losses increased to 8.62 percent from 5.19 percent. With the US recession lingering on and job losses accelerating, banks may find that they are persistently weighed down by consumers’ inability to pay. Read more…
Why you should take out more insurance, not less
For most people, talking about life insurance sounds almost as fun as eating rotten fish. And while ignoring it can compound a family tragedy by turning it into a financial nightmare, more and more people are doing just that. A recent survey by the nonprofit LIFE Foundation found that one in four Americans would consider canceling their life insurance policy in order to save money during the recession.
Before making that kind of drastic decision, consider these seven insurance mistakes you’re probably making—and you might decide to buy more insurance, not less. Read more…
It turns out millionaires are just like us–but they have a lot more money. When asked about their secrets to success, they don’t cite anything magical or rare, but rather the steady application of wise investing strategies, hard work, and, believe it or not, a degree of frugality. Here are 10 secrets of millionaires’ money management:
Start early to avoid financial pitfalls. Adrian Cartwood, 49, author of the blog How to Make 7 Million in 7 Years, made his fortune by living frugally while he built his technology-related business. People often get into trouble, he says, by racking up personal debt early on, which acts as a big drag on their earnings. “Learn how to live within your means and how to delay gratification; these are the habits that you need to maintain on the way up, so you can keep your millions when you get there,” he says. Read more…
Technical analysis is the study of stock prices and pricing patterns that can help investors determine whether a stock is overbought (expensive) or oversold (cheap). By using various technical indicators together, called correlation, traders can bring the “big picture” about a stock into clearer focus.
Here we’ll look at volume, the Aroon indicator and Fibonacci numbers, three technical analysis tools that can be used to help facilitate more profitable trades. In fact, investors can use them in conjunction with each other to spot emerging trends and stay ahead of the crowd. Read on to find out how. Read more…
