It wasn't a particularly positive week for equities. In fact, it was negative, across the board, ending with a massive selloff on Friday, culminating in the worst week for US stocks since October, 2019.
The better part of the decline came on Friday, after the WHO had issued an international alert on the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and US stocks soared off lows on Thursday. Reality set in Friday and accounted for 75-80% of the total weekly decline.
As the weekend wore on (this is now Sunday noon in the US, Eastern Time), more reports proved encouraging. The official count from China confirmed 14,380 cases total, and 304 deaths. On Saturday, a death in the Philippines was suggested to have been caused by coronavirus but that has yet to be confirmed. Medical professionals are awaiting further testing. The patient died from pneumonia, but it may have come from normal, seasonal flu.
In the US, there's a better chance of dying from the common flu than the coronavirus, according to the CDC.
Preliminary considerations are suggesting that the spread of the virus is being slowed by China's quarantines and travel restrictions and monitoring around the world and that many reports on social media such as Twitter and Facebook have proven false, misleading or negatively hyperbolic.
Patient Zero, i.e., the first case of the disease to have been reported in the United States (Washington state), became quite ill, was treated intravenously with remdesivir (a drug produced by Gilead Sciences (GILD)) and was recovering.
Also on Friday, Great Britain finally extricated itself from the European Union via what's been known as Brexit, the referendum passed by the British public more than three-and-a-half years ago (June 23, 2016), and President Trump appeared on the way to being acquitted on charges of impeachment by the Senate, which voted 51-49 against calling additional witnesses. A final vote on acquittal or guilt will be held at 4:00 pm ET, Wednesday, February 5.
As frightening as the coronavirus and other news may be, people around the world can take heart in the video below: Nigel Farage's final speech at the European Parliament. As of 11:00 pm January 31, 2020, Britain formally withdrew from the European Union.
At the Close, Friday, January 31, 2020:
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 28,256.03, -603.41 (-2.09%)
NASDAQ: 9,150.94, -148.00 (-1.59%)
S&P 500: 3,225.52, -58.14 (-1.77%)
NYSE: 13,614.10, -247.82 (-1.79%)
For the Week:
Dow: -733.70 (-2.53%)
NASDAQ: -163.98 (-1.76%)
S&P 500: -69.95 (-2.12%)
NYSE: -364.37 (-2.61%)
Showing posts with label Nigel Farage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigel Farage. Show all posts
Sunday, February 2, 2020
Friday, June 24, 2016
As Britain Votes To Leave European Union, The Establishment Is Losing Control
Just a few days ago, our Fearless Editor, Rick Gagliano, penned a post here at Money Daily espousing the belief that the Brexit/Bremain vote and the US presidential election were sideshows and being overblown in importance by the media. Perhaps it was a faux pas or even a veiled negotiation maneuver designed to keep "remain" voters away from the polls (we doubt the latter to be true). In any case, voters in Great Britain did - in establishment terms - the unthinkable, voted to depart from the European Union, and quite possibly delivered a verdict on the perilous future of the EU.
We now present the post mortem.
All hail Nigel Farage, head of the UKIP party and leader of the "Brexit" movement in Great Britain, for he has brought the nation out from under the Orwellian totalitarianism that is essentially the bloated bureaucracy of the European Union, and unshackled the common Briton from enslavement to the status quo.
Here is what Farage said as the tally was coming in, looking favorable for Britain exit from the EU:
Having fought the good fight as an MEP and a representative to the European Parliament for nearly two decades and yesterday, Farege's unwavering rhetoric for freedom and against oppression struck the first salvo for the people against the leading technocratic superstate of the EU, headquartered in Brussels.
For Farage, the victory may have greater consequences. With PM David Cameron admitting defeat and promising to step down come October, Farage figures to be a natural candidate for the vacated post of Prime Minister. Already the mainstream press has put the face of Boris Johnson, former mayor of London, front and center, ahead of Farage, who has said openly that he doesn't want to be Britain's PM.
That battle has a long way to go, but, for now, a rundown of just what Brexit has meant to markets around the world.
The Final Tally:
Leave
Vote share 51.9%
Votes 17,410,742 Votes
Remain
Vote share 48.1%
Votes 16,141,241 Votes
Stocks indices around the world were pounded:
ASIA:
Nikkei 225: 14,952.02, -1,286.33 (-7.92%)
Hang Seng Index: 20,259.13, -609.21 (-2.92%)
SSE Composite Index: 2,854.29, -37.67 (-1.30%)
Straits Times Index: 2,735.39, -58.46 (-2.09%)
S&P/ASX 200: 5,113.20, -167.50 (-3.17%)
EUROPE:
FTSE 100: 6,138.69, -199.41 (-3.15%)
DAX: 9,557.16, -699.87 (-6.82%)
CAC 40: 4,106.73, -359.17 (-8.04%)
EURO STOXX 50 Index: 2,776.09, -261.77 (-8.62%)
EURONEXT 100: 819.99, -59.09 (-6.72%)
Some other interesting notes from early after the voting:
British pound falls as much as 11 percent to $1.3229, weakest since 1985
Yield on 10-year Treasuries drops 29 basis points to 1.46 percent, set for biggest daily decline since 2009
New York crude oil retreats 5.1 percent to $47.56 a barrel, poised for biggest loss since February
Gold rallies as much as 8.1 percent to $1,358.54 an ounce, highest since March 2014
By the end of trading in the US, the day's damage had been assessed, though it was hardly what anybody would call a bloodbath. After all, this was only the first salvo against the establishment, though it does set in motion a complete disintegration of the EU and all of its strictures, laws, rules, regulations and burdensome bureaucracy.
For Americans, it's a good day to be a supporter of Donald Trump for the presidency. Much of what Mr. Trump has been campaigned for was contained in the Brexit platform: an end to open immigration, more civil liberties for common people, smaller federal government, less regulation, lower taxes, more power to people and localities (state's rights in the US).
While the damage to stocks was minimized, the press fell all about itself in once again over-hyping the damage. Britain and her people will not vanish from the earth. New trade arrangements will be made with the countries still remaining in the EU, but it is notable that more than a few EU member states are now calling for exit votes by the people, especially in France, Spain, Italy, the Czeck Republic, Hungary, and elsewhere.
The word on the European Union: Done. It's now become not a matter of if the EU will disintegrate, but when, and how. Those will be the real fireworks. But, between then and now, expect the establishment status quo to fight like mad dogs to retain and enhance their positions of power and prestige. In the end, they too will fail.
US stocks got mangled, with a hefty drop at the open and further displeasure for bulls in the late afternoon, with the Dow - just one day after it broke through the 18,000 upper barrier - closing below 17,500, the long-standing support threshold, on heavy volume. Losses were widespread; banks and financial stocks took the worst of it.
The Dow finished the week lower for the third time in the last four; the S&P and NASDAQ each notched their third straight week of decline.
US Stocks Got Socked:
S&P 500: 2,037.41, -75.91 (3.59%)
Dow: 17,400.75, -610.32 (3.39%)
NASDAQ: 4,707.98, -202.06 (4.12%)
Crude Oil 47.57 -5.07% Gold 1,319.10 +4.43% EUR/USD 1.1118 +0.13% 10-Yr Bond 1.58 -9.20% Corn 391.50 -1.57% Copper 2.11 -2.27% Silver 17.77 +2.40% Natural Gas 2.70 -1.32% Russell 2000 1,127.54 -3.81% VIX 25.76 +49.33% BATS 1000 20,677.17 0.00% GBP/USD 1.3684 +0.06% USD/JPY 102.2550 0.00%
For the Week:
Dow: -274.41 (-1.55%)
S&P 500: -33.81 (-1.63)
NASDAQ: -92.36 (1.92)
We now present the post mortem.
All hail Nigel Farage, head of the UKIP party and leader of the "Brexit" movement in Great Britain, for he has brought the nation out from under the Orwellian totalitarianism that is essentially the bloated bureaucracy of the European Union, and unshackled the common Briton from enslavement to the status quo.
Here is what Farage said as the tally was coming in, looking favorable for Britain exit from the EU:
If the predictions now are right, this will be a victory for real people, a victory for ordinary people, a victory for decent people. We have fought against the multinationals, we have fought against the big merchant banks, we have fought against big politics, we have fought against lies, corruption and deceit. And today honesty, decency and belief in nation, I think now is going to win. And we will have done it without having to fight, without a single bullet being fired…. Win or lose this battle tonight, we will win this war, we will get our country back, we will get our independence back and we will get our borders back.
Having fought the good fight as an MEP and a representative to the European Parliament for nearly two decades and yesterday, Farege's unwavering rhetoric for freedom and against oppression struck the first salvo for the people against the leading technocratic superstate of the EU, headquartered in Brussels.
For Farage, the victory may have greater consequences. With PM David Cameron admitting defeat and promising to step down come October, Farage figures to be a natural candidate for the vacated post of Prime Minister. Already the mainstream press has put the face of Boris Johnson, former mayor of London, front and center, ahead of Farage, who has said openly that he doesn't want to be Britain's PM.
That battle has a long way to go, but, for now, a rundown of just what Brexit has meant to markets around the world.
The Final Tally:
Leave
Vote share 51.9%
Votes 17,410,742 Votes
Remain
Vote share 48.1%
Votes 16,141,241 Votes
Stocks indices around the world were pounded:
ASIA:
Nikkei 225: 14,952.02, -1,286.33 (-7.92%)
Hang Seng Index: 20,259.13, -609.21 (-2.92%)
SSE Composite Index: 2,854.29, -37.67 (-1.30%)
Straits Times Index: 2,735.39, -58.46 (-2.09%)
S&P/ASX 200: 5,113.20, -167.50 (-3.17%)
EUROPE:
FTSE 100: 6,138.69, -199.41 (-3.15%)
DAX: 9,557.16, -699.87 (-6.82%)
CAC 40: 4,106.73, -359.17 (-8.04%)
EURO STOXX 50 Index: 2,776.09, -261.77 (-8.62%)
EURONEXT 100: 819.99, -59.09 (-6.72%)
Some other interesting notes from early after the voting:
British pound falls as much as 11 percent to $1.3229, weakest since 1985
Yield on 10-year Treasuries drops 29 basis points to 1.46 percent, set for biggest daily decline since 2009
New York crude oil retreats 5.1 percent to $47.56 a barrel, poised for biggest loss since February
Gold rallies as much as 8.1 percent to $1,358.54 an ounce, highest since March 2014
By the end of trading in the US, the day's damage had been assessed, though it was hardly what anybody would call a bloodbath. After all, this was only the first salvo against the establishment, though it does set in motion a complete disintegration of the EU and all of its strictures, laws, rules, regulations and burdensome bureaucracy.
For Americans, it's a good day to be a supporter of Donald Trump for the presidency. Much of what Mr. Trump has been campaigned for was contained in the Brexit platform: an end to open immigration, more civil liberties for common people, smaller federal government, less regulation, lower taxes, more power to people and localities (state's rights in the US).
While the damage to stocks was minimized, the press fell all about itself in once again over-hyping the damage. Britain and her people will not vanish from the earth. New trade arrangements will be made with the countries still remaining in the EU, but it is notable that more than a few EU member states are now calling for exit votes by the people, especially in France, Spain, Italy, the Czeck Republic, Hungary, and elsewhere.
The word on the European Union: Done. It's now become not a matter of if the EU will disintegrate, but when, and how. Those will be the real fireworks. But, between then and now, expect the establishment status quo to fight like mad dogs to retain and enhance their positions of power and prestige. In the end, they too will fail.
US stocks got mangled, with a hefty drop at the open and further displeasure for bulls in the late afternoon, with the Dow - just one day after it broke through the 18,000 upper barrier - closing below 17,500, the long-standing support threshold, on heavy volume. Losses were widespread; banks and financial stocks took the worst of it.
The Dow finished the week lower for the third time in the last four; the S&P and NASDAQ each notched their third straight week of decline.
US Stocks Got Socked:
S&P 500: 2,037.41, -75.91 (3.59%)
Dow: 17,400.75, -610.32 (3.39%)
NASDAQ: 4,707.98, -202.06 (4.12%)
Crude Oil 47.57 -5.07% Gold 1,319.10 +4.43% EUR/USD 1.1118 +0.13% 10-Yr Bond 1.58 -9.20% Corn 391.50 -1.57% Copper 2.11 -2.27% Silver 17.77 +2.40% Natural Gas 2.70 -1.32% Russell 2000 1,127.54 -3.81% VIX 25.76 +49.33% BATS 1000 20,677.17 0.00% GBP/USD 1.3684 +0.06% USD/JPY 102.2550 0.00%
For the Week:
Dow: -274.41 (-1.55%)
S&P 500: -33.81 (-1.63)
NASDAQ: -92.36 (1.92)
Monday, July 9, 2012
Stocks Are Boring; Alcoa Shows Why; Europe Punts
On a midsummer's day upon which the biggest news was awaiting the second quarter earnings report from ALCOA, after he closing bell, stocks simply drifted below the break-even line in a tight range throughout the session.
With earnings season at hand, one would normally expect more excitement, but, alas, all is not well with what used to be known as the perfect discounting mechanism, i.e., the Wall Street stock exchanges.
Like it or not, continued central bank intervention on the grandest of scales ever witnessed has done nothing to revitalize global industry. The world has been in a funk for at least the past four years - since the epochal events of fall, 2008 - banks are all insolvent zombies and a global slowdown is coming at a time when monetary authorities are at their weakest, with zero to near-zero base interest rates the norm, bloated central bank balance sheets, full of faulty debt instruments nobody else wants to own, and sovereign debt exploding everywhere.
The world is full of debt and overcapacity, yet those in charge, scared to death as they may be, relent whenever an adult solution - like actually writing down bad debts - is needed and instead pass the hat to neighboring countries, the next central banker or the IMF, which, incidentally, is funded by the same over-indebted nations that borrow from it.
In the corporate sector, the slowdown can be seen everywhere, but especially tantalizing was Alcoa's (AA) second quarter, in which the company posted a loss.
Of all the goofy headlines designed to make people think everything is OK, the only one to get it right was the AP, which blared, Alcoa Inc. posts 2Q net loss in slowing economy.
The world's largest producer of aluminum has been squeezed into a condition in which it can no longer shed employees to save money, command a profitable price for its products due largely to over-supply, and thus, limps into the second half of the year off a loss with prospects for growth jaded, at best.
If Alcoa is any kind of bellwether, and, as a standing member of the Dow 30, it should be, the prospects for a robust earnings season have just been significantly reduced, maybe obliterated.
Companies can only do so much in stagnant or imploding economies, which is what the global condition is today, and just breaking even (or, taking a small loss) is probably considerably better than some of the companies to follow will do.
It's a very tough environment - one in which large firms have limited pricing power and smaller firms can't find financing. That's oversimplifying matters to a large degree, but there will be fire sales, clear misses and break evens on lowered expectations this quarter and going forward, unless and until central banks take their foot off the accelerator of the money-printing press.
Early signs of total collapse came from Europe today, where the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) - a permanent funding source of 500 billion Euros - was to be established, but was delayed amid growing discontent among participants, and the nagging need for the fund to not only bail out nations, but also the banks of those nations, without any preconditions.
The delay, just 10 days after a euphoric european summit ended with apparent agreement, sent Spanish bonds soaring over seven percent and confusion reigning supreme in the Eurozone.
This clip from CNBC, featuring two of the most vocal critics of centralized economic planning, central bank intervention and bailouts, Rick Santelli and Nigel Farage tells the story of the growing discontent perfectly well.
Dow 12,736.29, -36.18 (0.28%) NASDAQ 2,931.77, -5.56 (0.19%) S&P 500 1,352.46, -2.22 (0.16%) NYSE Composite 7,736.22, -20.40 (0.26%) NASDAQ Volume 1,358,825,380 NYSE Volume 2,810,960,750 Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2427-3155 Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 293-51 WTI crude oil: 85.99, +1.54 Gold: 1,589.10, +10.20 Silver: 27.44, +0.52
With earnings season at hand, one would normally expect more excitement, but, alas, all is not well with what used to be known as the perfect discounting mechanism, i.e., the Wall Street stock exchanges.
Like it or not, continued central bank intervention on the grandest of scales ever witnessed has done nothing to revitalize global industry. The world has been in a funk for at least the past four years - since the epochal events of fall, 2008 - banks are all insolvent zombies and a global slowdown is coming at a time when monetary authorities are at their weakest, with zero to near-zero base interest rates the norm, bloated central bank balance sheets, full of faulty debt instruments nobody else wants to own, and sovereign debt exploding everywhere.
The world is full of debt and overcapacity, yet those in charge, scared to death as they may be, relent whenever an adult solution - like actually writing down bad debts - is needed and instead pass the hat to neighboring countries, the next central banker or the IMF, which, incidentally, is funded by the same over-indebted nations that borrow from it.
In the corporate sector, the slowdown can be seen everywhere, but especially tantalizing was Alcoa's (AA) second quarter, in which the company posted a loss.
Of all the goofy headlines designed to make people think everything is OK, the only one to get it right was the AP, which blared, Alcoa Inc. posts 2Q net loss in slowing economy.
Aluminum manufacturer Alcoa Inc. says it lost $2 million in the second-quarter as revenue dropped due to weaker prices and pockets of declining demand in the slowing global economy.
Alcoa on Monday posted break-even earnings per share for the April-through-June quarter. That compares with net income of $322 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago.
Revenue fell 9 percent to $5.96 billion.
The world's largest producer of aluminum has been squeezed into a condition in which it can no longer shed employees to save money, command a profitable price for its products due largely to over-supply, and thus, limps into the second half of the year off a loss with prospects for growth jaded, at best.
If Alcoa is any kind of bellwether, and, as a standing member of the Dow 30, it should be, the prospects for a robust earnings season have just been significantly reduced, maybe obliterated.
Companies can only do so much in stagnant or imploding economies, which is what the global condition is today, and just breaking even (or, taking a small loss) is probably considerably better than some of the companies to follow will do.
It's a very tough environment - one in which large firms have limited pricing power and smaller firms can't find financing. That's oversimplifying matters to a large degree, but there will be fire sales, clear misses and break evens on lowered expectations this quarter and going forward, unless and until central banks take their foot off the accelerator of the money-printing press.
Early signs of total collapse came from Europe today, where the ESM (European Stability Mechanism) - a permanent funding source of 500 billion Euros - was to be established, but was delayed amid growing discontent among participants, and the nagging need for the fund to not only bail out nations, but also the banks of those nations, without any preconditions.
The delay, just 10 days after a euphoric european summit ended with apparent agreement, sent Spanish bonds soaring over seven percent and confusion reigning supreme in the Eurozone.
This clip from CNBC, featuring two of the most vocal critics of centralized economic planning, central bank intervention and bailouts, Rick Santelli and Nigel Farage tells the story of the growing discontent perfectly well.
Dow 12,736.29, -36.18 (0.28%) NASDAQ 2,931.77, -5.56 (0.19%) S&P 500 1,352.46, -2.22 (0.16%) NYSE Composite 7,736.22, -20.40 (0.26%) NASDAQ Volume 1,358,825,380 NYSE Volume 2,810,960,750 Combined NYSE & NASDAQ Advance - Decline: 2427-3155 Combined NYSE & NASDAQ New highs - New lows: 293-51 WTI crude oil: 85.99, +1.54 Gold: 1,589.10, +10.20 Silver: 27.44, +0.52
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