Archive - Aug 7, 2014

Presented without comment.

After last week's uncomfortable rebound in claims, this week calmed fears. Printing at 289k (down 14k from last week) against expectations of 304k, this dropped the four-week average of jobless claims to the lowest since February 2006. Continuing claims also fel back to near the lowest since May 2006. One thing to bear in mind is that this is practically the peak for historical seasonality as the second half of the year has tended to see claims rise...

Update: And here it is - Draghi just said Russian sanctions could add to the "downside risk." Translation: all Putin's fault

With inflation tumbling, credit creation imploding, core European nations' economies floundering and the periphery re-collapsing, ECB's Draghi decided rates were negative enough and expressed no change in the statement which leaves just the press conference to jawbone the EUR lower, Bund yields even more negative, and explain why Portugal was a one-off... or admit OMT was make-believe.

No surprises from Draghi this time, although judging by the kneejerk reaction in the USDJPY, at least one algo was expected a little something from the former Goldmanite.

• Russia bans all U.S. food, EU fruit and vegetables in sanctions response (Reuters)
• Snowden receives three-year Russian residence permit (Reuters)
• Headline of the day: Europe's Recovery Menaced by Putin as Ukraine Crisis Bites (BBG)
• Americans worry that illegal migrants threaten way of life, economy (Reuters)
• Almost 90% of Uninsured Won't Pay Penalty Under the Affordable Care Act in 2016 (WSJ)
• Germany’s Bond Advance Sends 2-Year Note Yield Below Zero (BBG)
• Gaza War’s Critics in Crosshairs as Israelis Back Offensive (BBG)
• The 1% May Be Richer Than You Think, Research Shows (BBG)
• Bank of America Near $16 Billion to $17 Billion Settlement (WSJ)
• Deep Water Fracking Next Frontier for Offshore Drilling (BBG)

There were some minor fireworks in the overnight session following the worst Australian unemployment data in 12 years reported previously (and which sent the AUD crashing), most notably news that the Japanese Pension Fund would throw more pensioner money away by boosting the allocation to domestic stocks from 12% to 20%, while reducing holdings of JGBs from 60% to 40%. This in turn sent the USDJPY soaring (ironically, following yesterday's mini flash crash) if only briefly before it retraced much of the gains, even as the Pension asset reallocation news now appears to be entirely priced in. It may be all downhill from here for Japanese stocks. It was certainly downhill for Europe where after ugly German factory orders yesterday, it was the turn of Europe's growth dynamo to report just as ugly Industrial Production which missed expectations of a 1.2% print rising only 0.3%. Nonetheless, asset classes have not seen major moves yet, as today's main event is the ECB announcement due out in less than an hour. Consensus expects Draghi to do nothing, however with fresh cyclical lows in European inflation prints, and an economy which is clearly rolling over from Germany to the periphery, the ex-Goldmanite just may surprise watchers.