BRITAIN
The
British Retail Consortium (BRC) has reported a 0.3% decline in UK retail sales
last month, compared to 2011, making it the second-worst January since the
survey began 17 years ago. Full story at...
http://www.bakeryinfo.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/9764/Retail_sales_outlook_stays_bleak.html
FRANCE
France’s economy unexpectedly stalled in the second quarter as
consumer spending plunged just as investors spooked by Europe’s debt crisis turn their
attention to the euro region’s second-largest economy. Full story at...
CHINA
“According to the China Securities Journal, China's electricity consumption in January fell by 7.5%. We estimate this may be the first decline since 2002 (excluding the financial crisis period in 2008-09), indicating industrial production may have slowed sharply in January.” Full story at ...
“According to the China Securities Journal, China's electricity consumption in January fell by 7.5%. We estimate this may be the first decline since 2002 (excluding the financial crisis period in 2008-09), indicating industrial production may have slowed sharply in January.” Full story at ...
ROMANIA
Romania's government has collapsed following
weeks of protests against austerity measures, the latest debt-stricken
government in Europe to fall in the face of raising public anger over biting
cuts....Emil
Boc, who had been prime minister since 2008, said Monday he was resigning
"to defuse political and social tension…In 2010, Boc's government
increased the sales tax from 19 percent to 24 percent and cut public workers'
salaries by a quarter to reduce the budget deficit.
"I
know that I made difficult decisions, but...In times of crisis, the government
is not in a popularity contest, but is saving the country." Full story at..
GREECE
“Greek political leaders agreed to a package of austerity
reforms Thursday, marking the first step toward securing much-needed bailout
funds…. a deal has been reached on the "basic parameters" of a deal
with private sector creditors to write down a portion of the nation's debt….German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaueble
told CNN's Diana Magnay Wednesday. "No more promises, now they have to
deliver." Full story at -
My
comment: The market ignored the Greek announcement today because it isn’t at
all clear that they will follow thru on the promises.
So
there is plenty to worry about in the world today. The market responded by advancing a little
more than 1/10% to 1352. VIX was up 2.6%
today and that may portend more volatility if the trend continues.
The
lack of volatility feels good (small advances with occasional small declines), but
recent history shows that after about a month of advancing with low volatility,
the market may reach a short term top. We’ll see.
Regarding
yesterday’s Blog, the Morgan Stanley Cyclical index continues to outperform the
S&P 500, so I think the recession warning (from some) is not being borne
out by the market, at least not yet..
The
Navigate the Stock Market system is still positive at the close Thursday.
NTSM
analysis remains BUY.
I
bought back into the stock market at S&P 500, 1155 on 7 Oct after the 6 Oct
NTSM buy signal. I remain 100% long in
the long term portfolio (100% stocks in the 401k.). (See the page “How to Use
the NTSM System” – the link is on the right side of this page).
