Summary and Comment The GDP report released on Thursday showed a mixed performance across Europe. Southern European economies including Spain, Italy and Portugal posted strong growth rates. Germany and the Netherlands shrank and France grew only mildly. Since spring, Europe’s overall economy has picked up the pace slightly, and the ​​European Commission has lifted its […]

Summary and Comments The US debt ceiling talks are over and the default disgrace has been avoided with the passing of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) by the House and the Senate. The act suspends the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025, in exchange for certain spending cuts, restraints and other provisions. The act was

Summary and Comment The debt ceiling saga continues, but this Saturday there have been some positive developments. Biden calls tentative agreement ‘an important step forward’ but deal still needs to receive approval from a divided Congress. More to come in the next couple of days. Core PCE prices in the US, which exclude food and

Summary and Comment The debt ceiling news are getting more intense as the June deadline approaches. No agreement in sight yet… Retail sales and building permits flatten, signaling a slowing economy. Some real estate markets are also starting to cool down. Unfortunately, this week, Sam Zell, the billionaire investor who called himself “the Grave Dancer”

Summary and Comment The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US fell to a six-month low of 57.7 in May of 2023. “While current incoming macroeconomic data show no sign of recession, consumers’ worries about the economy escalated in May alongside the proliferation of negative news about the economy, including the debt crisis standoff“,

Weekly Market News and Comments   “The second and third biggest bank failures in US history have followed in quick succession. The US Treasury and Federal Reserve would like us to believe that they are “idiosyncratic”. That is a dangerous evasion. Almost half of America’s 4,800 banks are already burning through their capital buffers. They

Summary and Comment This week, First Republic Bank failed and was sold to one of the US Big Banks. The banking system consolidation is ongoing. Is there going to be a credit crisis? Maybe. Keep some cash on hand, in case of a market crash (so that you can buy cheap stuff!!!). Regarding economic indicators,

Summary and Comment This was yet another calm week on the US markets, with no special economic highlights except for the preliminary estimate of building permits, which tumbled 8.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.413 million in March 2023. Over in China, the economy advanced 4.5% YoY in Q1 of 2023, accelerating

Summary and Comment Another calm week on the markets, with news of slowing CPI in the US (0.1% MoM) and US retail sales falling more than expected. The producer prices for final demand in the US (PPI) fell 0.5% MoM in March of 2023, the biggest decline since April of 2020. The economy is slowing,

 Summary and Comment This week was marked by a surprise announcement by OPEC+, stating that oil production would be cut by around 1.16 million barrels per day. Now we need to see if the cut is executed and how the balance of offer/demand evolves over the course of the year (China re-opening vs slowing economy).

 Summary and Comment   This week, no major news, except for the Donald Trump indictment in the US, which will most likely be favorable to him next year, when the run for office begins (he will be playing the role of the victim and underdog). In the US, PCE price index came out slightly lower

Summary and Commentary   Past Wednesday, March 22 2023, the FED raised interest rates another 0.25 %, and signaled that more rate hikes might not be required. We were assured the banking system is robust and deposits are kind of guaranteed… But you should decide who to trust. The markets have been swinging up and

Summary and Comment   The past two weeks were packed with information and hot news. First, the banking system failures and instability. On March 8, Silvergate Capital announced that it was going to wind down operations and liquidate its bank. Two days later, U.S. regulators closed Silicon Valley Bank after a bank run by customers.

The Week in Review Also available in video format:   Russia Suspends Participation in the “New START treaty” Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Tuesday that Moscow was suspending its participation in the New START treaty, but not entirely withdrawing from the pact yet. New START’s official name is The Treaty between the United States of

The Week in Review Also available in video format: https://youtu.be/lFlEDmEs9ek Four UFOs (UAPs) Shot Down In the wake of four mysterious objects being shot down over North America, a member of NASA’s Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) panel—set up to study unexplained sightings in the sky—has weighed in on what these latest objects could be. The

The Week in Review  Also available in video format: https://youtu.be/UWHyTvt-sdY Earthquake in Turkey and Syria The week started with terrible news A massive, deadly earthquake struck southern Turkey before dawn local time on Monday. The 7.8-magnitude quake has killed thousands of people in Turkey and neighboring Syria. It also triggered dozens of destructive aftershocks. Turkey

The Week in Review   Also available on YouTube: https://youtu.be/neqUxWXBRG4 This was a big week in the economic and financial fronts, hence this report might be a bit longer than usual. News Highlights Tensions in Iran                  Iran said one of its ammunition depots was attacked in a

News Highlights   On the 5th of December 2022, the EU started enforcing an embargo on Russian crude oil exports. The sanctions were supposed to curtail revenues and at the same time dissuade European shippers from moving fossil fuels to the rest of the world. One month later, an Investigate Europe and Reporters United investigation

Summary: This week, the rich, powerful and visionary met in Davos, Switzerland (World Economic Forum). Nothing very useful came out of there, including the interviews that passed on the mainstream media. There is a general optimism of the politicians and stock markets. But both technical indicators and fundamentals point downwards. It’s too soon for optimism