Saved by the Bell

http://bitly.com/1cZuvyL
Saved by the Bell

Morning and HNY. !! Observations Snippets I attach our Futures Division’s Overnight report; US- noted- the lift in the yields in particular the last month , where 5 and 10 year treasuries are up by 37 and 28 basis points in yield respectively. Stock wise- Transport/ airlines were the better performers. Data today showed the Conference Board’s index of consumer confidence in the U.S. rose to 78.1 in December from 72 in the prior month, the New York-based private research group said. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a reading of 76. A separate report showed home prices in 20 U.S. cities rose in October from a year ago by the most in more than seven years, signaling the real-estate rebound will keep bolstering household wealth in 2014. Noteworthy also to glean at the winners in the S&P500 for 2013…Netflix Inc. soared 298 percent in 2013 for the biggest gain - the world’s largest video-subscription company . Micron Technology Inc. rallied 243 percent, making it the second-best performer. The chipmaker is projected to return to a profit in the fiscal year ending in August. Best Buy Co. climbed 237 percent, rebounding after a 49 percent drop in 2012. Newmont Mining Corp. plunged 50 percent for the biggest annual loss in the S&P 500. The price of gold fell 28 percent in 2013, its biggest decline in three decades. China - The Purchasing Managers ’ Index was at 51, the National Bureau of Statistics and China ’s logistics federation said yesterday in Beijing. That was less than the median 51.2 estimate in a Bloomberg News survey of 29 economists and November’s 51.4. A separate manufacturing index is due to be released today by HSBC Holdings Plc and Markit Economics. Locally- With the changing of CEO at Shell- effective yesterday, some see this as the catalyst for Shell to sell down their ‘unwanted’ stake in WPL ( $7.4 bn worth). Apparently he is to brief the market on his divestment plans- and that is his mandate, at the full year results briefing 30 th Jan. As often as it has been said, two features needed to return to the market over the past couple of years to incite growth (1) was a restoration of business confidence and (2) was the acceptance that banks must prune the caveats of the GFC and be more oriented to lending. Interesting article The Australian – Business p 15. “ “Block on credit a furphy says CBA.” CBA says lending policies ’ had not changed since the GFC; business credit growth was historically low because companies were not taking on as much debt’; …some analysts however, have taken a swipe at the banks saying that they continue to cherry- pick those with the least risk… Interesting article (The Australian- 17) on the trade- off between efficiency and stability of the Japanese and Chinese Governments.. with Japan now breaking out of ‘stability’ …and China a somewhat unknown force but it’s banking system seems to be doing a good job of maintaining stability. Have a pleasant day Regards Alastair.