Saturday, December 18, 2010

Thoughts For Thursday, 12/16/2010

Spanish bonds don't look so fly.

Today's auction of 10- and 15-year Spanish securities was weak and resulted in yields almost 150 basis points higher than a month ago. I suppose the bulls will point out that the auction failed to dent the rise in European stocks or in U.S. futures as a plus. We will see.

As important, the December Europe PMI came in at 55 (down from 55.4 in the prior month). The December manufacturing PMI was 56.8, well above November's 55.3 and the expectation of 55.2, while the December service sector PMI was 53.7, below November's 55.4 and compared to the consensus at 55.2.

The rally in gold has led equities on the way up over the past few months.

With the recent retracement (breakdown?) in the price of gold, might it lead equities on the way down?

The employment component of the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index was flat, and shipments began to weaken.

While the Philly Fed Manufacturing Index came in at 24.3 and was well above expectations of 15, the components were not as impressive.

No comments: