On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Supreme Court, ruling in an insider trading case for the first time in two decades, upheld the conviction of a Chicago man - Bassam Salman - in a decision that could make it easier to prosecute people accused of profiting from confidential information.
Moments ago Fitch added some more fuel to the Italian bank fire when it announce it has changed its outlook on Italian banks to negative, a reflection of "its increased vulnerability to shocks following the asset-quality deterioration in legacy portfolios. A step-up in pressure from authorities and market participants on the sector to reduce the very high levels of impaired loans has increased urgency and risks for Italian banks"
From the press release
Italian Banks Outlook Negative as Bad Debts Persist
Submitted by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,
OPEC’s historical deal to cut production has been sealed, and oil prices have jumped as a result, comfortably above the $50 per barrel mark. According to Lukoil’s vice president, Leonid Fedun, the average price of crude in 2017 could reach US$60 a barrel, thanks in no small part to that agreement.
According to some observers, the effect won’t be so noticeable, and prices will continue to hover around US$50.
The U.S. monthly international trade deficit increased in October 2016 according to the U.S. Census Bureau, rising from $36.2 billion in September (revised lower from $36.4 billion) to $42.6 billion in October, higher than the $41.8BN consensus estimate, as exports decreased and imports increased which was to be expected following the recent surge in the US Dollar. The goods deficit increased $6.3 billion in October to $63.4 billion. The services surplus decreased $0.1 billion in October to $20.8 billion.
US Productivity rose a disappointing 3.1% in Q3 (missing expectations of a 3.3% rise). However, on a year-over-year basis, Q3 saw a second consecutive decline - the first two-quarter decline in US productivity since 1993. Unit labor cost growth slowed in Q3 to 3.00% (with QoQ growth tumbling from 6.2% in Q2 to just 0.7% in Q3).
Actually if one looks at the official table US productivity has notr risen YoY since Q4 2015 - (Q1 0.0%, Q2 -0.3%, Q3 -0.05%)