The transportation sector just keeps getting worse. Even after today’s uptick, the Dow Jones Transportation Average is back where it was in April 2014, and down 18% from its peak a year ago. Within this transportation sector is freight, a gauge of the goods-based economy, which is having a rough time.
Submitted by Adam Taggart via PeakProsperity.com,
Grant Williams returns this week to set the context for this week's FOMC meeting, where the Federal Reserve is widely expected to hike interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. To say he is very skeptical of the Fed's ability to continue to control market forces much longer is a gross understatement:
There’s a lot to be worried about going into 2016 both in terms of financial markets and in terms of geopolitical concerns.
We outlined the risks that pervade capital markets earlier today on the way to noting that the sellside penguin brigade seems to believe that somehow, nothing can derail the market’s momentum going forward. Here are the potential landmines investors face going into the new year:
Submitted by Roger Thomas via Valuewalk.com,
If you’re an observer of the political aspect of the Fed policy, you’re likely aware that central bankers like to stay out of the spotlight. Spotlight creates political pressure, something Fed technocrats publicly dislike.
With this thought in mind, here’s a look at the federal funds rate overlaid with politics.
After several months of significant reserves liquidations by China (specifically by its Euroclear proxy "Belgium") which tracked the drop in China's reserves practically tick for tick, in October Chinese+Belgian holdings were virtually unchanged according to the latest TIC data, as China moderated its defense of its sliding currency. Of course, putting this in context still shows a China which has sold $600 billion of US paper since 2014, as this website was first to note over half a year ago.