Business

Tumbling starts and permits data, and dismal new, pending, and existing home sales in August urged a rebound in September and existing home sales (amid massive storms) somehow managed to surge 0.7% MoM (smashing expectations of a 0.9% tumble).

• Sales in the South remain low, likely due to effects of Hurricane Harvey and Irma.
• Inventories continue to constrain the pace of existing home sales.
• The supply of homes for sale rose 0.7% MOM but were down 1.7% YOY.

Trend reversal?

Gold Up 74% Since Last Market Peak 10 Years Ago

While it may not have slashed its dividend, yet, General Electric shares plunged 5% in the pre-market after the company cut its 2017 profit forecast while its new CEO grapples with one of the deepest slumps in the iconic US manufacturer’s history. The company reported that adjusted earnings this year are expected to be only $1.05 to $1.10 per share, down over 30% from a previous range of $1.60 to $1.70 a share. This is also sharply lower than the sellside consensus of $1.54 a share.

Global stocks hit new all time highs overnight, with US stock-index futures, Asian and European stocks all rising overnight after the Senate adopted a fiscal 2018 budget resolution, paving the way for Trump's $1.5 trillion in tax cuts, while news that "dove" Jay Powell may be the next Fed chair added to the risk-on sentiment.

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

Neither sanctions nor persistently low oil prices are hindering Russia’s ambitions or plans to develop oil resources in its sections of the Arctic.

In April, state-controlled oil giant Rosneft started drilling the northernmost well on the Russian Arctic shelf in the Khatangsky license area in the Laptev Sea. In June, Rosneft struck first oil in the Eastern Arctic in this license.