Business

As we await all US carmakers to report June auto sales, we remind readers that when we discussed last month's disappointing monthly car sales report, which badly missed expectations showing the fifth consecutive month of declining auto sales - the first time this has happened since July 2009 -  with domestic light vehicle auto sales printing at an annualized 12.59, the lowest sales number going back more than three years - we noted what may be the biggest concern for the auto industry: inventory days continued to trend higher as OEMs push product on to dealer lots even thou

US Manufacturing stumbled to its lowest since Dec 2016 according to the latest 'soft' survey from Markit, as respondents reported a "disappointing end to the second quarter, with few signs of growth picking up any time soon."  However, if ISM's seasonal adjustments are listened to, US Manufacturing just surged to its highest since Aug 2014... you decide.

Under the covers of the ISM data, everything is awesome...

Gold Up 8% In First Half 2017; Builds On 8.5% Gain In 2016

• Health Bill Faces Resistance Among GOP Governors (WSJ)
• Saudi Arabia, allies give Qatar two more days to accept demands (Reuters)
• Qatar Responds to Saudi Bloc Demands as Trump Works Phones (BBG)
• Trump says he will speak with German, French officials on Monday (Reuters)
• Goldman to Review Commodities After Worst Start in a Decade (BBG)
• U.S.-Backed Forces Close to Trapping ISIS Holdouts in Raqqa (NYT)
• Missing Caterpillar export filings could open a new avenue for U.S. tax investigators (WSJ)

FX Week Ahead, courtesy of Rajan Dhall from fxdaily.co.uk

Despite the NY market holiday over Independence day in the US, we have a number of notable data releases leading up to the main event next week in the May employment report (Friday).