Thursday, October 1, 2009

housing market United States

The housing market should continue to show the way in the United States. Housing starts rose 1.5% in August, while existing home sales declined 2.5%, but they remained well above the low registered in November. In effect, during last week FOMC¡¦s meeting, the Fed appeared more optimistic about the economic growth, albeit activity should remain subdued for some time. Durable good orders fell 2.4% (+0.5%) in August, after having increased 4.8% in July. Orders are up overall for the quarter, capital goods orders (excluding aircraft and defense) increased almost 9.0% annualized over the three months, but activity is not strong enough to relief the unemployment rate from the bottom yet. As a result, rates will remain low for now and an exit strategy will be implemented as soon as the economics¡¦ turnaround becomes sustained. The Federal Reserve postponed the timeline for the purchase of mortgage-backed and agency debt to the end of the first quarter of 2010. However, current recovery should be mild, since recapitalization is still in process. The huge deficit will weight on U.S. growth and limit the American economic potential. Unemployment will remain high and savings will increase. Americans are adapting to the new reality, characterized by tight credit and increasing commodity prices, by reducing spending and tempering debt. The strong expansionary cycles of the past are history.Angelo Airaghi is a Commodity Trading Advisor, registered with the National Futures Association and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He has been an active professional since 1990 working for major international financial companies. In the past 10 years, Angelo Airaghi has been an analyst and commentator for national and international media.

Rates to remain low, but an exit strategy is ready.

The economic growth is on the move again and some tangible results should be seen shortly. Inventories are being implemented and production is increasing. Spending will improve, along with commodity prices, supported by the world economic recovery. In August, car sales have moved up more than 50% year-on-year in China, India and Brazil. The housing market should continue to show the way in the United States. Housing starts rose 1.5% in August, while existing home sales declined 2.5%, but they remained well above the low registered in November. In effect, during last week FOMC¡¦s meeting, the Fed appeared more optimistic about the economic growth, albeit activity should remain subdued for some time. Durable good orders fell 2.4% (+0.5%) in August, after having increased 4.8% in July. Orders are up overall for the quarter, capital goods orders (excluding aircraft and defense) increased almost 9.0% annualized over the three months, but activity is not strong enough to relief the unemployment rate from the bottom yet. As a result, rates will remain low for now and an exit strategy will be implemented as soon as the economics¡¦ turnaround becomes sustained. The Federal Reserve postponed the timeline for the purchase of mortgage-backed and agency debt to the end of the first quarter of 2010

USD Rallies on Soft Manufacturing Data

The greenback advanced against its major rivals in the Wednesday trading session, edging higher against the euro toward the 1.46-level, while pushing the pound sterling to beneath the 1.60-figure and briefly dragging the Swiss franc to a 3-week low at 1.0447. The catalyst for the dollar’s gains was a sharply weaker than forecast report on Chicago PMI. Consensus estimates were looking for the PMI report in edge up higher beyond the key 50-level to 52.0, instead falling to 46.1 in September from a 50-reading in the previous month. The employment component edged up slightly 38.8 from 38.7 in August and the new orders index slumped to 46.3 from 52.5 previously.The markets largely reacted to the weaker manufacturing figures with the US equity bourses losing ground early in the session and the riskier currencies relinquishing previous session’s gains versus the dollar. The final release of Q2 GDP revealed an improvement to -0.7% from -1.0% in the previous reading while the GDP deflator remained unchanged. The Q2 GDP sales component improved to 0.7%, up from 0.4% previously. Meanwhile, the September ADP private sector payrolls revealed a loss of 254k, versus an upwardly revised loss of 277 jobs from August.The key highlight this week continues to be Friday’s September labor report. The market is expected the unemployment rate to creep higher to 9.8%, up from 9.7% a month earlier. Non-farm payrolls are seen improving in September, with a loss of 188k jobs compared with 216k jobs shed in August

When Two is Better than One


From the Trading Desk of Oliver L. VelezToday was an exceptional day in the markets, right into the close. While a good part of my morning was spent flying (more like sleeping on the plane) to my Ft. Lauderdale office, I did manage to squeeze in some trading time and would like to share with you my last trade of the day, which happened to be on Ebay (EBAY). The theme of this trade is based on the Mighty Double Bottom, but a quick glance will show you that this stock offered both Double Bottom buy and Double Top sell opportunities. See chart below for details.For the most part I will let the slide (visual) speak for itself, but I will be recording a very detailed podcast to accompany this post over the weekend. So for now, review the slide and the annotations that accompany it and try to be patient for the podcast that will soon follow.As a final note, I want each subscriber to this Blog to make sure they individually "subscribe" to each separate post, so that all comments and answers by me get automatically sent to you. Many of you have been greatly enjoying the posts, but if you have not been reading the follow-up Q&As to each post, you are missing 80% of the educational value of my efforts here. I make sure most answers I provide are very detailed and specific. But in order to get them sent to you, you must separately subscribe to every new post I make. I know its an extra step, but I promise you, it will be worth the extra effort.

business of exchanging commodities

Specifically: The act or business of exchanging commodities by barter, or by buying and selling for money; commerce; traffic; barter.
The business which a person has learned, and which he engages in, for procuring subsistence, or for profit; occupation; especially, mechanical employment as distinguished from the liberal arts, the learned professions, and agriculture; as, we speak of the trade of a smith, of a carpenter, or mason, but not now of the trade of a farmer, or a lawyer, or a physician.
Instruments of any occupation.
A company of men engaged in the same occupation; thus, booksellers and publishers speak of the customs of the trade, and are collectively designated as the trade.

The business which for procuring subsistence

The business which a person has learned, and which he engages in, for procuring subsistence, or for profit; occupation; especially, mechanical employment as distinguished from the liberal arts, the learned professions, and agriculture; as, we speak of the trade of a smith, of a carpenter, or mason, but not now of the trade of a farmer, or a lawyer, or a physician.

The business which for procuring subsistence

The business which a person has learned, and which he engages in, for procuring subsistence, or for profit; occupation; especially, mechanical employment as distinguished from the liberal arts, the learned professions, and agriculture; as, we speak of the trade of a smith, of a carpenter, or mason, but not now of the trade of a farmer, or a lawyer, or a physician.

trade definition

Trade definition :An oral (or electronic) transaction involving one party buying a security from another party. Once a trade is consummated, it is considered "done" or final. Settlement occurs 1-5 business days later.