Monday, April 8, 2013

Economic Journal - Monday, 4/8/2013

(As of 7:15 am PST)

 
It looks like a quiet opening for today's stock market, but there are many diverse forces pushing and pulling at market momentum.  Japan continues to rise dramatically with the implementation of a massive quantitative easing program.  Other Asian markets are not being pulled along with Shanghai, in particular, falling hard.  News is negative from Europe, with several austerity measures having been thrown out the Portugal's high court and threats from the Euro bank of removal of financial aid as a result.  There is some merger activity in the US with GE buying energy company Lufkin.  It is a reminiscent feeling of merger Monday, a trend that boosted markets a couple of years ago.  There is certainly enough money on corporate balance sheets to think that we may see a spate of mergers.  Commodities are mixed as is the US dollar.  Gold and oil are near flat.  Mortgage interest rates are falling hard today.  Expect Japanese quantitative easing to win the day and eventually pull US markets higher.  It is hard to fight the result of the infusion of massive liquidity into the financial system.

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