Fox Business – Tech, health care lift U.S. stocks to best first half in years While tech stocks have led this year’s surge, health care names aren’t far behind. Health care stocks, lifted in part by optimism over Republican-led efforts on Capitol Hill to replace Obamacare, have gained 16% as one of the top-performing sectors… Continue reading Health Care Flying High
Bloomberg.com – Monte Paschi Wins EU Backing for $6.1 Billion in State Aid European Commission approves Italy’s capital injection Burden sharing to involve shareholders, junior creditors Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA won formal European Union approval to receive 5.4 billion euros ($6.1 billion) in aid from Italy’s government, removing a further source of turmoil from… Continue reading Another Italian Bank Gets Government Money, Fueling Populism?
CNNmoney – (June 30, 2017) – Here’s where Americans are getting a raise this weekend Here’s where workers will get a boost on Saturday, and how much they’ll start making. * Chicago: $11 an hour. * Cook County, Illinois: $10 an hour. * Emeryville, California: $15.20 an hour for businesses with more than 56 employees, and $14… Continue reading How Companies Are Handling The July 1 Minimum Wage Hikes
The Wall Street Journal – Fed Eyes September Announcement on Balance-Sheet Reduction Officials weigh putting off next rate increase until December, which would give them time to assess how markets react to asset wind-down Federal Reserve officials have indicated there is a strong chance they will announce in September a decision to start shrinking the central… Continue reading What Will The Fed Do The Rest Of The Year?
The Wall Street Journal – Hedge Funds Flock to Europe, Thinking Worst Is Over Bets on equities in Italy, France and Spain have given some global hedge funds 20% returns this year After the presidential election last year, many hedge-fund managers called the U.S. a great moneymaking opportunity. It turns out Europe is the place to… Continue reading Hedge Fund Managers Are Favoring Europe
The Wall Street Journal – Greg Ip: Why Soaring Assets and Low Unemployment Mean It’s Time to Start Worrying Today’s conditions expose vulnerabilities that make a recession or market meltdown more likely If you drew up a list of preconditions for recession, it would include the following: a labor market at full strength, frothy asset prices, tightening central banks, and a pervasive sense of calm.… Continue reading Is A Recession Coming?
The Wall Street Journal – Behind Oil’s Ups and Downs, Little Has Changed Despite gut-wrenching volatility, oil remains home on the range of $40 to $60 a barrel Last week it was the oil bears burning and pillaging, this week it is the bulls. After a nasty 20% correction from February highs which took oil into… Continue reading Talking About Crude Oil
The New York Times – After Years of Growth, Automakers Are Cutting U.S. Jobs After a prolonged recovery that culminated in two years of record sales, the American auto industry is slowing down, with fewer buyers in dealer showrooms and fewer workers on the factory floor. Automakers said this week that sales dropped in June for… Continue reading Slumping Auto Sales
The New York Times – Neil Irwin: Confidence Boomed After the Election. The Economy Hasn’t After Donald J. Trump won the presidential election, Americans’ optimism about the economic future soared. But midway through the year, that optimism has not translated into concrete economic gains. This seeming contradiction exposes a reality about the role of psychology… Continue reading More On The The Economy And Confidence
The Wall Street Journal – Illinois Senate Overrides Governor’s Veto of Budget Package House expected to vote Wednesday, appears to have votes to break two-year impasse Illinois’s Republican governor vetoed a budget plan that gained final approval from the Democratic General Assembly earlier Tuesday. But less than an hour later, the state Senate overrode his vetoes… Continue reading More Illinois Politics
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Comment Last week Jim discussed the budget problems in Illinois, the yield curve and crude oil with Financial Sense’s Cris Sheridan. A replay of the podcast is linked below. The Chicago Tribune – Judge: Cash-strapped state must pay more toward medical bills A federal judge on Friday ordered Illinois to start paying $293 million in… Continue reading Are Illinois Bondholders At Risk Of Losing Their Payment Prioritization Status?