Greetings,
The United States: US manufacturing orders have been showing weak capital investment growth.
However, companies are reporting higher CapEx in the first quarter. Part of the reason for the disconnect is that the latest CapEx increases have been dominated by tech firms investing in items such as data centers, servers, communication lines/equipment, warehouses, etc. These tech investment trends are not always evident from the equipment/machinery (capital goods) orders.
Equity Markets: In general, the Q1 earnings calls have been relatively optimistic.
Commodities: Crude oil prices jumped on the Netanyahu/Iran story.
Credit: Lower-quality credit (BBB) is a growing component of the global investment-grade indices.
Emerging Markets: EM governments are issuing more “ultra-long” bonds.
Eurozone: Who owns the euro-area government bonds?
Rates: US bank funding sources have changed dramatically since the financial crisis.
China: Smartphone shipments are declining.
Cryptocurrency: The diagram below shows how F/X trading can be streamlined using blockchain.
Food for Thought: An influential study shows that more than one alcoholic drink per day (100 grams per week) is unsafe.
Edited by Joseph N Cohen
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