Stocks recovery rally to continue

Barron's sees stock market rise
NEW YORK | Sun Jan 2, 2011 4:38pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street Strategists are Bullish about the market's prospects in 2011, expecting stocks to rise an average of 10 percent, with big-cap shares like Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N), Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) leading the way, Barron's reported on Sunday. The business weekly noted the U.S. Stock Market just logged its second straight year of gains following the crushing losses stocks suffered in 2008. "If the stars ar...

Commodities sell-off hits Asian stocks, dollar up
By Sanjeev Miglani Singapore (Reuters) - Asian stocks slid on Wednesday following a broad commodities sell-off but the U.S. dollar edged higher after stronger-than expected U.S. factory data offered further evidence of an Economic Recovery. Oil... Singapore (Reuters) - Asian stocks slid on Wednesday following a broad commodities sell-off but the U.S. dollar edged higher after stronger-than expected U.S. factory data offered further evidence of an Economic Recovery. Oil fell for a second day as ...

Commodities sell-off hits Asian stocks, dollar up
By Sanjeev Miglani Singapore | Tue Jan 4, 2011 10:39pm EST Singapore (Reuters) - Asian stocks slid on Wednesday following a broad commodities sell-off but the U.S. dollar edged higher after stronger-than expected U.S. factory data offered further evidence of an Economic Recovery. Oil fell for a second day as investors took profits from a sharp year-end rally. Gold inched up, though, after sinking more than 2 percent in the previous session. The fall in commodities to their Lowest Level in sev...

Fed Minutes: U.S. Economy Not Strong Enough to Wind Down QE2
When the Fed met last month, it -- like many Economists and business executives -- saw signs of improvement in the U.S. economy. But according to the minutes from the Fed's meeting, released Tuesday, the improvement wasn't enough to justify tapering its quantitative-easing bond-buying program, also known as QE2. The plan, announced in November, calls for the government to purchase $75 billion worth of bonds per month -- and up to $600 billion in assets through June -- to help stimulate the ec...

Are Stocks Poised for Another January Swoon? Remember 2010
Bullishness on stocks sure paid off in 2010 as the market put up strong double-digit returns, but investors would be wise to recall that equities didn't turn positive for the year until its last few months. If 2011 really is shaping up to be a reprise of 2010, the market is poised for a fall. Remember that after topping out in late April, stocks went into swoon that didn't bottom out until July, slicing 17% of the S&P 500 ($INX) along the way. Jeffrey Saut, chief market Strategist at Raymo...

U.S. stock investors eye January with caution
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks may have kicked off 2011 with a no-holds-barred surge but anyone predicting a sustainable rally through January may be overly optimistic. Many warning signs reveal a market that is ahead of itself after the best December for U.S. stocks since 1991. More signs of economic expansion in key economies, accommodative U.S. Monetary Policy, and upbeat forecasts for corporate earnings underpin the latest moves higher. But the question now is how much of last month's gains we...

Oil extends rally above $91 on optimism, eyes U.S. data
By Jennifer Tan Singapore | Mon Jan 3, 2011 2:42am EST Singapore (Reuters) - Oil extended its rally above $91 a barrel on Monday on optimism the global economic rebound is gathering momentum, which could drive demand growth and send prices above $100 later this year. Traders will scour U.S. Dec Manufacturing survey data, initial claims for jobless benefits and December employment figures, due later this week, for more clues on the pace of recovery in the world's top energy consumer. Upbeat U....

U.S. stock investors eye January with caution
By Herbert Lash NEW YORK | Mon Jan 3, 2011 3:30pm EST NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks may have kicked off 2011 with a no-holds-barred surge but anyone predicting a sustainable rally through January may be overly optimistic. Many warning signs reveal a market that is ahead of itself after the best December for U.S. stocks since 1991. More signs of economic expansion in key economies, accommodative U.S. monetary policy, and upbeat forecasts for corporate earnings underpin the latest moves higher. B...

MORE PUMPING: Feds Says Recovery Not Strong Enough to Alter Stimulus...
Spending by consumers and businesses had improved heading into the final month of 2010, and Congress was on the verge of enacting a tax-cut package that would bolster The Economy, Fed officials said. That made them more confident the Economic Recovery would gain momentum, according to minutes of the Fed's closed door meeting on Dec. 14. Risks still loomed, the minutes said, particularly a weak Housing Market and Spending Cuts and layoffs from state and local governments. So the Fed voted 10-1 to...

Fed: Economy still weak despite improvements
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 4, 2011 2:04pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials in December felt the U.S. Economic Recovery was still weak enough to warrant monetary support despite growing signs of strength, Fed meeting minutes released on Tuesday showed. Wall Street Economists have been busy revising up their forecasts for Economic Growth in recent weeks on the back of signs showing business activity and consumer spending picking up steam. But ...

Fed: Economy still weak despite improvements
By Pedro da Costa and Mark Felsenthal WASHINGTON | Tue Jan 4, 2011 2:04pm EST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve officials in December felt the U.S. Economic Recovery was still weak enough to warrant monetary support despite growing signs of strength, Fed meeting minutes released on Tuesday showed. Wall Street Economists have been busy revising up their forecasts for Economic Growth in recent weeks on the back of signs showing business activity and consumer spending picking up steam. But ...

Morning Roundup: Americans Love a Good Bankruptcy
Goldman Sachs' investment in Facebook may help the social-networking site escape the added regulatory scrutiny that comes with an IPO. [NYT] On the other hand, the Securities and Exchange Commission is already conducting an inquiry into Goldman's plan to give its clients access to Facebook shares. Regulatory scrutiny may come one way or another. [Bloomberg] Many — as in 1.53 million — U.S. consumers filed for Bankruptcy in 2010. That's 9 percent more than the year before and also ...

Markets Vanish In a Flash
The historian Niall Ferguson (The Cash Nexus, War of the World) has written a paper on the risk imbedded in sovereign bond spreads between 1848 and 1914: "Political Risk and the International Bond Market Between the 1848 Revolution and the Outbreak of the First World War." Published in the Economic History Review earlier this year, his exhaustive study of weekly great-power bond prices (United Kingdom, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia) comes to a surprising conclusion -...

Fed Saw Economy Needing Bond-Buying Program
Federal Reserve officials stuck with the pace of their $600 billion Treasury Bond-buying program last month because The Economy wasn't improving fast enough to make a noticeable dent in Unemployment. Spending by consumers and businesses had improved heading into the final month of 2010, and Congress was on the verge of enacting a tax-cut package that would bolster the economy, Fed officials said. That made them more confident the economic recovery would gain momentum, according to minutes of the...

Friends With Benefits
William D. Cohan on Wall Street and Main Street. Tags: Facebook, Goldman Sachs Can Goldman Sachs, the profit-seeking missile of high finance, really...

Trump for President
Jan. 4, 2011   Donald Trump has said it before and today he is mulling over if he can rescue the American Economy from the brink of disaster, ruin and Bankruptcy. Trump has done it himself in his own empire which was on the verge of going broke years ago but he rescued and recovered his own net worth. What bugs Trump the most is that the Chinese are eating our lunch, they are going to town on our economy and they are making us debtors not owners. Our growing  14.3 Trillion dollars of ...

Traders sell commodities to lock in profits
Traders sold commodity contracts to take advantage of hefty price gains in 2010, causing prices to fall across a broad range of materials from silver to soybeans. A stronger dollar also affected commodities trading Tuesday. Oil, gold and other commodities are priced in dollars, so a stronger U.S. currency makes them more expensive for buyers overseas. Two analysts said the action was a momentary pause and reaffirmed their belief that Commodity Prices will continue to rise as demand for raw mater...

Jeffrey Rubin: Is There Enough Oil to Pay Our Debt?
2010 left us all with a mountain of Debt. Whether you're a Taxpayer in the UK, Ireland or the US, it must already be pretty clear that you're on the hook for a lot of IOUs borrowed from your future. You may not have borrowed the money yourself, but your government has already done it on your behalf, running up massive, record-setting Deficits. What's not clear is exactly how your government is going to pay that debt back. With Students already Rioting in London over huge Tuition increases, an...

Gold tumbles nearly 2 percent as risk appetite grows
LONDON (Reuters) - Gold tumbled nearly 2 percent to a one-week low at $1,385 an ounce on Tuesday as investors opted instead for assets seen as higher risk, like stocks, the euro and some industrial commodities. Expectations that the euro zone Debt crisis could worsen, concerns over the potential for Inflation in developing economies and an increased focus on the U.S. Deficit are set to maintain investment demand for gold, however, analysts said. Spot gold was bid at $1,388.39 an ounce at 1501 GM...

Gold tumbles nearly 2 percent as risk appetite grows
By Jan Harvey LONDON | Tue Jan 4, 2011 10:42am EST LONDON (Reuters) - Gold tumbled nearly 2 percent to a one-week low at $1,385 an ounce on Tuesday as investors opted instead for assets seen as higher risk, like stocks, the euro and some industrial commodities. Expectations that the euro zone Debt crisis could worsen, concerns over the potential for Inflation in developing economies and an increased focus on the U.S. Deficit are set to maintain investment demand for gold, however, analysts sa...

Pamela Rosenau: Why I'm Not Buying Banks
Everyone knows that the Fed's money printing spigots are on. The underlying question is why? The party line has been a concern about Inflation being at lower than desired levels. However, many people, myself included, are seeing signs in other markets that would suggest otherwise. Gold, agricultural commodities, basic materials, and energy are all screaming that we are more likely facing an Inflation problem than a Deflation one. The one market that still seems to be stuck at zero is housing. ...

Britain's FTSE leads stock markets higher
LONDON (AP) - The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares outperformed its peers Tuesday, leading European shares higher as traders played catch-up following a belated New Year return. Oil company BP PLC made sizable gains following reports that rival Royal Dutch Shell considered a bid for a company when it was mired in its Gulf of Mexico woes last year. Stock Markets have started 2011 buoyantly in the wake of a run of upbeat economic data from around the globe. In Europe, Germany's DAX was ...

One Minute Macro Update
Europe : EURIBOR-OIS has fallen back below 40bp as EURIBOR drops below 100bp and SOVXWE trades back towards 200bp. We still believe the European periphery situation will continue to deteriorate and will eventually overtake the Bullish tone the market has adopted over the past few weeks. UK December Manufacturing PMI 58.3 v 57.2E as M4 growth printed at -0.8% MoM v +0.7% prior. YoY -1.4% v -0.8% prior. The BOE has reportedly been targeting 5% M4 growth to avert Recession. German employment figure...

Stocks turn mixed as an early 2011 rally pauses
NEW YORK (AP) - A stock rally paused Tuesday after indexes posted big gains to start the year the day before. Many investors are waiting for the Federal Reserve to release the minutes of its last policy meeting later in the day. The flat market came despite a better than expected report by the Commerce Department that showed factory orders rose 0.7 percent in November. Economists had predicted a slight fall. Stocks dipped because many investors were taking a break after Monday's jump, said Rya...

Stocks extend rally in early trading
Separately, the Commerce Department will issue its report on November factory orders. Orders fell 0.9 percent in October. In early trading, the Dow Jones industrial average is up 19 points, or 0.2 percent, to 11,691. The S&P; 500 is up 2, or 0.1 percent, to 1,273. The NASDAQ composite index is up 9, or 0.3 percent, to 2,700. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. NEW YORK (AP)—Stocks looked set to extend a rally Tuesday ahead ...