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Weekly Review: 21-25 November 2022

Summary:

Durable goods orders in the US which measure the cost of orders received by manufacturers for goods that meant to last at least three years, jumped 1% month-over-month in October of 2022, following a downwardly revised 0.3% increase in September and beating market forecasts of a 0.4% rise. It is the biggest rise in four months, led by transportation equipment (2.1%) and military aircraft (21.7%). The data aren’t adjusted for inflation. Excluding transportation, new orders edged 0.5% higher. Other increases were also seen for electrical equipment and appliances (0.4%); machinery (1.5%); capital goods (2.1%); and computers and related (4.7%). Meanwhile, orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a proxy for investment in equipment, were up 0.7%, rebounding from a 0.8% drop in September and beating forecasts of a flat reading.

New home sales in the United States rose by 7.5% to a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 632K in October of 2022, beating market forecasts of 570K sales and defying the recent drawdown in housing demand as the Federal Reserve aggressively tightens monetary policy. Sales rose sharply in the South (16% to 399K) and in the Northeast (+45.7% to 51K), more than offsetting the decline in the Midwest (-34.2% to 50K). The median price of new houses sold was $493,000, while the average sales price was $544,000. There were 470,000 houses left to sell, up 21.4% from one year ago and corresponding to 8.9 months of supply at the current sales rate.

Consumer sentiment (http://www.sca.isr.umich.edu/) fell 5% below October, offsetting about one-third of the gains posted since the historic low in June. Along with the ongoing impact of inflation, consumer attitudes have also been weighed down by rising borrowing costs, declining asset values, and weakening labor market expectations. Buying conditions for durables, which had markedly improved last month, decreased most sharply in November, falling back 19% to its September level on the basis of high interest rates and continued high prices. Long-term business conditions declined a more modest 6%, while short-term business conditions and personal finances were essentially unchanged.
Inflation expectations were also little changed from October. The median expected year-ahead inflation rate was 4.9%, down slightly from 5.0% last month. Long run inflation expectations, currently at 3.0%, have remained in the narrow (albeit elevated) 2.9-3.1% range for 15 of the last 16 months. Uncertainty over these expectations remained at an elevated level, indicating that the general stability of these expectations may not necessarily endure.


Next week, in the US, the focus will be on the labor report, speeches by several Fed officials, 2nd estimate of GDP growth, ISM manufacturing PMI, CB consumer confidence, and personal income and spending. Also, attention will be given to inflation rate releases, GDP growth rates and manufacturing PMIs worldwide.

 

Economic data source: Trading Economics




The True State of the Economy

Video: As predicted, here it comes, something big is going on right now.

Channel: Eurodollar University
 



Yield Curve Inversions

Video: Odds Of Recession Are Now 99% (Here's Why)

Channel: George Gammon



CDBC's are coming!!!

Video: It's Official...The Dystopian Nightmare Has Become Reality

Channel: George Gammon



Prepare...And Be Happy!!!

Video: Jim Rogers: Worst Recession + Worst Bear Market Of Our Lifetime Approaching Fast

Channel: Wealthion

 

Video: Jim Rogers: This Rally Will Be The Last One Before Everything Implodes

Channel: Wealthion




A Walk Around the Markets

 
OIL
 
 
WTI crude futures traded around $78 per barrel in thin trading on Friday and were set to end the week more than 2% lower due largely to concerns about Chinese demand and reports of a high price cap by G7 nations on Russian oil that eased supply worries. The US oil benchmark is down for the third consecutive week, as China continued to grapple with surging Covid cases, stoking fears that authorities would adopt wider movement restrictions that could hurt energy demand in the world’s top crude importer. Meanwhile, markets evaluated the impact of the G7’s proposed price cap on Russian oil in the range of $65-70 per barrel which is higher than current prices for Urals, allaying fears that Russia would retaliate by cutting supply. Still, investors remain cautious ahead of the European Union ban on Russian crude on Dec. 5, as well as an OPEC+ meeting on Dec. 4.
 





Natural Gas
 

US natural gas futures rose to above $7.2/MMBtu, set to close the fourth week of November 15% higher and approaching the 2-month high of $7.3 touched on November 23rd, lifted by concerns of potential coal supply disruptions. Workers at the largest US rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could disrupt coal deliveries and force power generators to switch to gas. In the meantime, uncertainty over the supply and demand of natural gas in the US over the coming months prevailed as investors monitored forecasts of cold weather and news regarding the restart of the Freeport LNG export terminal. Freeport has signaled that operations should restart in December, but has not yet submitted activity requests to the US government. Meanwhile, EIA data showed US utilities pulled 80 billion cubic feet of gas from storage during the week ending November 18th, below market expectations of an 87 billion draw.
 


 
US Stock Markets
 


The Dow Jones added more than 150 points in shortened trading on Friday while the S&P 500 was little changed as investors reassessed the outlook for monetary policy while looking for clues on consumer health as Black Friday shopping started. The Nasdaq underperformed, falling roughly 0.5%, as shares of Activision Blizzard closed down more than 4% following news that the FTC was planning to file an antitrust lawsuit to prevent Microsoft from acquiring the videogame publisher. Investors also digested the latest move from China, with the central bank cutting the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 25 basis points to shore up growth in an economy battered by persistent coronavirus-induced restrictions and real estate crises. Investors continued to parse the minutes from the last Fed meeting, with policymakers seeing the case for slower interest rate hikes while recognizing that recession risks are rising. For the week, the Dow gained 1.8%, the S&P 500 1.5% and the Nasdaq 0.7%.




 
Bitcoin
 

Bitcoin US Dollar traded at 16523 this Sunday November 27th, increasing 20 or 0.12 percent since the previous trading session. Looking back, over the last four weeks, Bitcoin lost 19.00 percent. Over the last 12 months, its price fell by 69.84 percent. Looking ahead, we forecast Bitcoin US Dollar to be priced at 14925 by the end of this quarter and at 11012 in one year, according to Trading Economics global macro models projections and analysts expectations.



 
Gold
 
 
Gold firmed up above $1,750 an ounce on Friday and was on track to end the week slightly higher as the latest Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed that a substantial majority of US policymakers backed a slower pace of interest rate hikes in the coming months. The central bank now wants to assess the impact of its historic tightening campaign on the economy after raising the policy rate in six consecutive meetings and bringing borrowing costs to the highest levels since 2008. Markets are betting that the Fed would moderate the size of rate hikes to 50 basis points in December after delivering its fourth straight 75 basis point increase earlier this month. Gold is highly sensitive to the rates outlook as higher interest rates raise the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding bullion, denting its appeal.



 
Silver
 

Silver futures rose to over $21.2 per ounce, rebounding from the two-week low of $20.8 touched on November 21st with support from a slight retreat in the dollar ahead of the FOMC minutes release. Besides supporting bullion, hesitancy by the Fed to maintain the pace of its sharp tightening cycle would lift prices due to higher demand for industrial silver usage through electrical conductors. Signs of low supply also lifted prices, as inventories at New York’s COMEX fell 70% in the last 18 months to just over 1 million tonnes. Also during the period, stocks at the London Bullion Market Association fell for the 10th straight month to a record-low 27.1 thousand tonnes.



 


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