In this Week’s Issue: July 1, 2011
Weekly Snapshot
• Euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 9.9% in May (Eurostat)
• Purchasing managers’ indexes in Asia and Europe at multi-month lows (Reuters)
• Japan’s Tankan survey shows sentiment worsened sharply after quake (WSJ)
• U.S. corn futures have suffered their steepest fall in 15 years (FT)
• The Fed ended its $600 billion bond-buying program (QE2) on June 30th (Reuters)
• The European Central Bank signaled rate hikes as inflation stays high (Reuters)
• Euro area inflation is estimated at 2.7% in June 2011 (Eurostat)
• BofA to pay $8.5bn to settle claims over mortgage-backed securities (WSJ)
• Greece passed an unpopular austerity plan critical to avoiding a debt default (Reuters)
• Christine Lagarde was named the new head of the International Monetary Fund (AP)
Halftime Reports
Time flies they say. Yes, the first half of 2011 is already over. This calls for a mini-review of how the markets faired during the first six months of this year. Please find the charts below indicating the performance of the major stock markets as well as the returns of the major currencies and commodities. It has been an interesting and choppy first half so far. The curious investor’s mind is waiting to see what’s next…
Recommended Read/Audio
Here’s an interesting take on the inflation debate. Please consider: Recalculating the Consumer Price Index by David Gura.
Best wishes for a wonderful 4th of July week-end!
Clemens Kownatzki, MBA is an adjunct professor of financial risk management at the Graziadio School of Business and Management, as well as the founder and CEO of FX Investment Strategies, a Registered Investment Advisor. In addition to running his investment advisory firm, he is a contributing author at SeekingAlpha.com and BusinessInsider.com. He also authored the book, Money Music 101, available on Amazon and Kindle, in addition to publishing the popular investment blog www.fxinvestmentstrategies.com along with a weekly newsletter.Disclaimer
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