3 minute markets update archive

Listen to BT Chief Economist Chris Caton and our portfolio managers as they deliver a 3 minute market update - the quickest way to stay up-to-date with market movements. This archive is for older updates, to hear the most recent updates go to the three minute update page or subscribe to them.

2011

May 2011

Chris Caton's 30 May 2011 update
30 May 2011
Not a bad session on Friday night overseas - FTSE up 1% and the DAX up 0.7% with positive comments about the global economy coming out of the Deauville conference. In the US, the Dow rose 0.3% and the S&P rose 0.4%, so they ended the week slightly down but recovering a lot from the big fall early in the week. The USD took a fall, so the AUD is back up to USD1.07.
Listen to podcast (3:51) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 27 May 2011 update
27 May 2011
Australian markets have no guidance today with a mixed night overseas, however the AUD took a bid and is now back up above USD1.06. The FTSE rose 0.2%, while continental markets were down. In the US, the Dow rose 0.1% and the S&P rose 0.4%, despite no company stories and weak economic data.
Listen to podcast (3:51) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 26 May 2011 update
26 May 2011
Australian markets will presumably be off to a positive start today as major overseas markets all rose 0.3% as we finally got some good news. The Fitch Ratings Agency suggested German banks had manageable risk in relation to Eurozone debt and the DAX, S&P and Dow all rose 0.3%, the FTSE slightly less. The Australian March Quarter Capital Spending report is released this morning, but will probably not affect markets. The AUD is now at USD1.053.
Listen to podcast (3:08) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 25 May 2011 update
25 May 2011
No strong lead for Australian markets , we'll have to make our own way today. There was no news on Eurozone debt - so the FTSE and the DAX rose 0.4%, hacving decide4d they were too pessimistic yesterday. The US opened higher but couldn't hold on, the S&P falling 0.1% and the Dow 0.2% despite new home sales rising in April. The AUD is now 1.056USD, and doesn't look like returning to 1.10.
Listen to podcast (2:48) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 24 May 2011 update
24 May 2011
There's not necessarily going to be a fall in Australian markets today as we fell yesterday. This is despite continued Eurozone debt - now with Italy and Spain - bringing the FTSE down 1.9% and the DAX down 2%. The US opened down and stayed down, the S&P falling 1.2% and the Dow 1%. The AUD has fallen to 1.051USD, which should help people with offshore investments.
Listen to podcast (3:27) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 23 May 2011 update
23 May 2011
Our futures market suggest we will have a poor start today. Another soft to down night overseas saw the FTSE down marginally and the DAX down a bit more after another downgrade of Greek debt. The US had nothing to cheer it do the Dow Jones fell 0.7%, and the S&P fell 0.8%, the third week in a row that the US market has fallen.
Listen to podcast (2:57) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 20 May 2011 update
20 May 2011
Australian markets may be up so long as the world doesn't end. A mixed night overseas but more more good than bad saw all markets up - FTSE 0.6%, DAX 0.8%, Dow Jones 0.4%, and the S&P 0.2%, despite three economic indicators being negative. Australia doesn't have a Linkedin IPO though, so we'll see.
Listen to podcast (3:52) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 19 May 2011 update
19 May 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US - Mortgage applications up 7.8% although purchases were down 3.2%. Perhaps next year will see higher rates than asset sales.
Listen to podcast (2:01) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 18 May 2011 update
18 May 2011
Australian markets may continue the strong run from yesterday afternoon. A softish night saw the FTSE down 1% and the DAX down 1.8%, presumably because of lingering ennui over PIGS. In the US, the S&P was flat but the Dow fell 0.5% - mostly due to Hewlett Packard issuing downward guidance for future earnings.
Listen to podcast (3:45) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 17 May 2011 update
17 May 2011
Australian markets have had a poor run lately and won't be helped by overnight trading. Europe didn't move much, the DAX down 0.2% but US markets fell in the afternoon as tech stocks took a dive, the S&P ending down 0.6% and the Dow down 0.4%. The AUD is now down to 1.059USD.
Listen to podcast (2:21) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 16 May 2011 update
16 May 2011
Friday the 13th was unlucky for some - the FTSE was down 0.3% and the DAX down 0.5%. The US was worse, with the Dow and S&P both down by 0.8% - probably more concern about commodities and Greece as there was little economic data.
Listen to podcast (3:17) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 13 May 2011 update
13 May 2011
A mixed night for markets. The FTSE was down 0.5% and the DAX down 0.7%. The US opened weak but recovered in the afternoon to have the Dow and S&P close up by 0.5%.
Listen to podcast (4:17) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 12 May 2011 update
12 May 2011
Markets were down sharply - FTSE down 0.7%, DAX down 0.1%, Dow Jones down 1% and the S&P down 1.1% and I don't see that helping Australian markets today. The AUD is now marginally below USD1.07 after a rise in the USD.
Listen to podcast (3:59) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 11 May 2011 update
11 May 2011
A positive night all round but nobody knows why - more buyers than selles, I guess. Last night's Australian Federal Budget has a sensible plan to return to surplus and no tax cuts; there were no major implications for equities markets. The AUD is now USD1.084.
Listen to podcast (2:41) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 10 May 2011 update
10 May 2011
A mixed session with Europe down over Greek debt was downgraded again. However, the US rose on the back of a surge in commodity prices. Australia should open up based on that while we wait for tonight's budget announcement.
Listen to podcast (4:27) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 9 May 2011 update
9 May 2011
A relatively good session on Friday - the FTSE rose 1%, the DAX rose 1.6%, while in the US the S&P and Dow both rose 0.4% (leaving them down 2% for the week, reversing the previous week's gains). The April Labor Market figures were released, which boosted markes as it showev a gain od 244,000 jobs in the US. The AUD is now USD1.07.
Listen to podcast (4:46) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 6 May 2011 update
6 May 2011
Another soft night with the FTSE flat but Europe generally down. In the US, the Dow fell 1.1% and the S&P fell 0.9%. Economics were the driver, with aa sharp rise in jobless claims, the second rise in a row. We'll be opening softer today unless we're held up by thwe AUSD falling to 1.056USD.
Listen to podcast (4:39) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 5 May 2011 update
5 May 2011
A weak session; the FTSE fell 1.6%, the DAX fell 1.7%, and both the Dow and S&P fell 0.7% - presumably due to the non-manafacturing ISM index weakening. The AUD has dropped back to 1.075USD but is still overvalued.
Listen to podcast (3:33) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 4 May 2011 update
4 May 2011
A nondescript night in Europe and the US; the FTSE rose 0.2%, the DAX fell 0.4%, the Dow close changed by 0.00% and the S&P fell 0.4%. The AUD has dropped back to 1.08USD and may be finally listening to reason.
Listen to podcast (3:00) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 3 May 2011 update
3 May 2011
A quiet night with the FTSE closed again and the DAX rising 1.6%. In the US, markets rose strongly on the news of bin Laden's death but fell for the rest of the session, the S&P ending down 0.2% and the Dow was flat. Australian markets rose on the news, so we may be in for a fall today.
Listen to podcast (3:06) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 2 May 2011 update
2 May 2011
Another good night. The FTSE was flat again (was it even open?) but the DAX rose 0.5%. The S#38;P rose 0.2% and the Dow Jones rose 0.4% - for the week they ended up 2% and 2.4%. A stark contrast to the Australian market which FELL 2% despite only being open for three days - the strong AUD is affecting business earnings.
Listen to podcast (3:58) Read transcript

April 2011

Chris Caton's 29 April 2011 update
29 Apr 2011
Another good night. The FTSE was flat again but the DAX rose nearly 1%. The Dow Jones rose 0.6% and the S#38;P rose 0.4%. Economic data little to do with this as the indicators were weak - as expected. The AUD is now at an all time high of 1.093USD.
Listen to podcast (5:00) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 28 April 2011 update
28 Apr 2011
Another good night. The FTSE was flat but the DAX rose 0.7% while the Dow Jones rose 0.8% and the S#38;P rose 0.6%. The S#38;P has finally more than doubled since its March 2009 closing low; you don'tr get many 100% bull markets. Australia should make the gains that didn't happen yesterday due to the CPI figures. The AUD is now at an unsustainable 1.087USD.
Listen to podcast (4:53) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 27 April 2011 update
27 Apr 2011
A very good night of trading with the FTSE and DAX both up 0.8% in Europe and the Dow Jones and S&P up 0.9% in the US - now both at a post-recovery high and the S&P is nearly at a gain of 100% since its GFC low. It was mainly earning reports behind the result ans Australia will respond strongly today.
Listen to podcast (3:41) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 21 April 2011 update
21 Apr 2011
A mirror image of Monday strong falls - FTSE up 2%, DAX up 3%, S&P up 1.4% and the Dow up 1.5%. Probably due to strong earnings reports, notably from Intel. Gold has hit a new high of US$1500/oz. and the Australian dollar rose more than a cent to close at 1.068USD. Australia will be off to strong start today.
Listen to podcast (4:03) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 20 April 2011 update
20 Apr 2011
Markets got back a bit of Monday's losses - the Dow up 0.5% and the S&P up 0.6% - on the back of some positive economic data regarding housing starts. We should be off to a reasonably good start today, the dollar is now 1.053USD.
Listen to podcast (2:50) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 19 April 2011 update
19 Apr 2011
Not much joy as markets had a poor night; Europe was down 2% or more and the Dow and S&P were down 1.1% and 1.2% respectively. This was due to the S&P ratings agency flagging a future downgrade of long-term US sovereign debt, due to their being no long-term budgetary planning. It's still rated AAA but they expect to downgrade unless something happens before 2013.
Listen to podcast (3:30) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 18 April 2011 update
18 Apr 2011
Friday was the US markets' best day of the week with the S&P up 0.4% and the Dow Jones up 0.5%. They still ended the week down - 0.6% and 0.3% respectively, due to ongoing convcerns about Japan. however, the Australian market should start positively today.
Listen to podcast (4:23) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 15 April 2011 update
15 Apr 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US - March headline PPI came in shy of consesus at a 0.7% rise.
Listen to podcast (3:18) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 14 April 2011 update
14 Apr 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US - March retail figures were expected to rise 0.5% but came in at 0.4%. This is a dip on February's 1.1% but the ninth monthly rise in a row.
Listen to podcast (3:11) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 13 April 2011 update
13 Apr 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US - February trade balances were in and the gap declined 2.6% with exports down but not as much as imports. Compared to March 2010, non-fuel imports were up 0.6% but fuel, due to the rising oil price, were up 28.7%. There's a new pessimism which might become the new norm - we are unlikely to see the surges usually experienced at the start of a recovery.
Listen to podcast (4:20) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 11 April 2011 update
11 Apr 2011
Markets haven't done much all week and that was the pattern for Friday. The Dow was flat and the S&P was down 0.4% - almost exactly the week's result. The Futures index is down 11 points so we'll have to see what that does for local markets; the currency is at a ludicrous level - the AUS is now US$1.056 so the world is on sale for Australians - get out there and spend.
Listen to podcast (4:25) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 8 April 2011 update
8 Apr 2011
Close to a flat night but with interesting developments - the FTSE was down 0.6%, the DAX down 0.5%. In the US, the Dow Jones was down 0.2 and the S&P down 0.1%. Jobless claims fell and the 4 week moving average fell as well, so US labour market is slowly on the mend. Consumer credit also rose, the 4th gain in a row. There was a second earthquake off the Japanese coast, but without the affects of the previous one so the markets recovered by the close. The Australian market will probably be flat today.
Listen to podcast (3:22) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 6 April 2011 update
6 Apr 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US - the ISM non-manufacturing composite for March came in lower than expected but if we look outside the four components of the headline index, we see robust, above trend, GDP growth.
Listen to podcast (1:55) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 5 April 2011 update
5 Apr 2011
A short report as almost nothing happened - Europe was close to flat and it was the same in the US, the Dow moving up 0.2%. there was no economic news but Ben Bernanke is expected to make an address overnight - during our day, so something may come out of that.
Listen to podcast (2:26) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 4 April 2011 update
4 Apr 2011
Markets did it again and rose on Friday, the US markets rose around 0.5% on the back of a firm employment report. That put the Dow Jones up 1.3% for the week and the S&P was up 1.4%. The Dow is now at a post-recovery high and the S&P is close to the same mark.
Listen to podcast (3:37) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 1 April 2011 update
1 Apr 2011
Andrew reviews overnight economic data releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (3:57) Read transcript

March 2011

Chris Caton's 31 March 2011 update
31 Mar 2011
The US continues to grind higher - in Europe the FTSE was up 0.3% and the DAX up 1.8%; the S&P ended up 0.7% and the Dow up 0.6%. The Australian dollar continues to climb, it's now 1.033USD.
Listen to podcast (3:38) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 30 March 2011 update
30 Mar 2011
A good night for trading. The FTSE was up 0.4%, the DAX was mostly flat, but the US markets rose all day with both the Dow Jones and the S&P ending up 0.7%. The Australian dollar is up again, back to 102.9 cents US and close to the peak since floating.
Listen to podcast (2:10) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 29 March 2011 update
29 Mar 2011
It was a mixed night for offshore trading. Europe was very close to flat, and the US market was up slightly, but started to decline in the last half hour of trading.
Listen to podcast (2:22) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 28 March 2011 update
28 Mar 2011
Andrew reviews Friday's economic data releases in the US - medium inflation expectation at their highest level since August 2008.
Listen to podcast (1:54) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 25 March 2011 update
25 Mar 2011
Andrew reviews the overnight economic data releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (2:26) Read transcript
James Kerr's 24 March 2011 update
24 Mar 2011
James Kerr reviews the overnight economic data releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (0:50) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 23 March 2011 update
23 Mar 2011
Andrew reviews the overnight economic data releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (1:06) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 22 March 2011 update
22 Mar 2011
After having no data to report on yesterday, Andrew returns to look at overnight economic releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (2:24) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 18 March 2011 update
18 Mar 2011
Andrew reviews the overnight economic data releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (5:11) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 17 March 2011 update
17 Mar 2011
Andrew reviews the economic data releases for Wednesday.
Listen to podcast (3:39) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 14 March 2011 update
14 Mar 2011
You would have expected a serious down day on Friday in response to the awful earthquake in Japan. Europe did finish slightly lower, but the US markets rallied late and the Dow finished up 0.5% and the S&P finished up 0.7%. Not enough to get either index back in positive figures for the week however, and it may be markets slide further this week as the earthquake's impact become more apparent.
Listen to podcast (4:24) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 14 March 2011 update
14 Mar 2011
Positive economic data will not be enough to sway the Fed from its present doveishness but Bernanke et al will be watching things like a hawk.
Listen to podcast (2:41) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 11 March 2011 update
11 Mar 2011
Andrew returns to look at economic releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (4:17) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 9 March 2011 update
9 Mar 2011
After having no data to report on yesterday, Andrew returns to look at overnight economic releases in the US.
Listen to podcast (1:56) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 7 March 2011 update
7 Mar 2011
Markets were a little soft, the Dow and S&P both ending down 0.7%, which left them both up for the week. It's all about oil and Middle East tensions as the economic news was good, with the best unemployment figures since 1983. The Australian market will accordingly be weaker today; the AUD is currently 1.014USD.
Listen to podcast (3:17) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 4 March 2011 update
4 Mar 2011
Good news - equities markets were up everywhere; in Europe the FTSE rose 1.5% and the DAX rose 0.6% while in the US the Dow rose 1.6% and the S&P rose 1.7% - the best session for some time. Markets were driven by economics for a change and the data was very promising. Australia will be off to a good start today.
Listen to podcast (3:58) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 3 March 2011 update
3 Mar 2011
Not a lot to report. In Europe markets were down by the end of the day, the FTSE by 0.4% and the DAX by 0.6%. In the US the market wandered around and finished up but not by much: theDow was up by a 0.1% and the S&P up by 0.2% and you can't get too excited about that.
Listen to podcast (2:58) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 2 March 2011 update
2 Mar 2011
A rough night with markets fallinf around the world: the FTSE was down 1%, the DAX down 0.7%, the Dow down 1.4% and the S&P down 1.6%. There was no economic reason for this, other than concern about violent clashes in Iran driving the oil price back up - however, the oil price remained steady.
Listen to podcast (2:58) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 1 March 2011 update
1 Mar 2011
Another positive night with only the FTSE falling; the S&P ended up 2.8% for February and is now 97% up from its trough. Markets were buoyed by less concern about Libya and by Warren Buffett saying that he's a buyer. Australian markets will be up, assuming the ASX has fixed its computer glitch.
Listen to podcast (3:42) Read transcript

February 2011

Chris Caton's 28 February 2011 update
28 Feb 2011
Friday was the best day of the week, no doubt about that, as overseas markets rose. FTSE up 1.4%, DAX up 0.8%, S&P up 1.1% and the Dow up 0.5%, but it wasn't enough to get the markets back in positive territory for the week. Not much significant economic news other than the subsiding of the oil price to drive this. Australia likely to be off to a positive start today.
Listen to podcast (5:21) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 25 February 2011 update
25 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (4:08) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 24 February 2011 update
24 Feb 2011
Another down, "risk-off" day which saw share markets fall with continued worries over Libya and the oil supply. The S&P was down 0.6% and the Dow 0.9%, so Australia will be off to a bad start this morning.
Listen to podcast (3:28) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 23 February 2011 update
23 Feb 2011
A rough night driven by one story. Europe wasn't so bad, having falled the day before but the FTSE still fell another 0.3%. The US however, had it largest fall in some time with the Dow down 1.4% and the S&P down over 2% - all because of the hard-line stance in Libya and their declaration of force majeure on their oil exports. Australia will face its third fall in as many days.
Listen to podcast (3:10) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 21 February 2011 update
21 Feb 2011
A mixed night on Friday - Europe flat and the US marginally up. Despite that, the SPI Futures Index suggest we'll be off to a weak start this morning. The AUD remains at US$1.01, still overvalued.
Listen to podcast (4:05) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 18 February 2011 update
18 Feb 2011
Europe was flat but the US was up despite mixed economic news, the Dow up 0.2% and the S&P up 0.3%. The S&P is now 98% above its March 2009 closing low. Austraia is likely to open up and the AUD is siting just above US$1.01.
Listen to podcast (3:38) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 17 February 2011 update
17 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (5:20) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 16 February 2011 update
16 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (3:04) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 15 February 2011 update
15 Feb 2011
A flat night overseas for the Valentine's Day trading session, and that presages nothing for Australian markets today.
Listen to podcast (3:57) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 14 February 2011 update
14 Feb 2011
A Valentine's Day greeting from Chris Caton: Markets were strong around the world, presumably as a result of President Mubarak's resignation as there was no significant economic data. Incidentally, that meant that the Dow was up by 1.5% for the week, the S&P was up by 1.4% and the NASDAQ also up by 1.4%, so yet another good week for the US market. Australian markets should respond similarly and rise today.
Listen to podcast (2:49) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 11 February 2011 update
11 Feb 2011
A mixed night for share markets, Europe had the FTSE down 0.5% and the DAX up 0.3%; the US was mostly negative , the S&P down 0.7% at one point, but it recovered to finish up 0.1%. The Dow ended down 0.1%. The end of day recovery was probably due to reports that President Mubarak was preparing to resign, so share markets saw that as a positive step to ending Egyptian instability.
Listen to podcast (3:37) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 9 February 2011 update
9 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (1:41) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 8 February 2011 update
8 Feb 2011
A great night for share markets, Europe up 0.9% and the US up 0.6%, the Australian market couldn�t help but to get a kick along this morning.
Listen to podcast (2:43) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 7 February 2011 update
7 Feb 2011
Chris reviews the end of trading in the US for last week and the likely effect on local markets: A good day on Friday, driven by more good economic news; good week for the US share market; a positive start for us. The Australian dollar, incidentally, is still sitting just above USD1.01; great result.
Listen to podcast (3:56) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 4 February 2011 update
4 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (2:35) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 3 February 2011 update
3 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (2:45) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 2 February 2011 update
2 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (2:26) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 1 February 2011 update
1 Feb 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (3:53) Read transcript

January 2011

Chris Caton's 31 January 2011 update
31 Jan 2011
A big day but a down day, with markets around the world falling between 0.4% and 1.7%.
Listen to podcast (4:48) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 28 January 2011 update
28 Jan 2011
It was another reasonably quiet night. In Europe the FTSE was down by one-tenth, but the German market up by four-tenths.
Listen to podcast (4:35) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 27 January 2011 update
27 Jan 2011
It was another good night. Incidentally, since it wasn't in the report yesterday I'm sort of obligated to cover Tuesday night's trading also, but almost nothing happened that night. So we're done with Tuesday.
Listen to podcast (3:18) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 25 January 2011 update
25 Jan 2011
Share markets did well. The Chinese market not so well - down by about 1% - but we knew that yesterday or by close of play yesterday.
Listen to podcast (3:27) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 17 January 2011 update
17 Jan 2011
It was another good night. Markets have done very well lately, you would have to say. You wouldn't necessarily get that in Europe, where the FTSE was down 0.4%, and the German market close to flat.
Listen to podcast (5:19) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 14 January 2011 update
14 Jan 2011
Markets down slightly but not too much to worry about, Australian markets will start weaker as a consequence.
Listen to podcast (4:28) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 13 January 2011 update
13 Jan 2011
More good news as market sentiment improves; yesterday's auction of Portugese debt went well and markets responded favourably. We'll be off to a rollicking start this morning.
Listen to podcast (3:14) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 12 January 2011 update
12 Jan 2011
Europe was less concerned about peripheral European debt and markets took off, up around 1% ans the US followed suit, with the S&P up 0.4% and the Dow uo 0.3%, helped by other factors. All that means we'll start well, the SPI index up 10 points, so we're expecting 0.2% at the open.
Listen to podcast (3:20) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 11 January 2011 update
11 Jan 2011
There was no economic data to drive the market, so they once again turned their attention to European debt. This presumably means the Australian market will start off weaker this morning, but there won't be much in it. Europe was down but the US markets barely moved.
Listen to podcast (3:04) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 10 January 2011 update
10 Jan 2011
Dr Caton returns with a review of a softish trading session on Friday, and the recent Ashes tests.
Listen to podcast (5:27) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 7 January 2011 update
7 Jan 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (1:19) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 6 January 2011 update
6 Jan 2011
Andrew looks at economic indicators in the US.
Listen to podcast (4:47) Read transcript
Marcelle Murphy's 5 January 2011 update
5 Jan 2011
Marcelle looks at US economic reports.
Listen to podcast (1:11) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 4 January 2011 update
4 Jan 2011
Andrew starts the new year with a look at the ISM index.
Listen to podcast (1:01) Read transcript

2010

December 2010

Chris Caton's 24 December 2010 update
24 Dec 2010
The market looked at the raft of available data and said well, we don't know what to make of that, no need to change our mind, Christmas is coming and finished close to flat. The US market will not trade on Christmas Eve so podcasts will resume on 3rd January, with Chris returning on the 10th.
Listen to podcast (2:38) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 23 December 2010 update
24 Dec 2010
The Santa rally continues, markets up not hugely but up and that should be a good sign for us today. One last thing the Australian dollar back to parity once more.
Listen to podcast (3:29) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 22 December 2010 update
22 Dec 2010
Good news! Markets were up all around the world - FTSE up 1%, DAX up 0.9%, S&P up 0.6% and the Dow Jones up 0.5%. No economic news, it just seems there's less concern about European debt. The S&P has burst through the Fibonacci retracement level, for the technicall-minded of you. We'll be off to a good day.
Listen to podcast (3:14) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 21 December 2010 update
21 Dec 2010
Another pretty quiet night - Europe up slightly while the US oscillated in a narrow range. No news driving the markets, which danced to their own tune. Ten year bonds fell again, and the AUD is back to USD0.994. We should be off to a good start today as yesterday's late sell-off looks like an over-reaction.
Listen to podcast (2:10) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 20 December 2010 update
20 Dec 2010
A nothing end to a nothing week, Europe down slightly and the US went nowhere. Markets are just drifting and there's no point analysing why.
Listen to podcast (3:15) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 17 December 2010 update
17 Dec 2010
Nothing much happened overnight - Europe was nearly flat, but there was some good news in the US: Housing starts rose, but from a record low; more positively, jobless claims are still falling, against expectations. By the end of the session , the S&P was up 0.6% and the Dow up 0.4%.
Listen to podcast (3:03) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 16 December 2010 update
16 Dec 2010
Another quiet night - a slew of economic data but none far from expectations, so the markets ended more or less unchanged. Australia should be off to a mixed start today, the only other news is that the AUD fell off parity with the USD and is now at US$0.986.
Listen to podcast (2:34) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 15 December 2010 update
15 Dec 2010
Another quiet night - the FTSE up 0.5% and the DAX flat. In the US, markets were positive for most of the session with excellent data - retail sales up 0.8% and the previous 2 months revised up, resulting in the best quarter in 17 years. The markets couldn't sustain it though, and the Dwo ended up 0.4% and the S&P up 0.1%. Australian markets should start higher as a result, and the AUD is back to parity with the USD.
Listen to podcast (3:30) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 14 December 2010 update
14 Dec 2010
Close to a flat night - China decided to maintain interest rates despite their CPI reaching 5%, and that pushed markets up around the world - except for the US, where the S&P was flat and the Dow Jones fell 0.2%. The USD fell significantly when Moody's released a reports suggesting the Obama tax benefits package may result in US credit rating being put on "negative outlook". The Australian market is probably in for an interesting day.
Listen to podcast (3:22) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 13 December 2010 update
13 Dec 2010
Another okay but not great night - FTSE up 0.1%, DAX up 0.6%. Dow Jones up 0.4% and the S&P up 0.6%. The US economic news was good with consumer sentiment up and the trade deficit was the best since January, due to a 3% increase in exports. Australian markets will rise this morning, and the AUD is now US$0.986.
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Andrew Dowie's 10 December 2010 update
10 Dec 2010
Andrew looks at economic indicators from the United States.
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Andrew Dowie's 9 December 2010 update
9 Dec 2010
Andrew looks at economic indicators from the United States.
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Chris Caton's 8 December 2010 update
8 Dec 2010
After looking like the US market would end at a recovery high, it gave it all back in the last hour, tumbling back to near where it started. The AUD also fell, it's now around 0.984USD, and Australian markets will have no lead to follow.
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Chris Caton's 7 December 2010 update
7 Dec 2010
Pearl Harbor Day saw no kamikaze action in the markets - a very quiet session, with Europe marginally up and the US marginally down. The AUD is trading around 0.99USD.
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Chris Caton's 6 December 2010 update
6 Dec 2010
Friday was a mixed day at the end of a good week, a disappointing labour report for the US tempered by a good ISM report. I would expect some retracement this week although you cannot rule out a Santa rally. Australia will started mixed today.
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Chris Caton's 3 December 2010 update
3 Dec 2010
December is off to a rollicking start with the second good night in a row - and I can't see the rally stopping. Australian markets should be off to a great start today.
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Andrew Dowie's 2 December 2010 update
2 Dec 2010
Andrew looks at economic indicators from the United States.
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Chris Caton's 1 December 2010 update
1 Dec 2010
Another soft session as Euro zone worries won't go away. FTAE down 0.4%, DAX down 0.1%. The US was buoyed by good economic data but couldn't hold onto any gain, the Dow ending down 0.4% and the S&P down 0.6%. In November, markets lost the 1.7% that they had gained in October, almost to the dollar. This won't be good for the Australian market, I'm afraid, which will be down today.
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November 2010

Andrew Dowie's 30 November 2010 update
30 Nov 2010
Andrew looks at economic indicators from the United States.
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Chris Caton's 29 November 2010 update
29 Nov 2010
A short but down session in the US following weak European markets. The Dow was down 0.9% and the S&P down 0.8% - with no particular new factors. SPI futures suggest Australian markets will be down 0.4% on opening this morning.
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Chris Caton's 25 November 2010 update
25 Nov 2010
Markets up pretty much all over the world, undoing the pessimism of the day before. In the US the mood was buoyed by three pieces of relatively good data. Jobless claims fell a long, long way; consumer spending numbers were imporved; and consumer sentiment also did quite well.
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Andrew Dowie's 24 November 2010 update
24 Nov 2010
Andrew looks at economic indicators from the United States.
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Chris Caton's 23 November 2010 update
23 Nov 2010
Markets oscillated down with the primary concern still Ireland. The US lost a lot in the morning but made most of it back in the afternoon to finish down 0/2% - there's no economic data to push the market. The AUD is now US$0.989 and we can expect to open up today, and Europe will do the same.
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Chris Caton's 22 November 2010 update
22 Nov 2010
Friday left very little to report - Europe was mixed because of lingering concern about Ireland. TheUS was just barely up; the Dow Jones 0.2%, S&P up 0.3%. Meaning it was flat for the week, and The Australian market is expected to be up on Monday morning.
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Chris Caton's 19 November 2010 update
19 Nov 2010
Europe was up and the US opened up quite significantly and then proceeded to have a mixed day but finished above the line. The S&P index up two-tenths for the night and the Dow up three-tenths. Our market looks, like it will open mixed today. The SPI futures index is up slightly and our currency, incidentally, is sitting around US$0.978.
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Chris Caton's 18 November 2010 update
18 Nov 2010
A bit of relief - markets might not have risen much but they didn't fall. The UK has offered a helping hand to Ireland, easing tensions over Irish debt. Europe responded well but the US less so. The Australian market will be mixed today.
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Chris Caton's 17 November 2010 update
17 Nov 2010
An ugly session overnight, due mostly to China and European debt - Ireland and Greece. The Shanghai index fell 4.4% due to an announcement that suggested slowing growth and markets around the globe responded.
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Chris Caton's 16 November 2010 update
16 Nov 2010
Europe did manage to finish in positive territory and the US market opened up - I suppose there's a little less worry about Ireland today and there was some strong economic news in the US.
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Chris Caton's 15 November 2010 update
15 Nov 2010
A softish day on Friday, the US down around 1% and no economic news. The Australian makret will start down on Monday.
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Chris Caton's 12 November 2010 update
12 Nov 2010
The US markets were quiet due to a public holiday - no economic news, but a negative announcement by Cisco pushed the market down. Europe was quiet, wieghed down with Irish debt fears. The Australian market probably off to a weak start today, and the AUD is back below $1 USD.
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Andrew Dowie's 11 November 2010 update
11 Nov 2010
US exports reached their highest level in just over two years. On the other side of the ledger, imports declined by 1%. The total US deficit shrank by 5.3% from the previous month to September's US$44 billion. Market consensus was looking for a US$45 billion figure.
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Andrew Dowie's 10 November 2010 update
11 Nov 2010
September's wholesale inventories came in at up 1.5% for the month. Now this was double consensus forecast. However yet again, poor sales remain the single most important problem.
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Chris Caton's 9 November 2010 update
9 Nov 2010
The US had its best employment report for about five months but markets were uninterested. Not much guidance for the Australian market on Monday morning; our currency continues to defy gravity, sitting above US$1.01.
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Chris Caton's 8 November 2010 update
8 Nov 2010
The US had its best employment report for about five months but markets were uninterested. Not much guidance for the Australian market on Monday morning; our currency continues to defy gravity, sitting above US$1.01.
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Chris Caton's 5 November 2010 update
5 Nov 2010
Markets obviously decided that the quantitative easing plan can't be all that bad and there was strength everywhere. The FTSE finished the up 2%, the German market was up 1.8%, the French market was up 1.9% and the US market opened up and just kept going with it, by the end of the session the Dow was up by 2% and the S&P 500 index was up by 1.9%. Investors obviously decided that there wasn't much point in investing in bonds with rates as low as they are, so yes, the stock market was the place to be. The price of gold also leapt by some $47 on the day and gold now stands at a record of $1384, so a lot of strength in a lot of places.
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Chris Caton's 4 November 2010 update
4 Nov 2010
The Fed's announcement on quantitative easing was greeted with some approval by the market, esentially because it's going to increase the quantity of dollars. The USD weakened and I now have to concede we are above parity. I don't think we are going to stay above parity for very long but that depends on how weak the USD gets.
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Chris Caton's 2 November 2010 update
2 Nov 2010
Australian markets will ge no clear direction following another undistinguished session. The Dow wa up 100 points at one stage but failed to hold onto the gains; the market is sitting and waiting for the Fed decision on quantitative easing. This was despite stronger than expected economic indicators - a source of potential upward revision.
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Chris Caton's 1 November 2010 update
1 Nov 2010
Once again, little market movement despite improved US GDP figures - offset by a drop in residential home sales. The challenge will be to hold annual growth above 2%.
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October 2010

Chris Caton's 29 October 2010 update
29 Oct 2010
The Australian market won't get much direction from off-shore today, as overseas markets were quiet and mixed. This was despite the best economic indicator for some time in the US where jobless figures suggest a labour market revival. The AUD meanwhile slips further from parity and those 10 seconds of trading over $1US were probably a Pakistani match-fixer winning a bet but losing on a trade.
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Chris Caton's 28 October 2010 update
28 Oct 2010
Markets were down for the same reason that the Australian market fell yesterday afternoon and because our fall preceded theirs, there's no reason for this fall to be transmitted into a further fall in Australia today; the Australian market may decide it overreacted. What caused the fall? The Wall Street Journal suggested that the size of the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program may be smaller than previously expected, so that caused a sell off. Australian inflation numbers yesterday came in less than expected so the probability of a rate rise next week is now 25%, but they may go up in December.
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Chris Caton's 27 October 2010 update
27 Oct 2010
Europe down marginally as a reaction to US markets the day before, but the US ended almost completely flat. The Australian CPI figures today will either shore up or reduce expectations of an interest rate rise in early November. The Australian dollar fell, it's now around $0.984.
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Chris Caton's 26 October 2010 update
26 Oct 2010
Europe saw rises in both the FTSE and the German index by 0.2% and 0.5% respectively. The US market opened strongly on the back of the second successive strong rise in existing home sales - 10% in the month after a more than 7% rise in August but faded in the last hour. Australian markets should be off to a good start.
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Chris Caton's 25 October 2010 update
25 Oct 2010
Not much to report for a mixed night of trading across the globe. Important economic news coming out this week includes US new home sales and Q3 GDP growth ans the Australian CPI for September.
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Chris Caton's 22 October 2010 update
22 Oct 2010
It was a positive night, not hugely positive, but nevertheless positive. Europe was up and the US finished with the S&P index up by two-tenths for the night and the Dow up three-tenths. There are still some financial concerns holding the market back and the economic news was mixed.
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Chris Caton's 21 October 2010 update
21 Oct 2010
Markets undid a lot of their negativity of the day before, beginning in Europe: the FTSE was up by four-tenths and the German market up by five-tenths. That mood continued in the US; at the end of the session the S&P was up by 1% and the Dow was up by 1.2%.
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Andrew Dowie's 20 October 2010 update
20 Oct 2010
The housing data of September was out last night - housing starts exceeded the revised estimates for a very positive figure but housing permits were not so rosy. Looking ahead, we may see some improvement but probably not much.
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Andrew Dowie's 19 October 2010 update
19 Oct 2010
The first monthly decline in US industrial production, -0.2% for September 2010, since June last year because of weakness in the durables component. On the other hand, housing confidence rose with the new homes markets moving past the lull after the tax credits expired.
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Chris Caton's 18 October 2010 update
18 Oct 2010
Market mixed on the day, up on the week. The Australian market will probably get off to a mixed start on Monday morning. The Australian dollar apparently did touch parity on Friday night, but when last seen, it was US$0.988.
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Chris Caton's 15 October 2010 update
15 Oct 2010
There's not a lot to report. Europe finished mixed with the FTSE down slightly by about four-tenths I believe and the German market up by three-tenths.
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Andrew Dowie's 14 October 2010 update
14 Oct 2010
Firstly, September's input price index: now the market was looking here for a negative, a down 0.2% month on month decline after a strong 0.6% increase in August.
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Chris Caton's 13 October 2010 update
13 Oct 2010
Europe was down slightly, the FTSE down by two-tenths and the German market down by a tenth. In the US, the markets were down for most of the day, but finished higher with the S and P 500 up by four-tenths of a percent and the Dow up by one-tenth.
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Chris Caton's 12 October 2010 update
12 Oct 2010
Beginning in Europe, Europe was actually up for the night. The FTSE finished up three tenths of a percent and the German market a similar amount.
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Chris Caton's 11 October 2010 update
11 Oct 2010
It was a quiet session in Europe. The FTSE finished down by 0.1. The DAX, the German index, was up by a couple of tenths.
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Chris Caton's 8 October 2010 update
8 Oct 2010
There's not a lot to report. The markets were pretty docile. In Europe the FTSE fell by three tenths and the DAX rose by one tenth; so nothing much going on there.
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Chris Caton's 7 October 2010 update
7 Oct 2010
Beginning in Europe, Europe did quite well. At the end of the day, the major index is up eight or nine-tenths of a per cent. This of course reflected in part the strength of the US market on the previous day.
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Chris Caton's 6 October 2010 update
6 Oct 2010
The FTSE was up 1.4% and the German market up by 1.3%. That mood continued in the US with the Dow finishing the session up by 1.8%, and the S and P up by 2.1%.
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Chris Caton's 5 October 2010 update
5 Oct 2010
In Europe the FTSE was down by about 0.6% and the DAX down by 1.2%. There were a few mutterings about continued debt problems in some of the peripheral countries.
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Chris Caton's 1 October 2010 update
1 Oct 2010
The market results were a bit of a replay of earlier on in the week, with figures for the European markets being down, due to continuing concerns about Irish debt. US markets opened in positive territory, but could not hang on to the gains, with the S&P and the Dow declining by the end of the day.
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September 2010

Chris Caton's 30 September 2010 update
30 Sep 2010
Markets were soft in Europe. The FTSE was down by 0.2 and the German market down by a 0.5. That mood carried over into the US session and by the end of it, the Dow and the S and P were down by 0.2 and 0.3 respectively.
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Chris Caton's 29 September 2010 update
29 Sep 2010
Major markets in Europe - the FTSE and the German DAX - finished pretty close to square. The one concern in Europe still seems to be some issues with the Irish banking system.
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Chris Caton's 28 September 2010 update
28 Sep 2010
The European markets both finished down with the FTSE off by 0.4% and the German market off by 0.3%.
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Chris Caton's 27 September 2010 update
27 Sep 2010
The European indices were up but not by as much as in the US and in the US session the DOW rose by 1.9%, the S and P by 2.1% and for the week that meant the DOW was up by 2.4% and the S andP by 2.1%.
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Chris Caton's 24 September 2010 update
24 Sep 2010
The FTSE was close to flat and the German market was down by 0.4%, but over in the US the market flirted in negative territory early, got back to almost square but then faded in the last 1.5 hours and as a result at the end of the session the Dow was down by 0.7% and the S and P was down by 0.8% and apparently failed to break through or stay above a critical level.
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Chris Caton's 23 September 2010 update
23 Sep 2010
It was a soft-ish night. The markets are still continuing to digest the impact, if any, of the FOMC statement at the end of its meeting on Tuesday and I guess they got a little negative about the whole thing.
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Chris Caton's 22 September 2010 update
22 Sep 2010
It was a moderate night with markets you'd have to say mixed. The major indexes in fact fell. In Europe the FTSE was down by half a per cent and the DAX down by three tenths of a per cent. At the end of the session in the US the S and P was off by a quarter of a per cent and the Dow Jones was up slightly by 0.1%.
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Chris Caton's 21 September 2010 update
21 Sep 2010
It began in Europe with the major indexes there up close to 1.5% and that was pretty much the result in the United States also with the S and P finishing the session up 1.5% and the Dow up by 1.4%.
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Chris Caton's 20 September 2010 update
20 Sep 2010
It was well an interesting night once again. The European markets were down by about 0.6%. That's the case for both the FTSE in Great Britain and also the DAX Index in Germany.
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Chris Caton's 17 September 2010 update
17 Sep 2010
Europe was off a bit and with the British market down by 0.3% and the German market down by 0.2% the US did a little better than that. The DOW rose by 0.2% for the session and the S and P was as close to flat as it is possible to be.
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Chris Caton's 16 September 2010 update
16 Sep 2010
It was, well you would have to say, a quiet night in which Europe and the United States went different ways. The European markets - the major ones, the UK and German markets - finished the session down 0.2%, so not a big move, and the US opened in negative territory but sort of clawed back all night and at the end of the day the S and P and the Dow were both up by 0.4%.
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Chris Caton's 14 September 2010 update
14 Sep 2010
The market's up again. In Europe the FTSE managed a gain of 1.2% and the German market up 0.7%. That mood continued in the US and at the close the DOW was up by 0.8% and the S and P up by 1.1%.
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Chris Caton's 13 September 2010 update
13 Sep 2010
It was a reasonably good day in the United States. They got one piece of okay economic news - wholesale inventories rose quite strongly, the strongest gain in two years in the month of July and that has added to some snippets of news lately which suggest that growth hasn�t slowed quite as much as thought in the US.
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Andrew Dowie's 10 September 2010 update
10 Sep 2010
Initial jobless claims and July's trade balance were released yesterday in the US. The jobless claims was 451,000 which brings it back to the level observed in July. For July's trade balance, imports fell and exports climbed - to the highest level in almost two years.
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Andrew Dowie's 9 September 2010 update
9 Sep 2010
July's consumer credit was released yesterday, which was a negative down US$3.6 billion. The Mortgage Bankers Association index of mortgage applications for the first week of September also recorded a decline.
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Chris Caton's 8 September 2010 update
8 Sep 2010
This was the first day back if you like for US traders after the traditional long weekend that ends their summer, the Labor Day weekend. It was always expected there could be a bit of reassessment of what's going on out there and so it wasn't a complete surprise to see the first fall in the month of September.
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Chris Caton's 6 September 2010 update
6 Sep 2010
The action began in Europe and in the European session the British market rose by 1.1% and the German market by 0.8%. That mood continued in the US and at the end of the session the S and P was up by 1.3% and the Dow was up by 1.2%. That means that the major market indexes in the United States have begun September on a tear rising by more than 5% in the first three days
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Chris Caton's 3 September 2010 update
3 Sep 2010
It was an okay night, in fact a little better than okay. Europe didn't do too much at all. The British and the German markets were as close to flat as you can get, but the US, which had had a superb night, the night before, went on with it to some extent. Obviously it wasn't as good again, but the Dow managed a rise of 0.5% for the night and the S and P was up by nine tenths of a per cent. Most of the gain incidentally, certainly in the Dow, in the last couple of hours.
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Chris Caton's 2 September 2010 update
2 Sep 2010
The markets were very strong with the European markets up more than 2% and the US even better than that with the Dow rising by 2.5% for the session and the S and P index up by 3%.
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Chris Caton's 1 September 2010 update
1 Sep 2010
European markets were up slightly - the British market up by about four tenths, and the German market up by about two tenths. When we got to the United States it was as close to flat as it is possible to be. It had a mixed ride to get to that flat result.
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August 2010

Andrew Dowie's 31 August 2010 update
31 Aug 2010
July's personal income and spending figures were released yesterday. Looking first at personal income, the market estimate here was for a 0.3% increase in this metric. June was flat. July's actual release came in at plus 0.2%. This 0.2% increase in the aggregate measure reflected a 0.3% increase in the wages and salaries component. This measure had fallen down 0.1% in June. Other parts of the report saw a 0.9% increase in rental income being broadly offset by a 0.4% fall in interest income.
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Chris Caton's 30 August 2010 update
30 Aug 2010
Over in Europe the FTSE was up by nine tenths of a per cent and the German market up by six or seven tenths, while the US market did even better than that with both the Dow and the S and P up by 1.7%. It was a good day, certainly, but it still left both of those major market indexes down for the week by 0.6% and 0.7%, one way around or the other.
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Andrew Dowie's 27 August 2010 update
27 Aug 2010
The initial jobless claims for the week ending 24 August came out last night; we were looking for 490,000 figure. The range here was between 475,000 to 510,000. Now the previous week was revised up from 500,000 to 504,000, the actual figure came in at 473,000. That's the first decline in this metric for some five weeks.
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Andrew Dowie's 26 August 2010 update
26 Aug 2010
Well we had July's durable goods orders; we were looking for a 3% increase here. June was revised from a negative 1% to a negative of just 0.1% and July's actual result come in at plus 0.3%, so quite a bit shy of market consensus.
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Andrew Dowie's 25 August 2010 update
25 Aug 2010
July�s existing home sales were released yesterday. Goldman Sachs the US what was formerly known as investment bank and also a US trust bank were the most bearish of forecasters according to the usual Bloomberg poll. But not even they were negative enough. I think the trust bank was the lower at US$3.9 million on the year on year basis.
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Andrew Dowie's 24 August 2010 update
24 Aug 2010
The only data release of note was the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago's national activity index for July. We were looking here for a decline of 0.1 after June's decline of 0.7. July's actual release came in flat. A negative number in this release indicates below trend growth for the economy and conversely positive numbers indicate above trend growth.
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Andrew Dowie's 23 August 2010 update
23 Aug 2010
This week, we really have to wait to the end of the week to get our second attempt or second stab at the second-quarter GDP figure. The initial report for the second-quarter GDP came at 2.4. Analysts are expecting the second attempt, released on Friday, to be much less, around about 1.4, 1.5% annualised.
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Andrew Dowie's 20 August 2010 update
20 Aug 2010
Initial jobless claims for the week ending August 14 tended to dominate things last night. We were looking for a 478,000 figure in this metric. The previous week was revised up from 484,000 to 488,000. The actual figure was 500,000; that's the highest release of initial jobless claims since November 14 of last year.
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Andrew Dowie's 19 August 2010 update
19 Aug 2010
It was a positive night. Over in Europe the FTSE rose by 1.4% and the German market was up by 1.6%. This mood continued in the US with the SMP rising by 1.2% and the Dow rising by 1%.
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Chris Caton's 18 August 2010 update
18 Aug 2010
It was a very quiet night data-wise last night in the US. The only significant economic release was the Mortgage Bankers Association's mortgage applications for the week ending 13 August. The applications index rose by 13% last week after increasing just 0.6% in the previous week.
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Chris Caton's 17 August 2010 update
17 Aug 2010
It was the slowest session in the US all year and the market did absolutely nothing. That was true incidentally also in Europe. At the end of the session in Europe, the FTSE was up by 0.01% and the DAX was flat.
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Chris Caton's 16 August 2010 update
16 Aug 2010
Friday the 13th was unlucky for some, although not for everybody. The FTSE in the UK actually had an up night; finishing up by 0.2%, but everywhere else was slightly down.
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Chris Caton's 13 August 2010 update
13 Aug 2010
In the US session the Dow index fell by $0.06 and the S and by $0.05. There seemed seen to be two - well, apart from the ongoing malaise, there were two new factors helping the market down, if you like. First of all, Cisco lowered its sales forecast. Cisco of course is a big tech company.
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Chris Caton's 12 August 2010 update
12 Aug 2010
Overseas markets tumbled 2.4 to 2.6% on news that the US Federal reserve was considering new stimulus actions. There seems little economic reason for the reaction other than sheer nerves, despite softish economic data and a downward revision of US GDP growth.
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Chris Caton's 10 August 2010 update
10 Aug 2010
And it was quiet, but it was good. The beginning in Europe, both the FTSE and the German market rose by 1.5%, and you can�t sneeze at that. And the main reason for this, presumably the fact that, after those markets closed on Friday, the US market went up. So they were simply reacting to that movement in the US from last Friday.
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Chris Caton's 9 August 2010 update
9 Aug 2010
Friday was an important day it was what they call labor market or jobs report Day in the United States.
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Chris Caton's 6 August 2010 update
6 Aug 2010
The FTSE in London was down by 0.4% and the German market was flat. You would have thought it would have done better because there was some reasonably good German data out but no, flat was all it could manage.
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Chris Caton's 5 August 2010 update
5 Aug 2010
It was a positive night generally everywhere. Europe actually began weakly, particularly in the UK; the market there at one stage being down more than 1% but it rallied after the US market opened and showed the way to higher ground, shall we say. At the end of the European session, the FTSE index in the UK was down by 0.2% and the German DAX was up by 0.4%.
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Chris Caton's 4 August 2010 update
4 Aug 2010
The FTSE was flat for the night and the German index, the DAX down by 0.3% but over in the US there were three pieces of economic data and all of them sort of soft.
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Chris Caton's 3 August 2010 update
3 Aug 2010
Australian markets will have an up day today - perhaps as much as 1.5% - after global markets all trended upwards by as much as 2.6%. The Reserve Bank board meets today, but it's pounds to peanuts they do nothing. We also receive building approval figures, but there should be no surprises there.
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Chris Caton's 2 August 2010 update
2 Aug 2010
The flattest of flat nights in the US - and Europe - despite some good economic news. The last three years' figures were revised, showing the recession was deeper than previous estimated, and growth slower. Expect a mixed session in Australia today.
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July 2010

Chris Caton's 30 July 2010 update
30 Jul 2010
By the end of the session, the UK market was down by 0.1%. The German market was down by 0.7% and over in the US the S and P fluctuated all night but faded in the last hour, finished down by 0.4% of a percent and the DOW was down by three-tenths.
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Chris Caton's 29 July 2010 update
29 Jul 2010
It was a soft night. Europe fell and the US fell, not by a huge amount. The UK market was down by 0.9%. The German market down by 0.5%, and over in the US, by the close of the session, the S and P index was down by 0.7%, and the Dow was down by 0.4%.
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Chris Caton's 28 July 2010 update
28 Jul 2010
Europe was up slightly, the FTSE I believe by 0.3, the German market by 0.2. That was a reaction to the fact that the US market kept on rising yesterday after European markets closed.
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Chris Caton's 27 July 2010 update
27 Jul 2010
The markets overseas had a good night. The FTSE Index was up by seven-tenths of a per cent and the German index was up by four-tenths. That mood was followed in the US. At the end of the US session the Dow was up by 1% and the S and P index was up by 1.1%. Incidentally that puts the S and P up something like 9% since it fell after the early July employment market report.
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Andrew Dowie's 23 July 2010 update
23 Jul 2010
Initial jobless claims for the week ending July 17 were released last night. The estimate here was for a 450,000 gain. The previous week, the gain was at 427,000. The actual release came in at 464,000. That 464,000 release exceeded the highest guess or forecast by economics. The four week moving average, the less volatile measure, climbed to 456,000 from 454,750 previously.
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Andrew Dowie's 22 July 2010 update
22 Jul 2010
Data releases were really muted. All attention was on Fed chairman, Bernanke's semi-annual monetary report to Congress. Now, the eight-page report and a 19-page addendum, summarising more than 40 meetings the Fed held this year to figure out how to reverse the decline in bank lending to small businesses, Federal Chairman Bernanke predicted that growth would be sustained by rising demand from consumers and businesses. However, he recognised that the economic outlook remained unusually uncertain - his words.
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Andrew Dowie's 21 July 2010 update
21 Jul 2010
June's housing starts was the weakest monthly release for eight months, compared with the housing boom peak in 2006. Starts are off by some 76 per cent. However, a brighter note from Tuesday's releases was the 2.1 per cent increase in building permits from May to June.
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Andrew Dowie's 20 July 2010 update
20 Jul 2010
There was really only one data release yesterday, the July release of the National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Confidence Index. It dropped to a worsened forecast, 14 from 16 in June. Now, a reading below 50 means the majority of those surveyed said conditions were poor.
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Andrew Dowie's 19 July 2010 update
19 Jul 2010
June's core inflation came in at an increase of 0.2%. On an annualised basis, core CPI is just 0.9%. The last time core prices rose that little over 12 months, other than April and May of this year, was in January 1966.
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Andrew Dowie's 16 July 2010 update
16 Jul 2010
June's Producer Price Index(PPI) was released last night - May and June figures came in at a negative. June is the third consecutive month of falling prices, falling costs of food, and energy suppressing wholesale prices.
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Andrew Dowie's 15 July 2010 update
15 Jul 2010
Andrew Dowie discusses June US retail sales figures, exports and imports figures, as well as the highlights of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
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Andrew Dowie's 14 July 2010 update
14 Jul 2010
US exports grew by 2.4% in the month of May, which is a 20 month high. Imports also grew by 2.9%. Imports from China were up by nearly 12%.
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Andrew Dowie's 13 July 2010 update
13 Jul 2010
There were no economic data releases last night of any consequences.
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Andrew Dowie's 12 July 2010 update
12 Jul 2010
Andrew Dowie provides a rundown of the US Wholesale inventories release for May.
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Andrew Dowie's 9 July 2010 update
09 Jul 2010
Andrew Dowie provides a rundown of the US economic data releases. This includes the jobless claims figures, and consumer credit data for May.
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Andrew Dowie's 7 July 2010 update
07 Jul 2010
The June release of ISM Non-Manufacturing Composite Index came in at 53.8 - which was a decline from 55.4. The employment index fell from 50.4 to 49.7 in June. Respondents in industry sectors as diverse as financial services, food and leisure and education all reported falls in employment. New export orders figures also fell.
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Andrew Dowie's 5 July 2010 update
05 Jul 2010
Andrew Dowie provides a breakdown of the US employment report which was released on the 2nd July.
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Andrew Dowie's 1 July 2010 update
1 Jul 2010
Now it�s really all eyes on tomorrow - on Friday evening�s release of June�s unemployment and payroll data. However last night we had the ADP employer services release for June. Now this survey surveys the private sector and was forecast to show a 60,000 job increase for June. May�s figure having been revised out from 55,000 jobs created to 57,000. June�s actual release was an increase of just 13,000 jobs.
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June 2010

Andrew Dowie's 30 June 2010 update
30 Jun 2010
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index for April was released yesterday. Consensus here was for a monthly fall of negative 0.1%. The actual release was up 0.44% in seasonally adjusted terms.
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Chris Thompson's 29 June 2010 update
29 Jun 2010
Well in the end it was a flat down US markets, with the Dow down five points, or 0.05%, the NASDAQ down 0.1%, and the S&P down 0.2%. European markets did however end in the black, with the German DAX up 1.5% and the FTSE up 0.5%.
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Chris Thompson's 28 June 2010 update
28 Jun 2010
US equity markets were pretty flat while European markets lost some ground. So the Dow was down just nine points or 0.1% and the S&P 500 and NASDAQ were up by 0.3%. In Europe, the FTSE was down 1.1% and the DAX down 0.7%.
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Chris Caton's 25 June 2010 update
25 Jun 2010
In Europe the FTSE was down by 1.5% and the German DAX index down by 1.4% for the session. Over in the US it was weakness all night and at the close the S&P was down by 1.7% - its fourth successive daily fall. The Dow was down by 1.4%.
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Chris Caton's 24 June 2010 update
24 Jun 2010
It was a negative night in Europe, with the FTSE finishing down by 1.3% and the Germany index down by 1%. The US new home sales figures for May plummeted and the April level was revised downwards sharply at 300,000 - annual rate, and so the new home sales for May was the lowest in the nearly 50 year history of that series.
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Chris Caton's 23 June 2010 update
23 Jun 2010
Over in Europe the FTSE fell by 1% and the German Index by 0.4%. In the US both the Dow and the S&P opened up square and stayed square for the first three and a half hours of trading, but then faded in the afternoon. By the time it was over they were both down quite substantially. The S&P down by 1.6% and the Dow by 1.4%.
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Chris Caton's 22 June 2010 update
22 Jun 2010
Today was of course the first major session after the announcement by China that it would free up the Yuan. This was greeted favourably by markets, so for example the European markets finished up around about 1% and the US markets opened around 1% higher but then it couldn�t hang on to those gains and declined over the course of the day and finished up marginally down.
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Chris Caton's 21 June 2010 update
21 Jun 2010
No economic news for the shortest day of the year and the markets responded by doing almost nothing. The week only saw significant movement on Tuesday and finished up 2.4%, the second week of increase in a row. Over the weekend, the Chinese indicated a more flexible attitude to the value of their currency, the yuan.
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Chris Caton's 18 June 2010 update
18 Jun 2010
Not much to report with Europe up slightly (around 0.4%) and the US spending most the session down due to weak economic data but rallied near the end. The Australian market will probably open slightly firmer as a result; the AUD is now back up to 86.8c US.
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Chris Caton's 17 June 2010 update
17 Jun 2010
Europe up slightly with stories about the IMF working out an aid package for Spain; in the US the session was down but finished almost completely flat. Offsetting economic data was the reason - a sharp fall in housing starts, as expected, was offset by a sharp rise in industrial production - up 1.2%, much above the 0.8% forecast.
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Chris Caton's 15 June 2010 update
15 Jun 2010
Friday saw the S&P and Dow up 0.4% on the back of mixed economic news; Europe was similarly up. On Monday, the market was up almost all day, except for the last ten minutes due to Moody's downgrading some Greek debt; the S&P and Dow both finished down 0.2% while the FTSE finished up 0.7% and the DAX up 1.2%, as the Eurpoean markets has closed before the Moody's annoucement.
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Chris Caton's 11 June 2010 update
11 Jun 2010
Black ink all over the world as we see diminished concerns about Europe - the FTSE up 0.9% and the DAX up 1.2%, a mood reflected in the US despite jobless claims being basically unchanged; the S&P ended up 2.9% and the Down up 2.8%, the best day for quite some time. Australia will be off to a good start and the AUD is back to 85c US.
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Chris Caton's 10 June 2010 update
10 Jun 2010
Europe had an up night with the FTSE up 1.2% and the DAX up 1.8%, a mood continued early in the US with positive economic news. In the last hour it faded and the S&P ended down 0.6% and the Down down 0.4%;that will get the Australian market off to a poor start. We get our labour market report today but we're not expecting any surprises.
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Chris Caton's 9 June 2010 update
9 Jun 2010
European markets down marginally in response to the US the night before, the FTSE down 0.8% and the DAX down 0.6%. In the US, Ben Bernanke said the US would avoid a double-dip recession and the market finally responded in the last hours, the Dwo up 1.3% and the S&P up 1.2%. The NASDAQ finsihed slightly down in response to Merrills downgrading some tech stocks. So, we'll be off to a modest start today in Australia.
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Andrew Dowie's 8 June 2010 update
8 Jun 2010
April's US consumer credit figures were released last night and they showed consumer credit was actually up by $1 billion on the month, the first increase in this release for three months after March's figured was revised down. The consensus was for a decline of approximately one billion.
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Chris Caton's 7 June 2010 update
7 Jun 2010
A poor session of Friday, for two reasons: Hungary seems to be heading the same way as Greece and, more importantly, a very disappointing labour market report for the US, where May's 431,000 new jobs included 411,000 temporary Census processing positions, saw all European markets fall and the major US indices drom by more than 3%. Austral, accordingly, will be off to a very poor start and the dollar has already taken a hiding.
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Chris Caton's 4 June 2010 update
4 Jun 2010
Another positive session with Europe reacting to the strength in the US market, FTSE/DAX up 1.2%. D/S up 0.4% after a more mixed night. Australian had a very good day yesterday - 2.4% - so we may have a more mixed day today. The Australian dollar now sitting at 84.3c US.
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Chris Caton's 3 June 2010 update
3 Jun 2010
Some good news overnight - Europe was almost completely flat but over in the United States the market opened up and kept going up. The S&P ended up 2.6% and the Dow Jones was up 2.25%. Part of the rise was attributed to surprisingly good pending home sales data for April, so the housing recovery in the US is under way. The Australian dollar is now at 84.2c US.
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Chris Caton's 2 June 2010 update
2 Jun 2010
Another disappointing night in the US. The FTSE responded to the Spanish downgrade by falling but the DAX rose. The Dow started slowly then rose in response to the ISM index. In the last two hours the market dropped, Dow down 1.1%, S&P down 1.7% so Australia will be off to a weak start. The Australian dollar is now down to 83.2c US.
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May 2010

Chris Caton's 31 May 2010 update
31 May 2010
Europe was flat and the US down 1.2% across the board for Friday's trading session. For the month, the US was down 8%, the worst month since February 2009, with the downgrading of Spanish debt seeming to be the proximate reason.
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Chris Caton's 28 May 2010 update
28 May 2010
Everywhere you look there is a sea of green yesterday. I cannot find a market in the world that wasn't up and wasn't up significantly. It began in Europe with the FTSE up by a little more than 3% and the German market up by the same amount, and it was followed in the United States with the Dow rising by 2.8% and the S&P by 3.4%.
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Chris Caton's 27 May 2010 update
27 May 2010
Another mixed night offshore with Europe up (as the US had tracked higher the day before) - the FTSE up 1.9% and the DAX up 1.5%. The last hour of trading in the US dove and the market finished in the red, the Dow Jones down 0.7% and the S&P down 0.6%.
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Andrew Dowie's 26 May 2010 update
26 May 2010
The Case-Schiller home price index and the Federal Housing Finance Agency index both outline the same overall trend of prices stabilising after steep drops during the recession. However, with demand expected to be restrained with the expiry of the homebuyer tax credit, and also the potential for more foreclosures, the market is still bouncing along at low levels.
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Chris Caton's 25 May 2010 update
25 May 2010
A mixed night in Europe with the FTSE up but the DAX down; in the US the market gave back all of gains from Friday, with the S&P down 1.3% and the Dow Jones down 1.2%. No real economic reason, the only news was good - the first home buyer's tax rebate expired at the end of April, resulting in a rise in home sales before the expiration. Locally, the market will start down and the AUD is now at 82.8c US, which seems about fair value.
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Chris Caton's 24 May 2010 update
24 May 2010
Friday was an up day, with the Dow finishing up 1.25% and the S&P up 1.5%, but still down for the week and the market is looking oversold. Australia should open up as a result.
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Andrew Dowie's 21 May 2010 update
21 May 2010
Initial jobless claims for the week ending May 15, the market consensus or prediction was for an increase of 440,000. The previous figure was 446,000, the actual data released came in at 471,000. Now filings have been trending lower in the last month. This was rather a surprising figure for the market.
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Chris Caton's 20 May 2010 update
20 May 2010
It was another rough night, rougher in Europe than in the United States mainly because the German announcement of a ban on short selling, which has perturbed the markets, occurred after Europe's close on the 18th. So the US had time to react to that the day before but the European markets did not. The FTSE and Britain down by 2.8% and the German DAX index down by 2.7%. Over in the U.S. it was a volatile session; markets fell reasonably hard early but spent most of the afternoon session trying to get back. At the end the Dow was down by 0.6% and the S&P index down by 0.5%.
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Chris Caton's 19 May 2010 update
19 May 2010
Europe was up but the US down which will get us off to a soft start today. The Australian market is still cheap - two things happen to cheap markets: they can get cheaper, but they don't stay cheap forever so I'd say "buy". The Australian dollar is down to 86.4c US and is still, in my view, over-valued.
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Chris Caton's 18 May 2010 update
18 May 2010
It was a mixed night; markets finishing very close to square. In Europe, the FTSE was literally unchanged and the German index was up by two-tenths of a per cent. Over in the United States, markets opened up, but then fell quite significantly and at one stage the market was down by more than a per cent, but in the afternoon session, the market clawed all the way back and after it was all over, both the Dow and the S&P 500 were up by 0.1%. So as close to zero as you can reasonably get. I suppose this means that we're no more worried about Greece than we were yesterday, but that seems still to be the main driving force. Locally, the people who were saying the AUD was going to go to a parity with the US dollar have suddenly gone very quiet and there's no surprise to me in that.
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Chris Caton's 17 May 2010 update
17 May 2010
Markets still swinging like a rusty gate and Friday was a negative day; the UK market, for example, was down by 3% in the session and other European markets generally down. That affected the United States and at the end of the session the S&P index was down by 1.9% and the Dow was down by 1.5%. It isn't that the economic news was bad; markets are worried about other matters right now.
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Chris Caton's 14 May 2010 update
14 May 2010
A mixed night with the European indexes up but the lead was not followed in the US, where the market was flat until the last two hours, where it faded with the market concerned about investigations into financial companies during the GFC. Another good employment report for Australia but the Reserve may think twice beofe raising rates in June.
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Chris Caton's 13 May 2010 update
13 May 2010
And it was a good night, beginning in Europe. The FTSE index was by 0.9%, and the German market up by 2.4%. That mood continued in the US. The market opened up and sort of ground higher all day, and by the end of it, both the S&P 500 and the Dow indexes were up by 1.4%. No particular reason apparently given, obviously this is ongoing market volatility, and it does suggest that people are becoming a little more comfortable with the, well with the Greece and other Mediterranean countries issues. In Australia we get the labour market report for the month of April today. The market�s expecting 20,000 more jobs created, and the unemployment rate to stay steady at 5.3. I don�t have too much trouble with the latter expectation, but it wouldn�t surprise me if there were fewer jobs created than the 20,000 expected by the market.
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Chris Caton's 12 May 2010 update
12 May 2010
It was a mixed night. Even before the market opened on Tuesday, there was a bit of questioning about the rescue package for Greece and so it wasn't a surprise that markets opened a little soft. The U.S. market, however, eventually got back into the black but then couldn�t hold onto it, at the end of the session both the Dow and S&P were down but by just a third of one per cent. In Europe the whole thing was quite mixed. The U.K. market was down by 1% but the German market was actually up by about one-third of a point. The market in Spain took a big fall of about 3%, but remember this market was up by about 14% on Monday. The Australian market presumably gets off to a somewhat mixed start today. The general consensus on last night's federal budget seems to be "boring". Boring could also be called responsible and the government showed a path whereby we will get back to surplus three years earlier than previously estimated and the budget last night demonstrated we're on a sustainable track here.
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Chris Caton's 11 May 2010 update
11 May 2010
A sea of black everywhere you look - we knew yesterday the EU had put together a fairly convincing rescue package for Greece and the markets reacted. European markets up around 5% with France up close to 10%, and the same in the US with the Dow and the S&P up around 4%. The Australian dollar back up to 90.4c US and I'm surprised it didn't react more, we're looking at a good day of trading today.
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Chris Caton's 10 May 2010 update
10 May 2010
Unfortunately another down day with the reason being, the usual reason we are worried about Greece right now and the possibility of contagion elsewhere.
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Chris Caton's 7 May 2010 update
7 May 2010
It was a rough night for the market. The FTSE was down by close to 1.5%, and the German market down by 0.8%. The US market opened low due to concerns over Greece, and then dropped by around 4% in the last hours of trading.
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Andrew Dowie's 6 May 2010 update
6 May 2010
The April ISM index showed new orders were down from the March high of 62.3% to 58.2%, but was otherwise consistent with other reports indicating an improvement in the US economy. Elsewhere, payroll indices indicate a 3rd consecutive month of job growth, notably in the services sector.
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Chris Caton's 5 May 2010 update
5 May 2010
An ugly night with Spain becoming the new focus of disquiet; European makrets down 2.5% and the mood reflected in the US, with the Dow down 2% and the S&P down 2.4%. not even good economic news could counteract it, but I suspect it will be temporary. Australia will be off to another poor start and will be down 7% on what it was a few weeks ago.
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Chris Caton's 4 May 2010 update
4 May 2010
Europe did reasonably well following an agreement between Greece and the IMF. In the US, there was good economic data for manufacturing and consumer spending, seeing the Dow and the S&P both up 1.3%. The offshore news should kick-start the Australian market while it digests the government response to the Henry Review.
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Chris Caton's 3 May 2010 update
3 May 2010
A painful night in the US for Friday's trading, with the Dow down 1.4% and the S&P down 1.7%, the market worried about Goldman Sachs and Greece; locally, the Henry Report sees the goverment introduce measures to increase money flows into superannuation, most notably the phased increase of the SG levy from 9% to 12% by 2020, and the new resources profits tax; the Australian market will almost certainly fall during Monday's trading.
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April 2010

Chris Caton's 30 April 2010 update
30 Apr 2010
A positive night across the board, with more comfort about Greece, the EU saying "Help is on it's, way, we'll be there as fast as we can". Encouraging jobless claim figures in the US further bolstered that market D up 1.1% and the S&P up 1.3%, the Australian market will be off to a good start after our bad trot of late.
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Chris Caton's 29 April 2010 update
29 Apr 2010
A weak day in Europe but a good one in the US and the gains from there should see the Australian market off to a good start; the Australian dollar is now back up to 92.5c US.
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Chris Caton's 28 April 2010 update
28 Apr 2010
A poor day in the US. The S&P 500 Index fell by 2.3% and the Dow Jones fell by 1.9% and is now back below 11,000 - this is the worst day since 4 February, but the market is still up or at least 13% and perhaps 14% from that day. This will see the Australian market off to a bad start.
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Chris Caton's 27 April 2010 update
27 Apr 2010
On Friday, both the Dow and the S&P were up by around about two-thirds of a percent, driven by continued strong earnings news. This has continued to be a very good earnings season; many, many companies reporting above expected earnings, the proportion of companies with upside earning surprises is the biggest in the 18 year history of the data. It wasn't quite sustained on Monday when the Dow finished flat and the S&P was flat for most of the session, but then dipped in the last hour. It has been a very strong rally. The S&P must still be up around about 16% from its temporary lull in early February this year.
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Andrew Dowie's 23 April 2010 update
23 Apr 2010
March's existing home sales data for the US revealed an increase of 6.8%, which reversed the decline of January and February. Jobless claims for the week ending April 17 revealed a drop by 24,000, to 456,000.
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Chris Thompson's 20 April 2010 update
20 Apr 2010
The tranquillity over the last few weeks was rocked on Friday by the SEC charges against Goldman Sachs. However, by the close of the US, it would appear that the ramifications of this development have been shrugged off for the time being. The catalyst for the turnabout appeared to be reports out that the vote within the SEC to sue Goldman Sachs was by no means unanimous, allaying fears that this may be a precursor to wider issues.
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Chris Caton's 19 April 2010 update
19 Apr 2010
A negative day in the US becuse of the announcement from the Securities Exchange Commission that they were pursuing charges of civil fraud agains Goldman Sachs for the manner in which they sold mortgage-backed securities without fully disclosing the risks. The Dow was down 1.5% and the S&P were down by 1.6%, the announcement was early enough for Europe to respond neagitvely as well, and Australia will fall at the opening on Monday. Australia off to a weak start then, with the dollar at 92.4c US.
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Chris Thompson's 16 April 2010 update
16 Apr 2010
The New York and Philadelphia FED both released their manufacturing indices which showed a continuing acceleration. However, the weekly data from the US Labor Department showed that the number of Americans filing for jobless benefits rose by 24,000 to 484,000. On company first quarter earnings announcments, UPS shares jumped 5.3% after reporting better than expected first quarter earnings. Google's announcement revealed that their ad sales were not as high as expected and their shares are trading somewhat lower in afterhours trading. AMD however, surpassed expectations for their first quarter sales indicating an increase in the demand for personal computers.
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Andrew Dowie's 15 April 2010 update
15 Apr 2010
The March Headline CPI came in at 0.1%, meeting the month-on-month estimate for a two year low. Further deflation is likely this year, but outright deflation is quite unlikely. Retail sales were up 1.6%, up from the 1.2% estimate, and the January & February figures were revised up as well, giving us three positive months in a row.
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Chris Caton's 14 April 2010 update
14 Apr 2010
The Dow and S&P were up by 0.1%. The US is in earnings season - the period of the year where companies report their quarterly earnings - which is driving the market results. The US trade deficit increased to 39.7 billion in February, from 37 billion in January, which is due to an increase in imports.
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Chris Caton's 13 April 2010 update
13 Apr 2010
The Dow closed above 11,000, and the S&P closed on 1200 - both marginally higher than yesterday. European members have agreed to lend money to Greece for three years, at a rate below the market rate, which led to an increase in the euro. The Australian dollar fell back to below 93 cents, trading around 92.8 US cents.
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Chris Caton's 12 April 2010 update
12 Apr 2010
The Dow was up by 0.6% and the S&P up by 1.4% for the week. This is the sixth week in a row that the market has been up and the S&P now stands 76.5% above its March 2009 low. The fundamental reason for the increase is that there is just more evidence in the economic data that the economic recovery both in the US and elsewhere is fairly well entrenched.
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Chris Caton's 9 April 2010 update
9 Apr 2010
Jobless claims rose by a large amount in the US, which may not be a good sign for the labour market. The US retail sales data shows an indication that recovery is pretty well entrenched for the US, and this increase should get the Australian market off to a good start today.
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Chris Caton's 8 April 2010 update
8 Apr 2010
Offshore markets generally down, with Eruope concerned about Greece's decision not to accept IMF help because of the conditions attached to the offer. In the US, suggestions by a government official that interest rates should rise pushed markets down, despite Ben Bernanke saying earlier in the day that the Fed was in no hurry to raise them. This will see the Australian market off to a weak start.
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Chris Caton's 7 April 2010 update
7 Apr 2010
As flat a night as possible in the US, the Dow still struggling to break the 11,000 barrier. The reason? There was no new economic news. In Australia, the Reserve Bank raised rates, but they would have had a lot of explianing to do if they hadn't. The AUD is now 92.9c US and I may be the only person in Australia who doesn't expect it to reach parity with the US dollar.
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Chris Caton's 6 April 2010 update
6 Apr 2010
US markets up on the back of positive employment figures that tell us beyond doubt that the US recession ended months ago and certainly shows no sign of the feared double dip. This should see the Australian market off to a good start.
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Chris Caton's 1 April 2010 update
1 Apr 2010
A down day for the end of quarter with softish economic data showing weak results. The US will show a significant increase in jobs when the offical figures are released. The DOW rose 4.1% for the quarter, and the S&P 4.9%; not what you would have expected in early February. Probably another weak start for the Australian market, which was only up 0.1% for the March quarter, the AUD sitting at $0.917 US.
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March 2010

Chris Caton's 31 March 2010 update
31 Mar 2010
The Dow Index was up and down a little bit all night but finished up just 0.1 % and the S&P Index was absolutely flat.The economic news was good, with the Case-Shiller House Price Index showed house prices rose again in the month of January. and the conference board measure of consumer confidence correcting the February weakness aberration. It will get Australia off to a fast start today and then we will see what happens from there. Retail sales expect to show a small gain and Building approvals a 2% gain after a big loss in the month of January. The Australian dollar trading around US$0.91.9.
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Andrew Dowie's 30 March 2010 update
30 Mar 2010
The fifth consecutive monthly increase in consumer spending - the savings race is now at 3.1%, its lowest level since October 2008 and down from January's 3.4% measure; so the signs of renewed demand are encouraging, they're good and consumption should be growing at an annualised rate of some 3% in the first quarter compared to about 1.6% annualised growth in quarter four.
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Chris Caton's 29 March 2010 update
29 Mar 2010
The US market up little more than 4.5% from the start of the year, and it was also up for the week but flat on Friday. The major indexes up between 0.5% and 1% for the week; so the recovery in that market from its early February temporary low goes on. The US March labour market report, published on Good Friday, will show significant jobs growth in the US and it will be the first employment estimate to show jobs growth since late 2007 so finally the US clearly showing signs of improvement in its labour market.
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Andrew Dowie's 26 March 2010 update
26 Mar 2010
The latest four week moving average for US jobless claims have been the lowest since September 2008. Looking at the most recent period, the level of claims was revised higher during November and December of last year and January of this year, but was revised lower over February and March.
Listen to podcast (1:38) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 25 March 2010 update
25 Mar 2010
The US released February's durable goods results. The figure came at a 0.5% monthly increase. Most of February's increase was due to a 4.7% increase in machinery orders, which is a very good sign for the economy. Inventories are also seeing a steady turnaround after 14 consecutive monthly declines which ended in December of last year. In January, inventories were up 0.1% and in this latest February release, inventories were up 0.3%, their sharpest monthly increase since December 2008.
Listen to podcast (3:29) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 24 March 2010 update
24 Mar 2010
The US released February's housing market report. Sales of existing homes fell for the third consecutive month. Purchases slipped by 0.6% in February - a little less in consensus which was looking for a 1.1% decline.
Listen to podcast (2:01) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 23 March 2010 update
23 Mar 2010
There were no significant data releases from the US last night. Tonight, data will be released for February's home sales, House Price Index for January, and the Richmond Manufacturing Index.
Listen to podcast (0:48) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 22 March 2010 update
22 Mar 2010
A quiet session in which the market was down slightly. The Dow and the S&P both down by approximately 0.5% and that meant for the week that they were both up by close to 1%. There was not a skerrick of new economic information on Friday, and the fall in the market was attributed to renewed concerns about Greek?s debt problems.
Listen to podcast (1:44) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 19 March 2010 update
19 Mar 2010
The S&P 500 index was flat and the Dow Jones rose by 0.4 of a point. This has been the eighth successive day on which the Dow has risen. There were two pieces of substantial economic news in the US. The weekly count of jobless claims fell slightly in the week but is still consistent with a level that suggests the labour market is still quite poor. The CPI showed no change in the month of February.
Listen to podcast (2:32) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 18 March 2010 update
18 Mar 2010
The producer price index for February was released in the US, at a negative 0.6%. This is the biggest drop in the metric for the last seven months. The downside can be explained by the sharper drop in petrol prices than most forecasters had anticipated.
Listen to podcast (3:21) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 17 March 2010 update
17 Mar 2010
The US released February's Housing starts figures. Housing starts declined 5.9% which is greater than anticipated. The bulk of the February's decline was in the multi-family sector. Looking at the figures, structures with two to four apartments, or townhouses or flats, are only about 5% of the market. Structures with five or more flats, or units, are approximately 20% of the market.
Listen to podcast (6:02) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 16 March 2010 update
16 Mar 2010
February's industrial production release is up by 0.1%. The manufacturing component declined by 0.2%, whereas mining output increased by 2%, and utilities production increased by 0.5%. All in all this was a positive industrial production release.
Listen to podcast (3:35) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 15 March 2010 update
15 Mar 2010
This week, US Retail sales rose by 0.03%, however consumer confidence figures slightly fell for the first half of March. The Dow Jones is up by 0.6%, the S&P is up a per cent, and the NASDAQ by 1.8%. Since March 2009, the S&P has rose by more than 68% which is the strongest 12 months gain for more than 70 years.
Listen to podcast (3:23) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 12 March 2010 update
12 Mar 2010
Goldman Sachs believes that the March payrolls release at the end of the month will show an increase of 275,000 people. The US trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in January. Falling imports were the main driver here as exports decreased for the first time in nine months. However, exports to the Pacific Rim from the United States are very, very strong indeed - January 2010 compared to January 2009 - to China were up 64.5%, Korea up 60.6%, and Taiwan up a very strong 80.6%.
Listen to podcast (2:43) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 8 March 2010 update
8 Mar 2010
The labour market report revealed a fall in employment in the US of about 36,000 jobs in the month of February, which was better than expected, as it was feared bad weather conditions would lead to a significant loss of employment. The unemployment rate for Februrary remains at 9.7%.
Listen to podcast (4:31) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 5 March 2010 update
5 Mar 2010
We believe the outlook for the Australian economy continues to look strong through 2010. The economy has continued to perform better than expected supported by strong regulatory framework, stimulatory settings of monetary and fiscal policy, stable employment and, obviously, strong trade links to Asia.
Listen to podcast (3:28) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 4 March 2010 update
4 Mar 2010
Services in the United States expanded for the second month in a row. New orders and supplier deliveries were gaining momentum. Also, February's figure was the highest of this release since October 2007. The jobs index is still below the magical 50 mark but improved in February to 48.6% from 44.6% in January.
Listen to podcast (2:16) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 1 March 2010 update
1 Mar 2010
Mixed economic news - a surprisingly sharp drop in existing home sales versus the Chicago ISM Index rising - but the market down at the end of the day as winter weather kept a lot of the traders away from the action. This week, US sees the Consumer spending for the month of January report released early in the week. They get their national ISM also - both for manufacturing and services. The snow storms almost guarantee that employment will fall in February. It's a big week in Australia also. We're heading towards our GDP figures, and fairly healthy growth - somewhere around about half a per cent generally expected in the fourth quarter of last year.
Listen to podcast (3:02) Read transcript

February 2010

Chris Caton's 25 February 2010 update
25 Feb 2010
Europe had a marginally up night, the FTSE rose by 0.5% and the German market was up by about 0.2%. That mood continued in the US, the Dow Index is up 0.9% and the S&P up by 1%. If nothing else, that will get our market off to a positive start today. There's nothing imminent about tightening monetary policy. But the Fed did raise one particularly rate, the so-called discount rate last week. Dr Bernanke's demeanour and speech yesterday sugegsted interest rates will be low for a long time. Australia gets some news on capital spending on today for the fourth quarter of last year. This is a building block, if you like, for the GDP figures, so remains to be seen what happens there.
Listen to podcast (3:51) Read transcript
Andrew Dowie's 24 February 2010 update
24 Feb 2010
Markets were unnerved by an unexpected fall in US consumer confidence last night on Wall Street, from 56.5 in January to 46 this month, its lowest level since April of last year. The S&P 500 was down a little over 1%. Elsewhere, in Germany business confidence unexpectedly fell for the first time in 11 months in February, probably due to the coldest winter in 20 years as there was no economic news behind it.
Listen to podcast (1:22) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 23 February 2010 update
23 Feb 2010
Well once again it was a very quite night with not much action on world markets. The Dow, S&P, NASDAQ and European markets all finished in the red, but only by small amounts. The Fed's decision to raise the discount rate was not necessarily a signal that an increase in the federal funds rate is imminent. In Europe, the Greek stock market was firmer as investors grew more optimistic that a solution to their funding problems was imminent. After a very strong session yesterday, our market looks set for a steady start this morning, with SPI futures barely changed from last night.
Listen to podcast (2:22) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 22 February 2010 update
22 Feb 2010
A lacklustre session overnight saw the Dow and S&P up marginally, but ended the week up around 3%, the second straight up week after the recent downturn. The Australian market looks set to start strongly.
Listen to podcast (3:51) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 19 February 2010 update
19 Feb 2010
A good night overseas and just to put some numbers on it, the S&P from its low point last March, is up around 63%. Our market should get off to a good start today, it could be up one per cent at the opening. Right now our dollar sits at $US 0.90.1.
Listen to podcast (3:34) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 18 February 2010 update
18 Feb 2010
Well it was another solid night for equities, with promising economic data and better than expected corporate earnings underpinning gains. The dollar was up 40 points or 0.4%. The S&P also gained 0.4%, while the NASDAQ rose 0.6%. European markets delivered very strong gains, rising by about 1.4% on average. The economic outlook brightened when data was released showing that industrial production in the US declined by 0.9% in January.
Listen to podcast (2:15) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 17 February 2010 update
17 Feb 2010
Equity markets were higher all over the globe and commodity prices were soaring. The Greek crisis seems to have been put on the backburner and with the Chinese New Year there were no further fears of Chinese tightening worrying markets. So the Dow was up 170 points or 1.7%; the S&P 500 was up 1.8% and the NASDAQ 1.3%. European markets were up by on average about 1.5%. The Australian dollar has surged given the strength in commodities and weakness in the US dollar, and is now trading believe it or not back over US$0.90.
Listen to podcast (2:54) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 15 February 2010 update
15 Feb 2010
European markets were down slightly, possibly because they did get some fairly weak GDP figures for the fourth quarter. In the US the share markets dropped quite substantially early then clawed back, but nevertheless finished down for the day. The Dow Jones average was down by four-tenths of a per cent, and the S&P down by three-tenths. What were the reasons? Well it was said that they were a bit worried about Chinese growth, and there were lingering issues of course about sovereign debt in Europe. On the Australian data front there's nothing coming up this week, although there is a bit of Reserve Bank rhetoric which may move credit markets more than the share market. There will no report tomorrow due to the President's Day holiday.
Listen to podcast (3:42) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 12 February 2010 update
12 Feb 2010
The European Union put out a statement indicating what they were planning to do about Greece. This statement was greeted in a mixed fashion in Europe. The German market in fact fell by 6/10th in the session but over on the other side of the ditch the FTSE, the British index, rose by 6/10th of a per cent. Over in the United States they took a more benign view, the Dow was up by 9/10th of a per cent in the session and the S&P was up by 8/10th- clear signs that the US labour market is still improving was greeted favourably. The action in the US will get the Australian market off to probably a good start today. The AUD is up almost a per cent and a half from yesterday.
Listen to podcast (4:12) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 11 February 2010 update
11 Feb 2010
The headline performance of US Equity markets was fairly flat. But that masks a fair bit of intra-day volatility, due to Ben Bernanke releasing his testimony to Congress. The market read into his statement a stronger intent to lift interest rates earlier than had been expected. As a result, the dollar strengthened and equity markets tumbled. Mr Bernanke didn't actually deliver the testimony in person due to the blizzard conditions in Washington, there was therefore no question and answer session afterwards, which may have led to an exaggerated move which was corrected through the rest of the day. Here in Australia our stock exchange, the ASX, is looking to open a bit better, the SPI futures are currently up about 14 points.
Listen to podcast (2:51) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 10 February 2010 update
10 Feb 2010
Well after somewhat of a rocky ride recently, markets were back in positive spirits last night, with equity markets through Europe and the US posting sizeable gains. The Dow was up 150 points or 1.5%, S&P 1.3% and the NASDAQ 1.2%. The positive mood emanated from stories circulating in early European trade that the European Union was preparing a package to aid Greece, later denied by German officials. ASX is looking to open strongly. SPI Futures up 33 points at this stage.
Listen to podcast (3:04) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 9 February 2010 update
9 Feb 2010
Europe actually finished up with the FTSE up by about six-tenths, and the DAX up by around nine-tenths. What's going on there? Well, the European markets didn't see the late rally in the US on Friday, so they're catching up. This lead was not followed in the United States. The Dow Jones opened down, fell further, got it all back by 1 o'clock in the afternoon and then spent the last three hours heading south, and at the end of the session the Dow Jones average was down by eight-tenths of a per cent and that means that it closed at 9936. I had hoped that we'd seen the last close below 10,000, but sadly not the case. So another weak night in the US. The fall in the US will get the Australian market off to another weak start today, unfortunately, and as I speak the numbers have been corrected, and that is the post close numbers have come in, and with the Dow now down a full one per cent and the S&P down nine-tenths of a per cent. So the Dow now 9908, so just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it has.
Listen to podcast (3:52) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 8 February 2010 update
8 Feb 2010
The session finished close to square but it could have been a lot worse. The US has lost 8.4 million jobs to date in this recession and employment is now below that of September 1999. On the other hand, the unemployment rates fell quite significantly from 10% to 9.7% with manufacturinf and temporary help leading the way. The Australian market probably will open down slightly on Monday, but we've got no big lead from offshore.
Listen to podcast (4:40) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 5 February 2010 update
5 Feb 2010
The US markets opened sharply down at the open and stayed that way pretty much all day; and declines were pretty much across the board, with almost every sector being hit hard. In the US there was an unexpected jump in the weekly jobless claims. Investor fear can be measured by the VIX Index, and it has risen a whopping 19% as the demons of 2008 and early 2009 try to raise their ugly heads again. Our market, not surprisingly, is looking set to open very weakly after the overseas lead. SPI futures are down 126 points or 2.7%.
Listen to podcast (3:36) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 4 February 2010 update
4 Feb 2010
The Dow was down 26 points or 0.3 per cent. S&P was down 0.5 per cent, while the technology-laden NASDAQ eked out a small one point gain. Earlier, European markets all finished lower by little more than half a per cent. The Australian dollar not surprisingly is a touch weaker - down again to 88.3 US cents. Our equity market is probably going to start off weaker thanks to the weaker US lead.
Listen to podcast (2:36) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 3 February 2010 update
3 Feb 2010
Well markets were again in a positive mood last night, following through from the buoyancy from the previous day. It looks like there's certainly at last some traction in markets from the positive earnings season and the recovering global economic data. Fears about China's reining in of its economy seem to have been put on the backburner for a while, as have concerns over Greece's fiscal position.
Listen to podcast (2:16) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 2 February 2010 update
2 Feb 2010
At last equity markets appear to have taken heed of the good economic news coming through around them and arrested the slide which has taken hold in the last few weeks. Despite some good economic news we've been in probably the most meaningful pullback in equities since the rally began in March last year. Overnight the Dow was up 118 points or 1.2%, the S&P was up 1.4% and the NASDAQ 1.1%. European markets also closed in the black by between 0.6% and 1.1%. Our market is looking to open more strongly here. SPI Futures are currently up about 46 points.
Listen to podcast (2:43) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 1 February 2010 update
1 Feb 2010
Friday was the last trading day of January and it was a poor month for the US sharemarket in particular. The Dow was down by 3.5 per cent and the S&P down by 3.7 per cent in the month; once again, you cannot blame the economy. Just to put some perspective on this, for the whole of 2009 GDP in the US fell by 2.4 per cent and that is the worst annual result since 1938. So if you thought this was bad, it was. It is perhaps the end of the beginning, the end of the beginning of the sharemarket rally and it has been as great run. A correction like this was coming at some time.
Listen to podcast (5:18) Read transcript

January 2010

Chris Caton's 29 January 2010 update
29 Jan 2010
Another weak night began in Europe with the FTSE down by 1.4% and the German market down by about 1.8%. That was transmitted to the US. The US market was down about one and a half per cent half way through the session, but right now is trading with the DOW and the S&P indexes both seven tenths of one per cent below yesterday?s close. There?s still a bit of concern about China slowing. There are ongoing concerns about Greece and whether or not it can fund its deficit, and the S&P ratings agency again noted that the UK banking system is but a shadow of its former self. Markets down. The Australian market will be down again today.
Listen to podcast (3:16) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 28 January 2010 update
28 Jan 2010
The Dow was up 42 points, or 0.4%, S&P up 4.5% and the NASDAQ 4.8%. European markets closed down by almost a percent on average. The Feds have maintained interest rates near zero and the US dollar was much stronger overnight, this impacted commodity markets with oil down to just above US$73 a barrel and gold down to US$1089 an ounce. The SPI futures have turned around with the US markets and they're now pointing to slightly stronger opening on the ASX this morning.
Listen to podcast (2:55) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 27 January 2010 update
27 Jan 2010
Good news on the economic front in the US - home prices showed another increase in November as measured by the cash selling index, the sixth consecutive monthly increase; consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board Confidence Index rose to 55.9, which was the highest reading in a year. The late weakness in the US market could perhaps be ascribed to nervousness ahead of the Federal Reserve?s Open Market Committee meeting, although there?s no chance of a change in interest rates.
Listen to podcast (2:43) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 25 January 2010 update
25 Jan 2010
It was another poor day, the third poor day in a row. The major indexes the Dow and the S&P were both down by more than 2% for the day and that leaves them down 5% in just the past three days. The market has recently become concerned with: (1) the news of Chinese tightening and speculation that may lead to a slowing in Chinese growth and speculation that that will have implications for world growth; (2) the announcement by the administration of a financial sector regulation plan. I would just make the point that the old model wasn't working, something needs to be done and whatever is done is going to upset some people; (3) the unexpected loss by the Democrats of Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in Massachusetts; and (4) uncertainty about Ben Bernanke remianing FMC chairman.
Listen to podcast (5:02) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 22 January 2010 update
22 Jan 2010
US President Barrack Obama's announcement of wide ranging plans to limit the amount of risks that US banks can take resulted in the Dow falling sharply by 213 points or 2%. The S&P fell 1.9%, and the NASDAQ fell 1.1%. Earlier European markets closed down by over 1%, falling sharply in sympathy with that news. All the major US banks tumbled more than 4% as investors weighed up the implications of the proposed regulations.
Listen to podcast (2:24) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 21 January 2010 update
21 Jan 2010
It was a rough night; equity markets were weak around the world due to stories that the Chinese monetary authorities are tightening lending from some banks in China. The Australian market weakened yesterday afternoon and that mood continued offshore. By the end of the session in Europe, the FTSE was down by 1.7% and the German index was down by 2.1%. The same mood continued in the US. It didn't matter that there were relatively good earnings reports. It didn't matter that the housing data for December were quite good. The market was in a mood to fall and fall it did.
Listen to podcast (3:30) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 20 January 2010 update
20 Jan 2010
In the US, something happened that happens quite often: markets sell off on a Friday, think about it over the weekend, in this case over the long weekend and then on the first trading day of the new week get back almost exactly what they lost on the Friday. That's what happened this time. In round numbers, the US market fell by 1% last Friday and on Tuesday, in Tuesday trading, the Dow rose by 1.1% and the S&P by 1.3%. So the S&P index, in particular, added high for this recovery and in broad terms, it's up close to 71% from its low point on 9 March last year.
Listen to podcast (3:17) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 18 January 2010 update
18 Jan 2010
A weak day in the US on Friday - the Dow Jones average was down nine tenths of a percent and the S&P index down by 1.1%. - that will get the Australian market off to a weak start on Monday morning. No news out of the US Monday night and the Australian dollar right now trading around US$0.923.
Listen to podcast (3:56) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 15 January 2010 update
15 Jan 2010
Equity markets were again anticipating good corporate news and were higher as a result, particularly in the tech sector. Locally, it seems increasingly likely that the RBA will lift rates again at the beginning of February.
Listen to podcast (1:58) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 14 January 2010 update
14 Jan 2010
The bearish sentiment that crept into markets yesterday appears to have quickly subsided. US markets were again in positive territory buoyed by better corporate news. The Dow lifted by 54 points or 0.5%. S&P was up 0.8% and the NASDAQ an even more impressive 1%. The European markets were pretty much flat though, and the FTSE was even down slightly.
Listen to podcast (2:24) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 13 January 2010 update
13 Jan 2010
A remarkably bullish start to the year so far; doubts crept in overnight with risk assets sold off and bonds bought as doubt surfaced for the first time on the sustainability of the economic recovery.
Listen to podcast (2:41) Read transcript
Chris Thompson's 12 January 2010 update
12 Jan 2010
Another mildly positive session, the DAR up 0.4%, S&P up 0.2% and the NASDAQ down a touch by 0.2%. Earlier European markets were little changed, although they traded much higher earlier in the day after a strong session on Asian markets yesterday; there wasn't much economic news out overnight after the significant jobs report on Friday.
Listen to podcast (2:19) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 11 January 2010 update
11 Jan 2010
The US market rose but not by much, but the S&P is now up 69% from its March 2009 low. Poor labour market figures - 85,000 jobs lost in December - did not affect the 10% unemployment rate. Locally, if the unemeployment rate stays steady or drops, that may indicate a rate rise in February.
Listen to podcast (4:41) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 8 January 2010 update
8 Jan 2010
Small falls in Europe followed initially in the US but by the close of business were up, the Dow up 0.3% and the S&P up 0.4%. One piece of economic news, jobless claims rose but only by 1,000, and the four week average fell for the fourth time in a row. Australia will probably be up slightly today.
Listen to podcast (2:51) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 7 January 2010 update
7 Jan 2010
At the end of the session the Dow Jones and S&P were unchanged despite interesting economic news. The ISM index rose in December but only just squeaked above the 50% line which separates expansion from contraction. The ADM employment reports suggested December would be another month of job loss in the US.
Listen to podcast (3:43) Read transcript
Chris Caton's 6 January 2010 update
6 Jan 2010
A mixed night where at the end of the day nothing much happened. Europe FTSE up 0.4% and the DAX up 0.3% but the US had conflicting economic data to contend with - pending home sales plunged in November by 16% while manufacturing continued to be strong.
Listen to podcast (2:23) Read transcript

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