Morning Memo: Friday, December 13, 2013

"Morning Memo" begins below this "NOTE for  NEWCOMERS" to "Morning Memo"...... Each morning, we post a short bullet-point list of noteworthy events, data, etc that find their way into the assessment of global markets.  It's far from complete and is not meant to be an exhaustive reconciliation of all things that could possibly impact stocks, bonds, currencies and commodities!  Rather, it's best viewed as a cryptic memo of "highlights", noteworthy items that took place in Asia, European and US hours.....and color-coded 'Red' for seemingly negative impact on equity markets, 'Green' for positive.
This will also serve as a useful review mechanism, as scrolling through the series of "Morning Memo" posts over time ought to summarily highlight what generally drove price action.  
We hope you find this useful and informative....and as always, that you'll share feedback!!
5:00am ET...

• Asia...sound familiar?  Dollar up.  Yen down.  Nikkei up.  But this time, not by much.  Overall, this past week has seen headwinds for some of Asia's equity markets (though the Nikkei was helped by the Yen hitting a five-year low vs the USD), driven by more and more data that raises the odds of an earlier taper by the US Fed, who is meeting next Tues and Wednesday.  Late yesterday's passage by the US House of Representatives of the budget deal added to the early-taper fears, since fiscal policy dysfunction had been cited by the Fed as one among many reasons to continue with aggressive stimulus.
• Korea....that is, North Korea...the leader, Kim Jung Un's governement executed his uncle and former mentor and advisor, allegedly on charges of stirring up anti-government sentiment.  (Editorial note:  no apparent direct market impact, but the country with its current leadership is clearly an ongoing geopolitical risk).
• Fund flows...the FT's fastFT reports that fund tracker EPRF noted that there were net outflows from Asia equity funds this past week, at a rate two times the previous week's outflows.  The money appeared to go into developed country funds.
• Eurozone....Eurostat reported that total employment was flat in Q3 raising hopes that the rise in UNemployment may be ending.
• more later....
• Later:

U.S. producer prices -0.1% in Nov, 3rd monthly decline. Energy fell slightly, food unchanged. Core PPI +0.2%.http://t.co/TygeO1oE5X
— The Dismal Scientist (@dismalscientist) December 13, 2013

•  

Please continue to visit Soos Global Market Musings for updates.

(Sign up to "Follow by Email"!  And share with others!)

(Please note: This article is solely meant to be thought provoking and is not in any way meant to be personal investment advice. Each investor is obligated to opine and decide for themselves as to the appropriateness of anything said in this article to their unique financial profile, risk tolerances and portfolio goals).
Disclaimer: Please read and consider important information related to all communication made by Soos Global on this site by clicking here.
Additional Disclaimer: currently long many stocks/ETFs.  Positions may change at any time without notice.