The S&P 500 hit 2,000 in intraday trading Monday morning after mixed results in Asia and a strong rise in European equity markets. Investors and traders are helping stocks rally as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi hints at a looser monetary policy in Europe aimed at targeting deflationary threats in the core of the EU.
Less Americans are buying new homes as the prices of those homes become unaffordable, according to new data from the Department of Commerce and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While salaries are beginning to see modest rises of roughly 2% growth on a year-over-year basis, home prices have risen much faster in a shorter period of time, but those home prices are beginning to stagnate as demand falls for homes amidst tight credit and diminishing affordability in the housing market.
New Home Sales Fall
Argentina looks to avoid a U.S. court ruling that forced the nation into default while the Bank of China announced a sale of $5 billion worth of subordinated bonds. Both markets have seen a flood of liquidity and attention from investors as low yields in developed markets urge bond buyers to invest further afield.
67 years ago Pakistan gained independence from British rule. At the time, the country found itself dependent on agriculture and were economically poor. In the first fifty years, Pakistan picked itself up, but nonetheless Pakistan still has a long way to go. War, lack of social stability, in-house political clashes, and lack of population control, has set the country back in terms of growth and development.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported stable regional and state unemployment rates in July that indicated a growing divergence between states and counties. The unemployment rate remained at 6.2% across states, down 110 basis points from a year ago.
European stocks began the weak with a strong rally in Monday morning trading on news that Ukraine and Russia governments have begun high-level talks.
The sharp decline in economic growth during the FIFA World Cup was an unexpected result of the global event, but it was a result that many in the football mad country could weather. Many- but not most. Now that the event has passed, the country is experiencing an 11 billion dollar hangover. The massive layoff of scores of temporary workers is not helping matters either.
By now everyone is noticing that most nations are coming out of the financial crisis which began in 2008, even if it still means supplying large sums of money for the economy. However, some of the processes being used to bring nations out of this stump are coming under question (such as Bush’s and Obama’s ridiculous stimuluses), especially when it comes to the European Central Bank (ECB). As many people know, banks are the driving force of an economy.
Asian stocks post one of their best weeks in months on strong earnings and bets that Central Banks, particularly in China, will loosen monetary policies. On Friday, the Shanghai Shenzen CSI 300 Index added over 1% in trading near closing as the Hang Seng posted gains of 0.6%. The Nikkei was flat on mixed trading, although up for the week.
For most nations, when imports begins to decline, the amount of exports usually follows suit since it is difficult to continue sending items when there may be nothing with which to make them. However, China is changing this common perception as their exports are continually rising, and have been for the last several months, with a total increase 5.5% in June alone. This leaves China receiving a number of mixed signals as it appears their economy is beginning to improve, but that the middle class, which tends to spur the economy the most, is stalling.
