MARKET CURRENTS
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MARKET CURRENTS
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Monday, May 21
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7:50 PM A former Yahoo (YHOO) executive and a former fund manager at Ameriprise Financial have pleaded guilty today to insider trading. Robert Kwok, formerly Yahoo's senior director of business management, and Reema Shah, formerly a mutual fund manager at Ameriprise Financial, agreed to settle civil charges with the SEC, in addition to guilty pleas on related criminal charges for which they will be sentenced later. Comment!
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5:54 PM CFR's Michael Levi casts a skeptical eye on arguments that cheap natural gas from shale will really lead to a dramatic revival of U.S. manufacturing, but he may have overlooked two factors: many petrochemical plants have been reopening in places like Louisiana and Texas, and the need for pipelines and hydraulic fracturing equipment could cause a mini-boom on its own. 1 Comment
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4:35 PM The mortgage delinquency rate rose for the first time in 9 months in April, up 0.4% to 7.12%., reports LPS. The level is lower by 10.6% on a Y/Y basis. The foreclosure pre-sale inventory rate was at 4.14%, unchanged from last month or one year ago. 1 Comment
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3:52 PM Trying to keep its biggest client happy, Treasury has allowed the PBOC a direct link to the U.S. bond auction system, reports Reuters, making the Chinese central bank the only one on the planet that can bypass primary dealers and buy U.S. paper directly. The move should allow China to keep its bidding habits quite a bit more secretive. 14 Comments
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1:23 PM Fed purchases of MBS had less impact than hoped, reads a SF Fed study, as the lack of competition in the mortgage market kept pressure off originators to pass on lower rates to homeowners. Spreads have come down from crisis highs, but remain well above their pre-crisis peaks, more so for jumbo mortgages than conventional. Comment!
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11:44 AM Turns out "re-shoring" is real, according to a new Accenture survey. Two-thirds of senior execs say they have moved their manufacturing operations in the past 24 months, with two-fifths saying the facilities had been relocated to the U.S. China was the second destination for relocated factories, with 28%, followed by Mexico with 21%. 4 Comments
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11:29 AM The Midwest has evened the cost gap in competing for companies with the South, traditionally the cheapest U.S. region in which to do business, thanks to falling tax, labor and energy costs. Costs have edged down in most regions of the U.S., according to Moody's; the West has seen the steepest drop by far, to 101% of the national average from 107% in 2004. Comment!
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8:32 AM Apr. Chicago Fed National Activity Index: +0.11 vs. -0.44 prior (revised). The index's 3-month moving average decreased to -0.06%, from a level of +0.02% in Mar (revised). 1 Comment
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7:57 AM So bearish on Treasury bonds just a few weeks ago at yields 70 basis points higher, growing numbers of bond managers now posit the 10-year could fall to 1.5% (currently 1.74%). "Fundamentals are out the window at this point," says Matthew Tuttle, who last week jettisoned a lot of stocks and high-yield paper from his portfolio to buy Treasurys. Cycles, gotta love cycles. 3 Comments
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6:27 AM U.S. stock futures point up after a mixed showing from global stocks. S&P +0.5%, Dow +0.5%. 4 Comments
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