Evening Headlines
Bloomberg:
- Europe Said to Threaten Revolt Over Bank Capital-Rule Overhaul. Europeans told the world’s top banking regulator that they’ve had enough. In two heated meetings in the past week, regulators from countries including Germany and Italy told the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that proposed changes to how banks assess credit, market and operational risks must be scaled back and slowed down, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. Some European officials went so far as to say they wouldn’t adopt the proposals on the table, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations were private. If the European Union -- home to nearly half of the world’s most systemically important banks -- balks at implementing the Basel Committee’s rules, it could undermine the global regulator’s authority and contribute to fragmentation of the industry.
- Yen Traders in Paralysis as Central Banks Become Guessing Game. Just when the world is most craving clarity on the future of Japan’s monetary policy, currency markets show it has become particularly hard to predict. With so little consensus on what Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda will come up with for the Sept. 21 policy decision, Eaton Vance Corp. and a unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp. are abstaining from any positions in the yen, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. says some investors have closed out bets on declines in the dollar versus the yen. Such is the consternation that the options premium on contracts to buy the currency in a month’s time disappeared for the first time since November, before reversing course this week.
- Asian Stocks End Six-Day Slump as Fed Rate-Increase Bets Wither. Asian stocks rebounded from its longest losing streak since May, after weaker-than-anticipated U.S. data triggered a delay in investor expectations for an American interest-rate increase, spurring a rally in risk assets. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index rose 0.2 percent to 136.82 as of 9:05 a.m. in Tokyo, halting a six-day run of declines and paring this week’s loss to 2.5 percent. Reports Thursday showed U.S. industrial production contracted more than forecast, while retail sales unexpectedly slid, sending the odds for a rate increase from the Federal Reserve next week to below 20 percent.
- Oil Set for Weekly Drop as Resilient Supply Seen Sustaining Glut. Oil headed for a weekly loss on speculation a global crude glut will persist as disrupted supply returns and demand growth slows. Futures fell 0.6 percent in New York, extending a weekly decline to 4.9 percent. OPEC members Libya and Nigeria, whose supplies have been reduced by domestic conflicts, are preparing to boost exports within weeks. The oil surplus will last longer than previously thought as demand growth slumps and output proves resilient, the International Energy Agency said Tuesday.
- Commodities Seen Ending With Whimper After World-Beating Rally. For commodities, 2016 started with a bang. If history is any guide, it will end with a whimper. The Bloomberg Commodity Index, tracking returns for 22 components, is heading for a third-quarter slump after posting consecutive gains in the first two periods. Since the data begins in 1991, that’s only happened in four other years -- and the final quarter was a loser for three of them. With supply gluts persisting from corn to oil, traders are already gearing up for declines. Investors pulled $791 million out of exchange-traded funds tracking commodities over the past month, a reversal from earlier this year that have still left inflows up by $34.1 billion for the year. Hedge funds have cut their combined wagers on a rally for raw materials in nine of the past 11 weeks, and open interest across the asset class has fallen.
Wall Street Journal:
- Optimism Fades for Economic Boost By Year-End. Retail sales and manufacturing data damp expectations of strong growth.
Zero Hedge:
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
8:30 am EST
- Harvard Crushes The "Obama Recovery" Farce With 9 Simple Charts.
- Former Treasury Secretary Warns Banks Riskier Now Than In 2008 Crisis.
- Infrastructure Spending Does Not "Grow The Economy".
- Clinton Foundation CEO Admits To Pay-For-Play: "No Question" That "Courtesy Appointments" Were Made.
- Deutsche Bank Slapped With $14 Billion Fine By DOJ Over Mortgage Probe.
- Six Striking Observations About Corporate Debt.
- GMO: The Market Is About 70% Overvalued.
- Beware Central Banks' "Illusion Of Control"; Spitznagel Warns "If The Fed Hikes, Markets Will Go Down Very, Very Hard".
- European, Japanese Bankers Threaten Mutiny Over Basel Committee's Capital Rules.
- Dismal Data Deluge Sparks Buying-Panic In Stocks. (graph)
- An NYPD officer was attacked by a man with a meat cleaver.
- Food stamps may soon be available for online shopping.
- Next week, Oracle(ORCL) will start a price war with Amazon(AMZN) over cloud computing.
- There's a frightening message from corporate America.
- Samsung Galaxy Note 7 is officially recalled.
- Asian equity indices are +.25% to +.75% on average.
- Asia Ex-Japan Investment Grade CDS Index 113.0 +.5 basis point.
- Asia Pacific Sovereign CDS Index 38.25 -.5 basis point.
- Bloomberg Emerging Markets Currency Index 72.40 +.07%.
- S&P 500 futures -.19%.
- NASDAQ 100 futures -.17%.
Earnings of Note
Company/Estimate
- None of note
8:30 am EST
- The CPI MoM for August is estimated to rise +.1% versus unch. in July.
- The CPI Ex Food and Energy MoM for August is estimated to rise +.2% versus a +.1% gain in July.
- Real Avg. Weekly Earnings YoY for August.
- Preliminary Univ. of Mich. Consumer Sentiment for September is estimated to rise to 90.6 versus 89.8 in August.
- 2Q Household Change in New Worth.
- Net Long-Term TIC Flows for July.
- (TTC) 2-for-1
- The EU Summit and Italy Trade Balance report could also impact trading today.