A recent survey led by Goldman Sachs shows an interesting fact about the Euro area economic performance for 2020. While the consensus is that the Euro area’s GDP will be smaller than the Chinese or the United Kingdom’s one in 2021, Goldman Sachs sees things differently. The U.S. investment bank sees the Eurozone economy as the fastest one to grow , more than any other  major region in 2021. It is generally viewed that the…

Last week saw the big tech companies report their Q2 2020 earnings. All of them beat expectations by a mile, way ahead of analysts, and investor’s expectations.  Buying U.S. tech is the most crowded trade opportunity as of late, outpacing interest in utilities, consumer discretionary, energy, industrials, or financials. Does it still make sense to invest at such valuations? How COVID-19 Impacted Investments The coronavirus health crisis brought some interesting changes in the investment world.…

With many traders and investors preparing for holidays, the Euro enters one of its most important weeks since its introduction. The Bundesbank’s President, Jens Weidman, must respond to the German constitutional court ruling that some of the ECB asset purchases were “illegal”.  The APP or the Asset Purchase Program which started in 2015 is at the core of the Euro’s recent troubles. While the Karlsruhe-based court did not find any violation of monetary financing, it…

The UK manufacturing sector pulled a strong comeback as the economy reopened after the lockdown. Business sentiment rose to a 28-month high, while domestic new orders rose as well. Solid improvement in the sector was seen in July as output grew to a 32-month high on the back of the strong new orders. In fact, the new orders for the sector grew at the fastest pace since 2018 – an encouraging sign moving forward. Details…

One of the economic data that increased in importance during the coronavirus crisis is the weekly unemployment claims in the United States.  Presented every Thursday for the previous week, it shows the number of people that apply for the first time for unemployment benefits. Up until the pandemic, the market participants focused more on the Non-Farm Payrolls data. Not anymore, as the need grew to find out sooner the changes in the labor market’s evolution.…

Facebook reported its Q2 2020 earnings after the closing bell yesterday and delivered more than investors expected. The tech giant beat expectations on all lines:  EPS $1.80 on expectations of $1.39 Ad revenue $18.32 billion on expectations of $16.92 billion 1.79 billion daily active users vs. 1.74 billion expected Facebook’s share price initially surged on the news, jumping over 4% in after-hours trading. However, the enthusiasm faded away as the hours passed, trading ahead of…

Financial markets tend to shift focus from one event to another without hesitation. When there is nothing on the international economic or geopolitical agenda, the market reacts strongly to even second-tier economic data (e.g., Durable Goods, consumer confidence, etc.).  This is why financial markets are beautiful in the sense that no day is like the other – as a trader, you never know how markets will react to something new. The U.S. – China trade…

The much-awaited FOMC July meeting is finally behind us, and it brought some new twists to the Fed’s overall monetary policy.  Once again, Fed’s Chair, Jerome Powell, gave a brilliant performance, highlighting the risks ahead during the pandemic. What is new is that for the first time since the pandemic started, the Fed ties the economic recovery to the length of the virus. Up until now, the Fed did recognize the virus as an exogenous…