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1 June 2012 at 14 : 19 PM
The Jobs Disaster
01-Jun (Slate) — This morning’s Employment Situation Report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was bad news masking even worse news. The economy added 69,000 jobs in May, far below the consensus expectation of economic forecasters. And the consensus expectation wasn’t even particularly optimistic. Few thought we could repeat the 200,000-plus jobs per month that [...]
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1 June 2012 at 14 : 00 PM
The most important gold market event since 1999
A special report by USAGOLD’s President Michael J. Kosares 01-Jun (USAGOLD) — Quite unexpectedly, except perhaps among a handful of long-time gold advocates, gold is quietly and gradually moving back to its centerpiece role in international reserves. Stretched and threatened financially, nation states have begun accumulating gold for the same reason private individuals do — [...]
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1 June 2012 at 13 : 27 PM
Recession storm clouds threaten global economy
01-Jun (MSNBC) — The gears of the global economy are all slowing in unison. The latest evidence came with Friday’s startling employment report from the Labor Department: Job growth slowed in May to just 69,000 and was much weaker in April than initially reported. The news followed a string of reports from Europe to China [...]
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 12 AM
Operation Twist: New York Fed sells $8.620 billion in Treasury coupons.
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 16 AM
Gold’s having an identity crisis
01-Jun (MarketWatch) — SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — If gold’s a safe haven, it certainly hasn’t been acting like one. Gold futures ended May with a loss of 6%, the metal’s fourth-straight monthly decline. “We are in the midst of a cash crunch globally due to the banking issues in Europe,” said Vedant Mimani, lead portfolio [...]
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 57 AM
‘Sigh of Relief’: Irish Approve Fiscal Pact in Referendum
01-Jun (Der Spiegel) — Amid all the doom and gloom of the escalating euro crisis, there was a rare piece of good news for European leaders on Friday, when Irish voters backed the fiscal pact in a closely watched referendum. The Irish government declared victory based on early results, which showed the fiscal pact passing [...]
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 25 AM
Weak Jobs Data Ignite Expectations of Twist Extension
01-Jun (WSJ Blogs) — Friday’s weak jobs report immediately ignited market expectations that the Federal Reserve‘s “wait-and-see” mode may be coming to an end. Three months of disappointing jobs data increases the chances that Fed officials may act later this month to extend Operation Twist, currently scheduled to expire at the end of June, economists [...]
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 33 AM
U.S. bond yields hit new lows after weak payrolls
01-Jun (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices jumped on Friday, pushing yields on major benchmark indexes down sharply to record lows after a report showed U.S. payrolls rose 69,000 in May, far fewer than analysts expected. Yields on 10-year notes (ICAP.SD:10_YEAR) , which move inversely to prices, fell 10 basis points to 1.46% — setting a new [...]
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1 June 2012 at 09 : 57 AM
Weak US jobs figures for May hit markets
01-Jun (BBC) — Stock markets have fallen following worse-than-expected jobs figures from the US. Dow Jones futures suggest that US shares will open much lower, while the Dax in Frankfurt was down 4.1% and the Cac 40 in Paris was down 3.1%. The US economy added 69,000 jobs in May, which was well below forecasts. [...]
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1 June 2012 at 08 : 33 AM
Morning Snapshot
01-Jun (USAGOLD) — Gold started the day under pressure after weak PMI data from China and a rise in the eurozone unemployment rate — on top of an escalating sovereign debt crisis — pushed the euro down to the 1.2300 zone, boosting the dollar in the process. However, the yellow metal rebounded sharply after a [...]
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1 June 2012 at 08 : 30 AM
US manufacturing ISM fell to 53.5 in May, below market expectations of 54.0, vs 54.8 in Apr; prices paid plunges to 47.5, vs 61.0 in Apr.
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1 June 2012 at 08 : 46 AM
US construction spending +0.3% in Apr, below expectations of +0.4%, vs upward revised +0.3% Mar.
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1 June 2012 at 07 : 00 AM
Bund, Treasury, Gilt Yields Drop to Records as Euro Crisis Grows
01-Jun (Bloomberg) — German, U.S. and U.K. yields fell to all-time lows after Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said the future of the euro is at stake, driving demand for the safest government securities. …”There is a real sense of impending panic spreading now and that’s exacerbating all of these moves,” said John Wraith, [...]
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1 June 2012 at 07 : 42 AM
Job Growth Slows
01-Jun (The Wall Street Journal) — U.S. job growth slowed sharply in May, the latest indication that the economy has lost momentum. Nonfarm payrolls grew by a 69,000 last month, the Labor Department said Friday, the smallest gain in a year. The unemployment rate, obtained by a separate survey of U.S. households, ticked one-tenth of [...]
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1 June 2012 at 06 : 52 AM
Gold surges — up more than $30 from earlier low — on big payrolls miss as stocks get hammered. USD-JPY falls to 3-mo lows below 78.00.
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1 June 2012 at 06 : 15 AM
US Personal Income +0.2% in Apr, below expectations of +0.3%, vs +0.4% in Mar; PCE +0.3%, in-line with expectations.
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1 June 2012 at 06 : 59 AM
US private sector payrolls, +82k in May, well below expectations of +169k, vs negative revised +87k (from +130k) in Apr.
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1 June 2012 at 06 : 16 AM
US nonfarm payrolls +69k in May, well below expectations of +158k, vs negative revised +77k (from +115k) in Apr; jobless rate rises to 8.2%.
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1 June 2012 at 06 : 04 AM
Gold lower at 1547.84 (-12.90). Silver 27.26 (-0.455). Dollar higher. Euro nears 1.23. Stocks called lower. Treasurys mostly higher.
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31 May 2012 at 11 : 59 AM
PIMCO: Wall Street Food Chain
by William H. Gross • Soaring debt/GDP ratios in previously sacrosanct AAA countries have made low cost funding increasingly a function of central banks as opposed to private market investors. • Both the lower quality and lower yields of such previously sacrosanct debt represent a potential breaking point in our now 40-year-old global monetary system. [...]
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31 May 2012 at 11 : 30 AM
Dollar Slams Commodities: ‘Total Blowout’ Coming?
31-May (CNBC) — A rising U.S. dollar is exerting major pressure on commodity prices and in turn could be setting up a prime buying opportunity in grains, energy and—yes—even gold. Market pros expect the near-term direction for oil, metals and other items in the space to be downward as investors flock to the safety of [...]
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31 May 2012 at 09 : 08 AM
Morning Snapshot
31-May (USAGOLD) — Gold has been rather choppy this morning, amid some generally grim US economic news. Q1 GDP was revised down to 1.9%, from 2.2% previously. You may also recall that expectations for the first print last month were at 2.5%. Initial jobless claims for last week came in higher than expected and Chicago [...]
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31 May 2012 at 08 : 50 AM
US Chicago PMI plunged to 52.7 in May, well below market expectations of 57.0, vs 56.2 in Apr.
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31 May 2012 at 06 : 38 AM
US initial jobless claims +13k to 383k for the week ended 26-May, above expectations of 369k, vs upward revised 373k in the previous week.
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31 May 2012 at 06 : 20 AM
US Q1 GDP (2nd report) revised down to 1.9%, in-line with expectations, vs 2.2% initial print.
You may recall that expectations on the first report were 2.5% last month. Share
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31 May 2012 at 06 : 54 AM
US ADP employment survey +133k in May, below market expectations of +140k, vs negative revised 113k in Apr (from 119k).
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31 May 2012 at 06 : 26 AM
Gold lower at 1560.00 (-4.60). Silver 27.88 (-0.035). Dollar easier. Euro slightly better. Stocks called higher. Treasurys mixed.
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30 May 2012 at 09 : 19 AM
Ten-Year Treasury Yield Hits Record Low
30-May (The Wall Street Journal) — The benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yield sank to an all-time low of 1.659% as fears about the euro-zone debt crisis intensified. The latest anxieties center around Spain’s ability to support its banking system, piling on top of recent worries about Greece’s future in the euro-zone bloc. This prompted global [...]
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30 May 2012 at 09 : 11 AM
Operation Twist: New York Fed purchases $4.740 billion in Treasury coupons.
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30 May 2012 at 09 : 27 AM
Morning Snapshot
30-May (USAGOLD) — Gold is back under pressure as the euro retreated below 1.2400, reaching levels not seen since late-June of 2010. A weak Italian auction and persistent worries about the Spanish banking system and the upcoming Greek elections are weighing on the single currency. Additionally, eurozone economic confidence for May came in at the [...]
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