Dow rose 20, advancers slightly ahead of decliners & NAZ added 10. The MLP index went up 1+ to the 217s & the REIT index gained 2+ to the 393s. Junk bond funds fluctuated & Treasuries drifted lower. Oil slid lower after its recent run but remained above 60 & gold was off 1 to 1479 (still at the upper end of its recent range).
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
Pres just wrapped up 2 huge trade agreements that will bring hundreds of thousands of jobs to America & now his administration is setting its sights on another one -- with India. The Asian nation is America's 9th-largest trading partner, accounting for some $143B in goods & services transactions, & the US wants New Delhi to lower its duties on US products. “I like to joke, India is the maharajah of tariffs,” Peter Navarro, director of the office of trade & manufacturing policy & assistant to the pres, said. “They literally have the highest tariffs in the world of any large country.” Trump is a "big fan of the Reciprocal Trade Act," which would allow the US to match tariffs from a trading partner, he added. "Ninety percent of the time, India charges us higher tariffs than we charge them," Navarro said, citing a study he performed. The US also has a $25.2B trade deficit with the country, & such imbalances have been a target of Trump's ire, though economists say they're not inherently problematic. "We've got to get India to belly up to that bar and lower tariffs and make nice with trade," Navarro said. Trump has already completed trade agreements with China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea & Japan, which account for more than ½ of all of US trade. Last week, House Dems signed off on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which when fully implemented could raise GDP by 1.2 percentage points & create more than 550K new jobs, according to the Intl Trade Commission. A partial trade agreement with China, which is aimed at helping reduce a yearly trade imbalance of more than $300B, was reached last week. As part of the deal, China agreed to buy $200B of US products in the next 2 years from the manufacturing, energy, agriculture & services sectors, in addition to protecting against intellectual property theft & technology transfer. Navarro noted the stock market is a "leading indicator in the economy" & Trump has "built the strongest economy in modern history." He stuck by the stock-market call he made earlier this year.
Fannie Mae has significantly boosted its outlook for housing-market growth amid tight supplies & low mortgage rates. The mortgage financier's Economic & Strategic Research Group raised its forecast for residential fixed investment by 1.2 percentage points during Q4, predicting growth at a 4.5% annualized rate. The group also increased its full-year outlook for both 2020 & 2021 to 3.4% growth, up from prior projections of 0.3% & 1.1%, respectively. “We now expect single-family housing starts and sales of new homes to increase substantially, aided by a large uptick in new construction as builders work to replenish inventories drawn down by the recent surge in new home sales,” Fannie Mae Senior VP & Chief Economist Doug Duncan said. “Despite the expected increase in the pace of construction, the supply of homes for sale remains tight and strong demand for housing is continuing to drive home prices higher, particularly in the more entry-level price tiers," he added.
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a big win for America, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said. “We have what is really the absolute gold standard on digital trade and financial services, stuff that has never been done before,” he said. The Trump administration expects USMCA to bring back or create 80K jobs that are directly or indirectly tied to the auto industry & create as much as $30B of new investment in the sector. When fully implemented, USMCA will raise GDP by 1.2 percentage points and create over 550K new jobs, Lighthizer said, citing the Intl Trade Commission. “We have the first trade agreement in a long, long time that has the support of almost every business group, almost every agriculture group, labor groups, Democrats and Republicans, so we’re really excited about where we are,” Lighthizer said, adding that it's a "really, really, really good agreement for the United States, for the manufacturers and workers and farmers and the like.” He noted that USMCA is also good for Mexico & Canada. Getting rid of the biological provision, which gave exclusivity to developers of new drugs for up to 10 years, was "a step backwards," according to Lighthizer, but was a necessary compromise due to Dems controlling the House of Representatives. Dems had argued the provision would keep drug prices higher by limiting generic competition for high-priced medications. Lighthizer believes the trade deal will "pass with a big number.” The House is expected to vote on USMCA tomorrow; however, the day could still change. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said a vote in his chamber of Congress could occur after any impeachment hearings. “There's two approaches to trade," Lighthizer said. "One is that the objective of trade is purely market efficiency and protecting investors ... The president's view is we have to, in addition to that, think about the effect on manufacturing workers and farmers and the people that are involved in this process, and that our real objective is more wealth and better lives for working-class people.” USMCA "will be the template, I think, for new trade agreements going forward,” Lighthizer said.
Investors are feeling very good. This has been a spectacular year for stocks, partially due to starting from a depressed level 12 months ago. Economic news has been fairly good & the news on the trade front is very encouraging. Best of all, market averages are at record highs highlighted by the Dow advancing 10K in the last 3 years.
Dow Jones Industrials
AMJ (Alerian MLP Index tracking fund)
| CL=F | Crude Oil | 60.42 | -0.52 | -0.9% |
| GC=F | Gold | 1,478.40 | -2.20 | -0.2% |
Pres just wrapped up 2 huge trade agreements that will bring hundreds of thousands of jobs to America & now his administration is setting its sights on another one -- with India. The Asian nation is America's 9th-largest trading partner, accounting for some $143B in goods & services transactions, & the US wants New Delhi to lower its duties on US products. “I like to joke, India is the maharajah of tariffs,” Peter Navarro, director of the office of trade & manufacturing policy & assistant to the pres, said. “They literally have the highest tariffs in the world of any large country.” Trump is a "big fan of the Reciprocal Trade Act," which would allow the US to match tariffs from a trading partner, he added. "Ninety percent of the time, India charges us higher tariffs than we charge them," Navarro said, citing a study he performed. The US also has a $25.2B trade deficit with the country, & such imbalances have been a target of Trump's ire, though economists say they're not inherently problematic. "We've got to get India to belly up to that bar and lower tariffs and make nice with trade," Navarro said. Trump has already completed trade agreements with China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea & Japan, which account for more than ½ of all of US trade. Last week, House Dems signed off on the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which when fully implemented could raise GDP by 1.2 percentage points & create more than 550K new jobs, according to the Intl Trade Commission. A partial trade agreement with China, which is aimed at helping reduce a yearly trade imbalance of more than $300B, was reached last week. As part of the deal, China agreed to buy $200B of US products in the next 2 years from the manufacturing, energy, agriculture & services sectors, in addition to protecting against intellectual property theft & technology transfer. Navarro noted the stock market is a "leading indicator in the economy" & Trump has "built the strongest economy in modern history." He stuck by the stock-market call he made earlier this year.
Trump's top trade adviser hints at next big trade deal
Fannie Mae has significantly boosted its outlook for housing-market growth amid tight supplies & low mortgage rates. The mortgage financier's Economic & Strategic Research Group raised its forecast for residential fixed investment by 1.2 percentage points during Q4, predicting growth at a 4.5% annualized rate. The group also increased its full-year outlook for both 2020 & 2021 to 3.4% growth, up from prior projections of 0.3% & 1.1%, respectively. “We now expect single-family housing starts and sales of new homes to increase substantially, aided by a large uptick in new construction as builders work to replenish inventories drawn down by the recent surge in new home sales,” Fannie Mae Senior VP & Chief Economist Doug Duncan said. “Despite the expected increase in the pace of construction, the supply of homes for sale remains tight and strong demand for housing is continuing to drive home prices higher, particularly in the more entry-level price tiers," he added.
Fannie Mae sweetens US housing market forecast
The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is a big win for America, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said. “We have what is really the absolute gold standard on digital trade and financial services, stuff that has never been done before,” he said. The Trump administration expects USMCA to bring back or create 80K jobs that are directly or indirectly tied to the auto industry & create as much as $30B of new investment in the sector. When fully implemented, USMCA will raise GDP by 1.2 percentage points and create over 550K new jobs, Lighthizer said, citing the Intl Trade Commission. “We have the first trade agreement in a long, long time that has the support of almost every business group, almost every agriculture group, labor groups, Democrats and Republicans, so we’re really excited about where we are,” Lighthizer said, adding that it's a "really, really, really good agreement for the United States, for the manufacturers and workers and farmers and the like.” He noted that USMCA is also good for Mexico & Canada. Getting rid of the biological provision, which gave exclusivity to developers of new drugs for up to 10 years, was "a step backwards," according to Lighthizer, but was a necessary compromise due to Dems controlling the House of Representatives. Dems had argued the provision would keep drug prices higher by limiting generic competition for high-priced medications. Lighthizer believes the trade deal will "pass with a big number.” The House is expected to vote on USMCA tomorrow; however, the day could still change. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said a vote in his chamber of Congress could occur after any impeachment hearings. “There's two approaches to trade," Lighthizer said. "One is that the objective of trade is purely market efficiency and protecting investors ... The president's view is we have to, in addition to that, think about the effect on manufacturing workers and farmers and the people that are involved in this process, and that our real objective is more wealth and better lives for working-class people.” USMCA "will be the template, I think, for new trade agreements going forward,” Lighthizer said.
Trump trade chief on why USMCA is such a big win for US
Investors are feeling very good. This has been a spectacular year for stocks, partially due to starting from a depressed level 12 months ago. Economic news has been fairly good & the news on the trade front is very encouraging. Best of all, market averages are at record highs highlighted by the Dow advancing 10K in the last 3 years.
Dow Jones Industrials
No comments:
Post a Comment