Quote:
‘You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.’ Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931)
The News:
Combined assets in the Fed system hit $2.25 trillion Dec/2008 versus $1.33T a year ago. Shows a $3B loss in its attempt to rescue Bear Stearns including $54M in ‘professional fees’.
The Numbers:
British Summer Time, with expectations and previous figures in brackets.
00:50 JP March Corporate Services Prices –2.1% Y/Y versus –2.6% February.
00:50 JP February All Industry Activity Index –2.0% versus –1.7% January.
09:00 DE April IFO Business Climate (81.6 to 84.5, Current 81 to 84, Expectations 82 to 84.9, versus 82.1, 82.7, 81.6).
09:30 GB Q1 GDP (-1.7% to –1.1% Q/Q, -3.9% to –3.3% Y/Y, versus –1.6% and –2.0% Q4).
09:30 GB March Retail Sales (-1.6% to +1.0% M/M, -0.3% to +2.4% Y/Y, versus –1.9% and +0.4% February).
13:30 US March Durable Goods Orders (-4.9% to +1.0%, Ex-transport –3.0% to +1.5%, vs +3.4% and +3.9% Feb).
15:00 US March New Home Sales (310K to 375K versus 337K February).
21:30 US Treasury secretary Geithner’s news conference following G20 finance ministers’ meeting, Washington
The Psychology:
US to reveal today the basis of the ‘stress test’ it will apply to the 19 biggest banks.
The Risk:
Tendency to avoid what are seen as ‘riskier’ assets resumes.
Today’s most interesting chart: Nymex Natural Gas
Relentlessly lower; cheapest since Oct 2002.
