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Brexit catch-up: Where are we at now?

Not much has happened over the Easter break in the UK

May Tusk

The government is continuing to hold talks with the Labour party but as it stands, they don’t seem to be making any real progress with regards to breaking the current Brexit impasse. And it sure doesn’t look like things can or will get any better from hereon. For there to be a compromise, either one of the parties will have to move their red lines and at this juncture, May’s government looks to be the one that needs to do so or else she will face a barrage of calls for her to step down.
That brings us to the other development that we have seen, in that there are reports claiming that a top Tory lawmaker is looking to plan a move to oust May by the end of June if things are still going nowhere with regards to Brexit.
Do be reminded that May’s position as leader of the Tory party cannot be challenged at the moment but the reports say that 1922 Committee chair, Graham Brady, may be in on this coup here to see that rule be changed.
Whatever the case is, we’re no closer to solving the Brexit stalemate since the start of the year but the can has been kicked down the road until Halloween Day so we still have many more months of this malaise to look forward to.

China officials endorse Goldilocks monetary policy

Chinese press, Xinhua, citing a report from the Central Financial and Economic Affairs Commission

  • “Monetary policy needs to be neither too tight, nor too loose and should be fine-tuned in a timely and pre-emptive way based on economic growth and changes in price situations’
Thanks so much for that.
  • The policy comments from the financial commission meeting largely echoed those from meetings of China’s Politburo, the State Council and the central bank in the past two weeks

ICYMI – Trump tightens the screws on Iran’s oil exports

The US announced Monday that buyers of Iranian oil must stop doing so by May 1 or face sanctions.

Adam posted the breaking news yesterday:
  •  US will announce complete cutoff to Iran oil exports on Monday – report
Nice timing! With most traders on holidays Adam’s eagle eye allowed those still active in markets to get on board for a nice up move.
In brief:
  • US  will not renew exemptions granted in November last year to buyers of Iranian oil
  • This is a surprise move
  • Countries such as China and India had been granted waivers for six months, and expected those exemptions to be renewed. Nope.
The US announced Monday that buyers of Iranian oil must stop doing so by May 1 or face sanctions.

The broader US indice end the session higher. Dow falls.

Nasdaq leads the way higher.

The broad indices are ending the session higher.  While the more narrow Dow ended lower.
The final numbers are showing:
  • The S&P is up 2.94 points or 0.10% at 2907.97
  • The Nasdaq is up 17.205 points or 0.22% at 8015.26
  • The Dow is down -48.49 points or -0.18% at 26511.05
The Dow was hurt by Boeing losing -1.33%. Other Dow losers included:
  • Nike, -2.07%
  • Dupont, -1.73%
  • Travelers, -1.67%
  • American Express, -1.16%
  • IBM, -1.05%
  • Pfizer, -1.04%
  • Walgreen Boots, -1.04%
Some winners today included:
  • Netflix, +4.71%
  • Qualcomm, +2.60%
  • UnitedHealth (rebounded after falling over the last week or so), +2.44%
  • Exxon, +2.19%
  • AMD, +1.81%
  • Chevron, +1.65%
  • Intuit, +1.48%
  • Amazon, +1.38%
  • Nvidia, +1.16%
  • Alphabet, +1.01%
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