Archives of “February 2020” month

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China reports 2,641 new coronavirus cases for 13 February

  
  Analysis
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National Health Commission official figures for mainland China as of end Feb 14

How its progressed:

  • Jan 17: 41
  • Jan 19: 62
  • Jan 20: 201
  • Jan 21: 291
  • Jan 22: 440
  • Jan 24: 830
  • Jan 25: 1,287
  • Jan 26: 1,975
  • Jan 27: 2,744
  • Jan 28: 5,974
  • Jan 29: 7,711
  • Jan 30: 9,692
  • Jan 31: 11,791
  • Feb 1: 14,380 (death toll 304)
  • Feb 2: 17,205 (death toll 361)
  • Feb 3: 20,438 (death toll 425)
  • Feb 4: 24,324 (death toll 490)
  • Feb 5: 28,018 (death toll 563)
  • Feb 6: 31,161 (death toll 636)
  • Feb 7: 34,564 (death toll 722)
  • Feb 8: 37,198 (death toll 811)
  • Feb 9: 40,171 (death toll 908)
  • Feb 10: 42,638 (death toll 1,016)
  • Feb 11: 44,653 (death toll 1,113)
  • Feb 12: 59,805 (death toll 1,367)
  • Feb 13: 63,851 total cases. Death toll now 1,380.  6,723 discharged from hospital.
  • Feb 14: NHC reports total cases at 66,492. Deaths on Feb 14 across China were 143, takes the total at 1,523.

CFTC Commitments of Traders: Euro shorts continue to build

  
Analysis, Forex
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Weekly FX futures positioning data from the CFTC for the week ending Feb 11, 2020:

  • EUR short 86K vs 75K short last week. Shorts increased by 11K
  • GBP long 21K vs 13K long last week. Longs increased by 8K
  • JPY short 26K vs 21K short last week. Shorts increased by 5k
  • CHF long 4K vs 5K long last week. Longs decreased by 1K
  • AUD short 33k vs 43K short last week. Shorts decreased by 10K
  • NZD short 4K vs 2K short last week. Shorts increased by 2K
  • CAD long 10k vs 19K long last week. Longs decreased by 9K

OPEC+ close to dropping the idea of an emergency meeting – report

  
Analysis, Crude
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So much for that hope

OPEC+ is close to dropping the idea of an emergency meeting this month and will stick with March meeting dates, according to delegates cited by Bloomberg. They say the Saudis may still push for hte Feb meeting.
Oil has climbed this week for the first time since Jan 3…at least for now. The March contract just expired.
So much for that hope

White House is considering tax incentives for more Americans to buy stocks – report

  
  Analysis
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CNBC report

This has a low-percentage chance of ever happening but between this and zero-fee trading, the stock market is going to turn into a proper bucket shop.
CNBC reports:
The proposal, one of many new tax cuts under consideration, would see a portion of household income treated as tax-free for the purposes of investing outside a traditional 401(k). Under one scenario, a household earning up to $200,000 could invest $10,000 on a tax-free basis, although officials noted these numbers are fluid.
These details are vague but this sounds more like a cut on capital gains.

S&P 500 closes higher on a Friday for the first time in a month

  
Analysis, US Market

It’s a long weekend too

The S&P 500 sold off on the past three Fridays on coronavirus fears into the weekend. Those sellers were punished by rallies the rest of the week and now it appears that sellers have had a change of heart, even with a three-day weekend looming.
  • S&P 500 +6 points (+0.2%) to 3380 — a record close
  • DJIA -0.1%
  • Nasdaq +0.2%
Here is the weekly chart:
It's a long weekend too

China president Xi says that need to mend the loopholes exposed in this coronavirus outbreak

  
Analysis, Politics
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Comments by China president Xi Jinping via state television

  • Says to push the rollout of biosecurity law as soon as possible
  • Ensuring safety, health of the people is a major task for the country
  • To improve medical insurance and aid system for major diseases
Not the sweetest of Valentine’s messages from Xi but I’m not sure what he actually means by “mending the loopholes” here.
China has taken a major reputation hit as a result of the virus outbreak and how poorly it was handled during the initial stages, with many questions and doubts – still persisting – about the actual figures and cases reported across the country.
Does mending the loopholes mean that they will be more transparent and act quicker next time? Or does it mean that they will double-down efforts to make sure something as malicious as this will not surface among international media if we see a repeat?

Singapore reports 9 new coronavirus cases, overall tally now at 67

  
  Analysis

The daily jump is bigger than the eight cases reported yesterday

As the situation within China is reported to be more contained, it is not exactly the case in Singapore as the tally continues to pick up during the week.

Do be reminded that Singapore has already raised its warning level on the virus to ‘Orange’ earlier this month, so there is a risk that we could see the country revise the status to ‘Red’ – signifying a pandemic situation.

SG

Eurozone December trade balance €22.2 billion vs €19.3 billion expected

  
  Analysis

Latest data released by Eurostat – 14 February 2020

  • Prior €19.2 billion; revised to €19.1 billion
  • Non-seasonally adjusted trade balance €23.1 billion
  • Prior €20.7 billion
The trade surplus improved as exports grew by 0.9% on the month while imports fell by 0.7% on the month. However, the data here acts as more of an accompaniment to the overall GDP report release at the same time so it isn’t really a key release.
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