Archives of “Analysis” category
rssWhat yield might Japan’s 50 year bond return?
50 year yield via Bloomberg
China commerce ministry says rumours about possible disagreements in trade talks are not accurate
Risk trades get a bit more of a lift to start the session
- US, China trade teams will continue close communications
- Says will strive to reach “Phase One” deal with the US
China remarks earlier offer only a bit-part reprieve to markets
No follow through optimism after the China remarks earlier
A month ago the market was pricing in a 27% probability of a 4th rate cut in December. Today: 0% probability of a cut w/ 3% chance of a hike.
Trump weighs exempting Apple from China tariffs
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday after touring a plant that assembles Apple computers that he was considering whether to exempt the U.S. company from tariffs on imports from China.
“We’re looking at that,” Trump said in answer to a reporter’s question about the tariffs, after touring a plant in Austin, Texas, with Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook that assembles the company’s Mac Pro desktop computers.
Cook, who has a strong relationship with Trump, has sought relief for Apple from the U.S. tariffs, which are part of a months-long tit-for-tat trade war between the world’s largest economies.
“The problem we have is you have Samsung. It’s a great company but it’s a competitor of Apple, and it’s not fair if, because we have a trade deal with Korea — we made a great trade deal with South Korea — but we have to treat Apple on a somewhat similar basis as we treat Samsung,” Trump said.
Apple announced in September it would make its new Mac Pro computers in Austin. The announcement came days after U.S. trade regulators approved 10 out of 15 requests for tariff exemptions filed by Apple amid a broader reprieve on levies on computer parts.
Earlier this month, Apple also asked the Trump administration to waive tariffs on Chinese-made Apple Watches, iPhone components and other consumer products.
Trump has made boosting the U.S. manufacturing sector one of the goals of his presidency, taking to Twitter to pressure U.S. companies into keeping jobs at home.
Earlier on Wednesday, Apple said it had started construction of a new campus in Austin that will employ 5,000 workers, with the capacity to grow to 15,000. It is expected to open in 2022.
The verbatim of Trump’s latest comments is another sign the deal is falling apart
Trump spoke in a Q&A at Apple headquarters
Reporter: Will there be a trade deal in place before the end of the year?Trump: So, I can tell you this: China would much rather make a trade deal than me?Reporter: Then why haven’t they?Trump: Because I haven’t wanted to do it yet.Reporter: Why haven’t you wanted to do it.Trump: Because I don’t think they’re stepping up to the level that I wantReporter: I spoke earlier today with Mr Cook and he said another round of tariffs would be bad for business, it would be bad for the United States (interrupted by Trump)Trump: You know, here’s what I would say. What do you know? I put in tariffs and everyone said ‘Oh geez, you’re taking in hundreds of billions of dollars’ and everyone said ‘oh that’s going to be bad for the economy’. Well, as you just heard from Tim Cook, we have the strongest economy by far in the world and we’re taking in billions and billions. So we’ll see what happens.
The best and worst days of the S&P 500 in the last 30 years.
Dip-buyers save US stocks from a deeper fall (for now)
Stocks slump on trade headlines
- Nasdaq -0.5%
- DJIA -0.4%
- TSX -0.1%
How Trump has trapped himself in China talks
He needs to be both tough-on-China and friendly to markets, but he can’t be
Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer recognize that rolling back tariffs for a deal that fails to address core intellectual property and technology transfer issues will not be seen as a good deal for the U.S., a person briefed on the matter said.