Craig James from CommSec said, “Business confidence rose by a substantial 11.6 points in May to a reading of minus 2.2. Apart from the rebound after the September 11 2001 terrorist attack, it was the biggest monthly improvement in confidence on record.” 

The June consumer sentiment index rose by 12.7% – the biggest monthly surge in 22 years. The index is now at 17 month highs. 

Employment fell by 1,700 in May. Employment has fallen only six times in the last 23 months - reflecting the fundamental strength of the labour market. The unemployment rate rose from 5.4% to 5.7% in May, but a lot of this has come from a rising participation rate — that’s more people looking for jobs. 

The Reuters/University of Michigan June reading of US consumer sentiment went to 69 from 68.7 in May, and that’s a nine-month high.

The legendary analyst from Goldman Sach’s, Abby Joseph Cohen, reported at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York that corporate profitability could jump in the third and fourth quarters, when compared with the low baseline profits seen in the second half of 2008 (CNBC). 

A recent survey of a big number of economists found 90% expect a 2nd-half economic recovery for the USA. That’s good for long-term investors but won’t help short-term punters!

Australian business confidence has increased by record levels over the quarter, according to the Sensis Business Index released today. Business confidence has almost doubled during the quarter, with the indicator up 18 percentage points to 30%. It now sits slightly below the levels recorded 12 months ago. (The survey was conducted from May 6 to […]

The bears are having their overdue picnic but it’s no feast with volume only light. We are in the pullback phase and after markets have risen so strongly since early March, this had to be expected. The question is how deep will it fall? The Dow fell 107 points or 1.2% to 8,504. The Nasdaq […]

 Wall Street players had nothing to really spook them nor excite them and the market went nowhere, but in keeping with the current consensus of thinking, it fell, slightly. Story hunters focused on Obama’s planned financial system regulations and some ‘smart’ analyst thought investors were afraid that the new rules would hit bank profits. Well, […]

China excited Wall Street and it coped with GM filing for bankruptcy with those so-called green shoots starting to resemble small leaves. The Dow rose 221 points or 2.6% to 8,721.   The Nasdaq jumped 54 points or 3% to 1,828. The S&P 500 stormed 23 points higher to 942, leaving the important 928 level […]

Wall Street went higher and it was helped by a bigger than expected rise in pending sales of existing sales. In fact, it was the biggest in — wait for it — seven and a half years. The Dow rose 19 points or 0.2% to 8,740.   The Nasdaq put on 8 points or 4% […]

Four up days on Wall Street were KO’d with falls for stocks, but it was not a convincing rejection. Commodities were weaker but they have surged recently. The Dow fell 65 points or 0.7% to 8675.   The Nasdaq lost 10 points or 0.6% to 1825.   The S&P 500 dropped 12 points or 1.4% […]