Markets are closed in honor of Presidents Day, but here are some of the stories we’re following.
Index
Direction
Change
Units
Time
Dow
Down
(49)
points
20,571
8:03 AM
S&P500
Up
0.2%
percent
2,351
Nasdaq Composite
Up
0.4%
percent
5,839
30 Year Treasury
Down
(2)
Basis Points
3.03
Annual Yield
The Trump administration is considering changing the way it calculates U.S. trade deficits, a shift that would make the country’s trade gap appear larger than it had in past years accordingto the Wall Street Journal. The leading idea would exclude from U.S. exports goods first imported into the country, such as cars, and then transferred to a third country like Canada unchanged. Economists say that approach would inflate trade deficit numbers because it would count goods as imports when they come into the country but not count the same goods when they go back out as re-exports.
LA has been ranked the world’s most gridlocked city, topping #2Moscow and #3 New York City, but Thailand has been rated the most congested country. The rankings were released today by transportation analytics companyInrix. Colombia and Indonesia tied for second-worst traffic by country, while the U.S. and Russia tied for fourth. But also in the top ten worst cities worldwide was #4 San Francisco, #8 Atlanta, and #10 Miami.
The Street reports Germany’s two-year government bond yields hit a record low today on rising political uncertainty in the region as officials meet in Brussels to debate the ongoing bailout in Greece and polls indicate rising support for far-right Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen. Benchmark 2-year German government bonds, known as schatz, traded 5 basis points lower at -0.87%, the lowest on record, despite a much faster-than-expected reading for producer price inflation in Europe’s biggest economy.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
