US Investment Views 2 Nov

Asia

Asian markets were little changed. NIKKEI +0.06%, HSI +0.08%, SHSE –0.28%, S&P/ASX +0.06%. Today the big news from Asia was the interest rates hikes from the India and Australia. This is, to me, another demonstration of how good Asian economies are doing while the developed economies in the West are struggling. As a result of interest rate hike, AUD rose above parity against the USD, and Dollar Index (DXY) weakened. Other interesting stories included that China Construction Bank (939.HK) will sell shares, but Bank of America (BAC.N) is unlikely to participate.

Europe

European markets are up. BP (BP.L) profit dropped as there were more provisions for the oil spill. BBVA (BBVA.MC) will sell shares in a right issue to buy Turkish bank Garanti. On the economic front, Eurozone PMI picked up in October, another evidence of economic growth, for now.

US equities preview

US futures are higher. The Fed begins the FOMC today, while announcing rate decision tomorrow. Today is also the election day, where the democrats are set to get smashed by the GOP (Just for Fun, the bet on GOP winning the house rose to 95 at Intrade). Not quite a good news for me as I have no love for the GOP, yet that would not be a very surprising result.

On corporate earnings front, Pfizer (PFE.N) announced better-than-expected earnings (EPS ex. items = $0.54 vs consensus $0.51). Other companies to announce today include MasterCard (MA.N) and Wynn Resorts (WYNN.O) among others.

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About Zarathustra

Zarathustra: Founder and Managing Editor of Also sprach Analyst. Once an analyst, now an investor and entrepreneur. Based in Hong Kong, but Londoner at heart.