At first glance, the latest manufacturing growth figures for the Eurozone paints a positive picture but strip away a couple of the layers, and there is reason for concern. First, the good news – manufacturing growth as measured by the Markit Eurozone Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 58 from 57.5 in March. Any result above 50 is an indication of growth.
But now for the not-so-good news. The uptick in the Eurozone PMI is almost entirely due to strong growth in France, the Netherlands, and, in particular, Germany. Greece actually suffered a contraction while Spain was basically unchanged from March. The
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This morning the markets are starting out clearly in risk aversion mode as there is a sense of fear of retaliation from Al Qaeda due to the killing of their leader Osama Bin Laden. However, it looks as though everything is lower, including the price of oil and gold which given the risk in the market may not make sense.
For if the “risk” in the marketplace is due to a potential retaliatory strike, wouldn’t that increase the price of oil, and not the other way around? Something to think about.
Overnight, the RBA in Australia left interest rates unchanged at 4.75% but issued mildly hawkish comments with regard to inflation, though the market has discounted this and is more concerned with the risk we are seeing.
Both the Euro and Pound are lower, but the Pound is particularly weak as PMI data came in at 7-month lows. While
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I’m a big fan of the road trip. Whether we’re just going up to my parents’ for a couple of days, or planning something more substantial, I just like being on the road. It’s fun to see new things, and visit interesting places. However, with rising gas prices, hotel costs and the expenses associated with eating out while on the road, the cost of a road trip can quickly add up. And that doesn’t include admissions to some of the attractions you might want to visit along the way.
Of course, like so many other things in life, you can save a little money if you do some planning. If you have a general idea of your route, and what you would like to do, you can create a plan that will cost a little less than you might think. Here are
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The recent drop in the unemployment rate is a reason to celebrate, but the job market is still tougher than it’s been in years. This likely means a lengthy – and possibly expensive – job search at a time when you can ill afford to be bleeding more money from your bank account. Thankfully, there are lots of ways you can get free job search help – some obvious, others not:
The Local Library
Besides free Internet to search job sites and submit applications, many libraries also have classes, clubs and workshops where you can network, learn new skills and get tips to help you land the job you want.
Your Alma Mater
Are you a college graduate? Well, many universities offer free lifetime career services for graduates. These c
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In a press conference following today’s FOMC statement, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said it appears that US economic growth will be less than previously forecast. Bernanke said that for the current year, he expected growth to be between 3.1 percent and 3.3 percent compared to 3.4 to 3.9 percent as noted earlier. Bernanke also hinted that the Fed would not conduct further quantitative easing once the current round of stimulus spending wraps up in June.
Yesterday’s FOMC meeting and ensuing press conference was essentially more of the same, though the new theater surrounding the announcement seemed to do more to distract from the policy statement than anything.
As expected, the Fed left rates unchanged and committed to leaving rates low for an “extended” period. So the markets took this as a cue that weak-Dollar policy was here to stay for a while and sold the Dollar mercilessly, sending it to 3-year lows. This also helped push stocks, commodities, and anti-Dollar currencies higher.
This was the obvious driver of markets yesterday, and many other news events got lost in the shuffle. One such event was the RBNZ rate policy meeting in New Zealand. While
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