Week of Aug 1 2014- Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
Monday, August 4th, 2014“One characteristic I’ve found among successful traders is that they function effectively when they’re not trading. When markets become very quiet and range bound, they occupy themselves with a variety of activities, from sharing ideas with peers to conducting research. Traders who do not tolerate inactivity well inevitably feel the need to trade, often when there is no objective edge present. For them, losing money is less onerous than experiencing boredom.” – in Trader Feed
1. China Criticizes New U.S. Tariffs on Solar Products — NYTimes, the Commerce Department has imposed preliminary anti-dumping tariffs ranging from 26%-165% on Chinese and Taiwanese solar cell/module imports. The tariffs come on top of the anti-subsidy tariffs imposed in early June, and in spite of a WTO ruling declaring that U.S. solar tariffs violate global trade rules.
2. GM (GM) Sued Over Deaths, Injuries Linked To Ignition Switch — Reuters, GM is facing a lawsuit which was filed in a Manhattan federal court by 658 people who state they were injured or related to a victim killed in an accident due to a faulty ignition switch. The newly filed lawsuit is aimed at covering claims that are not eligible for payments under the conditions of GM’s (NYSE:GM) newly setup compensation program.
3. US Economy Grows 4% in 2Q — Gross domestic product (GDP), the value of all goods and services produced by the U.S. — grew at a 4% annual clip in the second quarter, the government reported. Newly revised figures also show that the economy contracted by a somewhat smaller 2.1% in the first quarter instead of 2.9% as previously reported.
4. PayPal Expands Credit Business — from Reuters, PayPal, a unit of Ebay (EBAY) now plans on bringing its small-business and consumer lending programs outside the U.S to Germany, Australia and the U.K. The online payment company challenges traditional lending by offering unique products which use alternative methods for approving loans, such as “sales history” with eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) or PayPal.
5. Argentine Stocks Sink Over 8% after Default and S&P Cuts it Rating to ‘Selective Default’ — Argentina’s Merval stock index (AR:MERV) fell 8.4% after it defaulted late last week. Subsequently, Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services cut the credit rating on Argentina’s foreign currency bonds to “selective default” due to nonpayment. The downgrade will stay in place until Argentina resolves nonpayment issues.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
