Week of Mar 13 2015 Weekly Recap & The Week Ahead
“Stocks are super-attractive when the fed is loosening and interests are falling. In sum: Don’t fight the fed” — Martin Zweig
1. ECB Begins QE with German Government Bond Purchase — the ECB began its €60B per month QE program on Mar 9 by buying German government bonds (EWG). Bloomberg reported quoting two traders in government debt.
2. Apple (APPL) Unveiled Its Smartwatch — Apple watch comes in two sizes – 38mm and 42mm – and a choice of three models – Sport, Standard and Edition – with a variety of straps. The device will start at $350 and, depending on the band and finish.
3. South Korea Joins Global Easing — South Korea joined twenty four countries across the globe by easing monetary policy in 2015. Taking advantage of low inflation, the BOK cut its base rate by 25 bps to a record low of 1.75%. South Korea also previously slashed its forecast for this year’s economic growth to 3.4% in January from 3.9%.
4. Most Banks Pass Stress Test — the Federal Reserves OK’d the capital plans of all but 3 of the 31 large banks subjected to a 2nd round of stress tests. U.S. units of Banco Santander and Deutsche Bank failed qualitatively. BofA (NYSE:BAC) will resubmit its capital plan before winning approval for boosted shareholder returns.
5. China Growth Starts ’15 Slow — China’s Jan-Feb industrial production rose just 6.8% vs. last year, the smallest rise since Aug. Property sales fell 15.8% due to a housing glut. China reportedly plans to consolidate thousands of state-owned enterprises that underperform the private sector but still get more cheap credit.
The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:
Tags: EU 's QE