“I measure what’s going on, and I adapt to it. I try to get my ego out of the way. The market is smarter than I am so I bend.” – Martin Zweig

1. China Policy Makers Signaled Easing Talks — China policy makers signaled the country had capacity to ease monetary policy and boost sluggish growth at the Boao Forum for Asia on last week. China’s central bank has already taken a series of easing steps since November, cutting interest rates twice and slashing banks’ reserve requirements.
2. US Factory Orders Rose in February For First Time in 6 Months — Reuters, the Commerce Department reported new orders for manufactured goods increased 0.2 percent, the largest gain since July, after a revised 0.7 percent drop in January. Orders excluding transportation rose 0.8 percent, the biggest rise in eight months. Shipments of factory goods rose 0.7 percent after four straight months of declines.
3. Greece Tells Creditors It Will Run Out of Cash on April 9 — Greece made an appeal for more loans before reforms on which new disbursements hinge are agreed and implemented, but the request was rejected, euro zone officials said. Also, the ECB raised its cap on emergency liquidity assistance that Greek banks can draw from the country’s central bank by €700M, increasing the ELA ceiling to €71.8B. The central bank has been raising the cap in increments to keep pressure on Greece to strike a deal.
4. March Payroll Data Shows Weak Jobs Report — Job growth slumped to a 15-month low in March, the Labor Department reported last Frid. Various tracking models used by economists show growth in gross domestic product slowing sharply to around or under a 1% annual rate in the first quarter. The slowdown has been blamed on the cold winter weather to the slowdown at West Coast ports to the impact of low oil prices and the stronger dollar.
5. Iran and the West Reach Nuclear Deal — Pres Obama hailed the tentative nuclear deal that would severely restrict Iran, including slashing the number of installed centrifuges and barring high uranium enrichment for 15 years. After IAEA inspections confirm compliance, the US and EU would suspend crippling sanctions.

The week ahead — Economic data from Econoday.com:

Tags: China Easing, Grexit

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