GLOBAL ECONOMICS AND POLITICS

Leo Haviland provides clients with original, provocative, cutting-edge fundamental supply/demand and technical research on major financial marketplaces and trends. He also offers independent consulting and risk management advice.

Haviland’s expertise is macro. He focuses on the intertwining of equity, debt, currency, and commodity arenas, including the political players, regulatory approaches, social factors, and rhetoric that affect them. In a changing and dynamic global economy, Haviland’s mission remains constant – to give timely, value-added marketplace insights and foresights.

Leo Haviland has three decades of experience in the Wall Street trading environment. He has worked for Goldman Sachs, Sempra Energy Trading, and other institutions. In his research and sales career in stock, interest rate, foreign exchange, and commodity battlefields, he has dealt with numerous and diverse financial institutions and individuals. Haviland is a graduate of the University of Chicago (Phi Beta Kappa) and the Cornell Law School.


 

Subscribe to Leo Haviland’s BLOG to receive updates and new marketplace essays.

RSS View Leo Haviland's LinkedIn profile View Leo Haviland’s profile





EUROZONE: RUNNING IN CIRCLES © Leo Haviland November 18, 2013

Nevertheless, although the Euro Area “in general” is not entirely out of gas and running on empty, it is running in place. Its economic performance for the next few years probably will be sluggish. There will be little or no economic growth, general government debt will remain quite high, and unemployment will stay very lofty.

The Eurozone economy is going nowhere fast on the road to recovery. Of course differences between individual nations exist; Germany is not Greece.

For the stock arena, take the SXXP index of 600 European stocks (though it includes United Kingdom and other non-Euro Area companies) as a benchmark (Bloomberg symbol is SXXP). This vehicle, like America’s S+P 500, has not moved in a sideways pattern, but instead has (despite some sharp twists and turns) flown sky-high since its 3/9/09 major low at 155.4 (S+P 500 major trough 3/6/09 at 667). The bottom line is that the probable path of European equities probably is closely bound with that of American stocks.

With the SXXP now around 325.0, what’s the rundown on some SXXP levels to monitor? Recall 332.9, the 5/19/08 high. The final top in the S+P 500, after its 10/11/07 pinnacle at 1576, also occurred 5/19/08 (at 1440). If prices fall from current levels, note that twice the 3/9/09 bottom is 310.8; keep an eye on 2/18/11’s 292.2 if prices stumble further. Unlike the S+P 500, the SXXP has not escaped above its 2007 peaks. Are prices for European equities circling back to their former record heights? In any event, if European stock prices venture even higher from current levels, watch 10/11/07’s summit at 391.3 and the major pinnacle of 401.0 on 7/13/07.
11-18

FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW to download this market essay as a PDF file.
Eurozone- Running in Circles (11-18-13)
Chart- German Govt 10 Year Note (for essay, Eurozone- Running in Circles) (11-18-13)