Bloomberg: China Retail sales -11.1% YoY; estimate -6.6%; Worst since May of 2002 Industrial output = -2.9% YoY; estimate +0.5%; Worst Since 1990's USD.CNH shooting up. This is COVID related and will have reverberations globally. Markets now down - rates down, oil down, etc. Bloomberg "Can we call this a shocker?"
North Korea COVID-19: there were 402,920 new cases of fever, 152,600 people recovered, and 8 people died. From the end of last April until 18:00 on May 15th, the total number of sick people nationwide was 1,213,550. The total number of deaths so far is 50. http://
https://t.co/huH8tH3qW228d
9cab30137c627964e50ea2f42487.kcmsf
Banks are really starting to look reasonable:
VFH Vanguard Financial Sector ETF hitting January 2021 levels. P/E 9.8 and Price / Book 1.6.
JPM P/E 8.6 Pr/Bk 1.3
BAC P/E 9.8 Pr/Bk 1.2
DB P/E 9.2 Pr/Bk 0.3
CMA P/E 10.2 Pr/Bk 1.5
MS P/E 9.8 Pr/Bk 1.4
CB P/E 10.8 Pr/Bk 1.5
SIVB P/E 14.4 Pr/Bk 2
Not that they can't get way Dover Sole from here but unless we looking at a 2008 level financial crisis some of the better quality names may soon be worth a look.
Have you checked out Interactive Brokers? They charge 0.20 basis points for under a million ($2.00 minimum for the first $100,000) and the rates go down after a million:
https://investors.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=1590&p=fx
Alternately your can attach an FX market order to a trade when buying securities in other countries:
https://www.interactivebrokers.com/en/index.php?f=47638
Per Le Salon Beige:
Ukraine has lost
- the north of the Luhansk region, except for Lisichansk/Severodonetsk
- almost the entire south of the Donetsk region, except for boilers in Volnovakha and Mariupol
- Sumy region
- The northern half of the Kiev region, up to the agglomeration of Kyiv
- the northern half of the Chernihiv region
- half of the Kharkov region and half of Kharkov itself
- the southern half of the Zaporozhye region
- Kherson region
They are in desperate need nationwide of UAVs / drones, fuel, ammunition, [artillery and tanks in the SE specifically].
UAVs /drones are particularly effective against long columns as we are currently seeing streaming in.
Bloomberg Simon Fling: Rouble is going to trade over 90, currently above 110 doesn't appear to be traded [looking beat].
[Currently trading on the futures market at 117 over 39% down vs. the USD].
Bloomberg hosts: tossed up arms
Bloomberg guest David Ingles: We're short Roubles [looking upbeat].
Draw your own conclusions.
Russian central bank - which the US and EU decided will be sanctioned and as a result all transactions will be banned - has ordered market players to reject foreign clients' bids to sell Russian securities from 0400 GMT on Monday