Month: August 2013

Investor Carl Icahn said he has acquired a ?large? number of Apple shares, stating that they are undervalued and expressing interest in further share buybacks by the Silicon Valley giant. A person familiar with the position said he made a $1 billion investment.

Stock indexes edged higher in afternoon trading, led by gains in technology companies and banks.

William Ackman has resigned from J.C. Penney’s board as part of a deal to resolve a public battle between the activist investor and the struggling department store. Ackman’s departure provides short-term relief from a distraction for Penney while it tries to fix its ailing business as the crucial back-to-school selling season heats up.

The judge overseeing Detroit’s bankruptcy case named a federal judge, Gerald Rosen, as the judicial mediator in the city’s Chapter 9 proceedings, according to a court filing on Tuesday.

J.C. Penney and hedge fund Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman are in talks to resolve their dispute over the leadership of the U.S. retailer.

A report from the Treasury showed that The United States ran a budget deficit in July, although government revenues increased from a year earlier due to tax hikes and a strengthening economy.

A report from the US Treasury showed that the United States ran a budget deficit in July, although government revenues increased from a year earlier due to tax hikes and a strengthening economy.

It has been six years since we last saw a spike in stock buybacks, and it has also been six years since we last saw a market crash. Analyst Steve Hochberg sees this as a sign that a major correction is on the way.

By CountingPips.com

Weekly CFTC Net Speculator Report

10 Year Treasuries: Large trader and speculator positions for 10-year treasury notes in the futures markets fell last week to an overall small bearish position. 10-year treasury contracts decreased to a total net position of -20,096 total contracts in the data reported for August 6th. This is a decline of -31,999 contracts from the previous week’s total of +11,903 net contracts on July 30th. In the same timeframe, the yield on the 10 Year treasury note rose from 2.63 on Tuesday July 30th to 2.67 on Tuesday August 6th, according to US Treasury data.

Last 6 Weeks of Large Trader Positions

*COT explanation: The weekly cot report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

Article by CountingPips.com – Forex News & Market Analysis

By CountingPips.com

The weekly Commitments of Traders (COT) report, released on Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), showed that large futures traders and currency speculators cut back on their bullish bets of the US dollar last week for a third consecutive week.

Non-commercial contracts by large futures traders, including hedge funds and large International Monetary Market speculators, decreased their overall US dollar long positions to a total of $21.62 billion as of Tuesday August 6th. This was a decrease of $2.83 billion from the total long position of $24.45 billion that was registered on July 30th, according to calculations by Reuters that derives this amount by the total of US dollar contracts against the combined contract totals of the euro, British pound, Japanese yen, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc.

US dollar positions have now fallen for three straight weeks and are at the lowest level since June 25th when bets equaled $13.28 billion.

COT explanation: The weekly cot report summarizes the total trader positions for open contracts in the futures trading markets. The CFTC categorizes trader positions according to commercial hedgers (traders who use futures contracts for hedging as part of the business), non-commercials (large traders who speculate to realize trading profits) and nonreportable traders (usually small traders/speculators).

Individual Currencies Large Speculators Positions in Futures:

The large non-commercial net positions for each of the individual major currencies directly against the US dollar last week saw weekly increases for the euro, British pound sterling, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso while the Australian dollar and New Zealand dollar had declining numbers of large speculator positions for the week.

Notable changes: Euro net speculative contracts improved for a fourth straight week and crossed over to a bullish position for the first time since June 25th. Also, the Australian dollar net positions fell to the most bearish position of its recent decline. Despite the weekly drop in futures positions, the Australian dollar rallied in the spot trading market last week which could be a signal that the fresh low in the futures market is a potential near-term bottom for the Aussie.

Individual Currency Charts:

EuroFX:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: EuroFX

British Pound Sterling:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Pound Sterling

Japanese Yen:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Yen

Swiss Franc:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: Franc

Canadian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: CAD

Australian Dollar:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: AUD

New Zealand Dollar:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: NZD

Mexican Peso:

Last Six Weeks of Large Trader Positions: MXN

The Commitment of Traders report is published every Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and shows futures positions data that was reported as of the previous Tuesday (3 days behind).

Each currency contract is a quote for that currency directly against the U.S. dollar, a net short amount of contracts means that more speculators are betting that currency to fall against the dollar and a net long position expect that currency to rise versus the dollar.

(The graphs overlay the forex spot closing price of each Tuesday when COT trader positions are reported for each corresponding spot currency pair.)

See more information and explanation on the weekly COT report from the CFTC website.

Article by CountingPips.com