Gold Prices Hit by Renewed Bets on Higher Yields and Stronger Dollar
Inflation keeps surging to multiyear highs, yet gold can't catch a break.The most actively traded gold futures contract has fallen $79.90, or 4.4%, to $1,727.40 troy ounce in July, on pace for its fourth consecutive month of decline. That would be the longest losing streak for gold since November 2020, after fresh signs of accelerating inflation spurred bets that the Federal Reserve will act aggressively to tame inflation.
Rich Americans Keep Borrowing, Defying Economic Gloom
Wealthy people ramped up borrowing in the first half of the year despite rising rates and a stock-market rout that hit the value of their portfolios.
The wealth-management units at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America Corp. posted double-digit loan growth in the second quarter. The increase came from well-heeled clients taking out mortgages and loans backed by assets like stock-and-bond portfolios, executives said.
There Are Signs Inflation May Have Peaked, but Can It Come Down Fast Enough?
Growing signs that price pressures are easing suggest that June's distressingly high 9.1% increase in consumer prices will probably be the peak. But even if inflation indeed comes down, economists see a slow pace of decline.
Ed Hyman, chairman of Evercore ISI, pointed to many indicators that 9.1% might have been the top. Gasoline prices have fallen around 10% from their mid-June high point of $5.02 a gallon, according to AAA. Wheat futures prices have fallen by 37% since mid-May and corn futures prices are down 27% from mid-June. The cost of shipping goods from East Asia to the U.S. West Coast is 11.4% lower than a month ago, according to Xeneta, a Norway-based transportation-data and procurement firm.
What CEOs Are Saying: 'We See Inflation Deeply Entrenched'
Here is what some of the world's corporate leaders said in their quarterly earnings reports recently about the economy, supply chain, and the advertising and energy markets.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive David Solomon:
China's Rural Banking Smash-Up
A protest by bank depositors in the province of Henan has been put down forcibly. Meanwhile, home buyers with mortgages-but not yet finished apartments-throughout China are making noises about halting payment. For a Chinese economy already in significant trouble, these are eye-opening headlines.
The problems in Henan are partly about a discrete case of financial malfeasance-an investigation by China's banking regulators found that a private investment group called Henan New Wealth Group has been illicitly siphoning off deposits from small banks. But they come against an extremely worrying backdrop. Property prices in small Chinese cities are falling rapidly. Developers, unable to access finance and watching their sales dry up, have halted construction on many presold homes-and the online movement to halt mortgage payments threatens to compound their woes by further spooking banks. All this comes after many small Chinese lenders have seen their capital adequacy levels plummet over the past half decade.
Heat Wave Hits U.S. Farms, Stressing Crops and Ranchers' Herds
Intense heat and dry conditions are stressing U.S. agriculture, threatening corn, soybeans and other crops, as well as cattle herds.
Scorching temperatures this past week have put swaths of the U.S., especially in the South and West, under excessive-heat warnings and advisories. The hot weather is hitting during an important period of the Midwest crop-growing season, analysts said, and just as some commodity prices ease amid concerns about global food supplies.
U.S. Continues to Swelter Under Record-Breaking Heat Wave
More than 85 million people across the U.S. were under heat advisories or excessive heat warnings Sunday as scorching temperatures neared record highs in several areas.
The heat wave brought record-breaking temperatures to the Northeast. In Boston, the temperature hovered at 99 degrees Fahrenheit at midday, breaking the prior record of 98 degrees set on July 24, 1933, according to the National Weather Service.
Gen. Mark Milley Says Chinese Military Aggression Has Worsened
JAKARTA, Indonesia-The Chinese military has become significantly more aggressive and dangerous over the past five years, the top U.S. military officer said during a trip to the Indo-Pacific that included a stop on Sunday in Indonesia.
Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the number of intercepts by Chinese aircraft and ships in the Pacific region with U.S. and other partner forces has increased significantly over that time, and the number of unsafe interactions has risen by similar proportions.
Jan. 6 Committee Plans to Pursue New Witnesses, Angles for Probe, Lawmakers Say
WASHINGTON-Lawmakers on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol are continuing to expand their probe ahead of more hearings in September, as they review more information and new witnesses testify behind closed doors on Capitol Hill.
Rep. Liz Cheney (R., Wyo.), the panel's vice chair, said on CNN's "State of the Union" that the committee has a number of new interviews lined up next, including with additional members of former President Donald Trump's cabinet and his campaign.
Challenges to Gun Laws Take Off, After High Court Ruling
The Supreme Court's ruling in June striking down New York's system for issuing concealed-weapons permits has already touched off a new wave of legal challenges against a range of firearms restrictions.
The 6-3 decision rejected a legal test that many lower courts have used to uphold various bans on semiautomatic weapons and limits on who can own them. Justices instructed courts to use a different standard that has effectively called into question a swath of prior rulings on gun regulations.
Pritzker, Newsom Boost Profiles as Many Democrats Look Beyond Biden for 2024
WASHINGTON-Two prominent Democratic governors are expanding their national profile with political activity outside of their home states, moves that come as many Democratic voters look for alternatives to President Biden as the party standard-bearer in 2024.
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, a Democrat running for re-election this year, has spent time away from his home state to rally Democrats in Maine, New Hampshire and most recently Florida, where he gave the keynote address at an annual party gala last week.
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Earnings:
Celestica 2Q
Copper Mountain Mining 2Q
Newmont 2Q
Economic Indicators:
None scheduled
Expected Major Events for Monday
05:30/JPN: Jun Tokyo area department store sales
05:30/JPN: Jun Nationwide department store sales
08:00/GER: Jul Ifo Business Climate Index
10:00/UK: Jul CBI Industrial Trends Survey
12:30/US: Jun CFNAI Chicago Fed National Activity Index
14:30/US: Jul Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey
23:01/UK: Jun Zoopla House Price Index
23:50/JPN: Jun Services Producer Price Index
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Expected Earnings for Monday
ATI Physical Therapy Inc (ATIP) is expected to report for 2Q.
Agile Therapeutics Inc (AGRX) is expected to report for 2Q.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc (ARE) is expected to report $0.56 for 2Q.
American Campus Communities Inc (ACC) is expected to report $0.04 for 2Q.
Bank Of Marin Bancorp (BMRC) is expected to report $0.65 for 2Q.
Bank of Hawaii Corp (BOH) is expected to report $1.35 for 2Q.
Brandywine Realty Trust (BDN) is expected to report $0.03 for 2Q.
Brown & Brown (BRO) is expected to report $0.49 for 2Q.
Cadence Bank (CADE) is expected to report for 2Q.
Community Bank System (CBU) is expected to report $0.76 for 2Q.
Copper Mountain (CMMC.T,CPPMF) is expected to report $0.06 for 2Q.
Covenant Logistics Group Inc (CVLG) is expected to report $1.24 for 2Q.
Dorman Products (DORM) is expected to report $1.35 for 2Q.
Dynex Capital (DX) is expected to report for 2Q.
Esquire Financial Holdings Inc (ESQ) is expected to report $0.71 for 2Q.
Grupo Aeroportuario del Sureste SAB de CV - ADR (ASR,ASUR.MX) is expected to report $6.89 for 2Q.
HBT Financial Inc (HBT) is expected to report for 2Q.
Heartland Express (HTLD) is expected to report $0.25 for 2Q.
Hexcel Corp (HXL) is expected to report $0.31 for 2Q.
HomeStreet Inc (HMST) is expected to report $0.96 for 2Q.
KS Bancorp Inc (KSBI) is expected to report for 2Q.
Kaiser Aluminum (KALU) is expected to report $0.75 for 2Q.
Lakeland Financial (LKFN) is expected to report $0.96 for 2Q.
Ledyard Financial Group (LFGP) is expected to report for 2Q.
Medpace Holdings Inc (MEDP) is expected to report $1.34 for 2Q.
Newmont Corp (NEM) is expected to report $0.89 for 2Q.
Northwest Bancshares Inc (NWBI) is expected to report $0.22 for 2Q.
Packaging Corporation Of America (PKG) is expected to report $2.85 for 2Q.
Peoples Bancorp of NC (PEBK) is expected to report for 2Q.
PotlatchDeltic Corp (PCH) is expected to report $1.42 for 2Q.
RPM International Inc (RPM) is expected to report $1.43 for 4Q.
RenaissanceRe Holdings (RNR) is expected to report $0.00 for 2Q.
Sierra Bancorp (BSRR) is expected to report $0.59 for 2Q.
SmartFinancial Inc (SMBK) is expected to report $0.61 for 2Q.
Southside Bancshares (SBSI) is expected to report $0.75 for 2Q.
Squarespace Inc (SQSP) is expected to report for 2Q.
Sun Communities Inc (SUI) is expected to report for 2Q.
WSFS Financial (WSFS) is expected to report $0.92 for 2Q.
Washington Trust Bancorp Inc (WASH) is expected to report $0.91 for 2Q.
Whirlpool Corp (WHR) is expected to report $5.52 for 2Q.
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ANALYST RATINGS ACTIONS
1Life Healthcare Cut to Equal-Weight From Overweight by Barclays
1Life Healthcare Cut to Neutral From Buy by BTIG
1Life Healthcare Cut to Neutral From Buy by Citigroup
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07-25-22 0526ET
