Refco Unlikely To Survive Fraud
The news surrounding the unraveling
of Refco
(
RFX |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) continued to worsen today as the Depository Trust and
Clearing Corp. announced that Refco Securities LLC will wind down positions in proprietary
and customer accounts.
This follows yesterday’s announcement by the Chicago
Mercantile Exchange
(
CME |
Quote |
Chart |
News |
PowerRating) that the CME is prohibiting Refco LLC from
withdrawing capital without CME permission. Standard and Poor’s announced that
this news indicates a technical default by Refco Group “on its rated debt is
almost certain to occur and that a payment default is highly likely due to Refco
Group’s negative tangible net worth and the deterioration of its franchise.”
Today’s calendar was packed with economic news that was, for
the most part, well received by the equity futures markets. Stock indexes ended
their negative run by posting decent gains today, closing at the highs of the
days.
Inflation, as measured by the CPI, rose more than expected but
the core rate (excluding food and energy) fell. The raw retail sales number also
disappointed but the ex-autos number came in better than forecast. Industrial
production fell by the steepest margin in 23-years and the preliminary reading
for consumer sentiment also came in below estimates leading to a pullback in
stock index futures.
The US Dollar Index and treasury prices both fell following
today’s economic data.
Among the energies, only natural gas closed higher but crude
oil, unleaded gas and heating oil all managed to close well above their intraday
lows.
The grains and livestock were lower, softs were mixed, metals
closed lower with the exception of silver.
TradingMarkets Commodities Watch List
| Commodity (Symbol) |
Price | Price Change | % Change |
|
Energies |
|||
| Crude Oil (CL) | 62.00 | -0.61 |
-0.97 |
| Heating Oil (HO) | 199.00 | -4.42 |
-2.17 |
| Unleaded Gas (HU) | 176.50 | -1.86 |
-1.04 |
| Natural Gas (NG) | 14.20 | +0.07 |
+0.50 |
|
Metals |
|||
| Gold (GC) | 471.80 | -2.00 |
-0.42 |
| Silver (SI) | 786.20 | +12.70 |
+1.64 |
| Copper (HG) | 175.65 | -0.85 |
-0.48 |
|
Grains |
|||
|
Corn (C) |
203.50 | 0.00 |
0.00 |
| Wheat (W) | 339.00 | -3.50 |
-1.02 |
| Soybeans (S) | 589.50 | +1.25 |
+0.21 |
|
Softs |
|||
| Sugar (SB) | 11.67 | -0.02 |
-0.17 |
| Coffee (KC) | 99.65 | -0.70 |
-0.70 |
| Cocoa (CC) | 1408.00 | +39.00 |
+2.85 |
| Frozen Orange Juice (JO) | 103.50 | -0.50 |
-0.48 |
| Cotton (CT) | 56.93 | +0.75 |
+1.33 |
| Lumber (LB) | 281.70 | -1.80 |
-0.63 |
|
Livestock |
|||
| Lean Hogs (LH) | 61.50 | -1.02 |
-1.64 |
| Live Cattle (LC) | 89.58 | -2.38 |
-2.58 |
Economic News
Consumer Price Index:
CPI, M/M Change – Actual 1.2% Consensus 0.9
CPI (excl. food & energy), M/M Change – Actual 0.1% Consensus 0.3%
Retail Sales:
Retail Sales, M/M Change – Actual 0.2% Consensus 0.3%
Retail Sales (excl. autos), M/M Change – Actual 1.1% Consensus 0.5%
Industrial Production:
Industrial Production, M/M Change – Actual -1.3% Consensus -0.4%
Capacity Utilization, M/M Change – Actual 78.6% Consensus 79.4%
University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment:
Sentiment Index (p) – Actual 75.4 Consensus 79.4
Treasury Budget:
Actual $35.8 Bln Consensus $36.0 Bln
Ashton Dorkins