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Our Two Cents – Week of 5/14/12

Rain, rain, go away. While Boston has been under rain showers for the past week, and recovering from the Celtics loss May 14, we drizzled some of the top headlines from the financial markets into this week’s roundup.

In the U.S. the economy continues to show signs of improvement. Jobless claims now stand at 367,000—1,000 less than last week, and job openings in March are the highest in almost four years, as employers advertised 3.74 million job openings. Additionally, economic confidence remains steady at -18, up slightly from the previous week and slightly better than the -20 average for the month of April.

In the eurozone, the German economy grew by 0.5 percent in Q1 2012 after it contracted 0.2 percent in Q4 2011. Economists predicted a growth rate of 0.1 percent, and some experts speculated Germany—the economic backbone of Europe—could help save the eurozone from recession. Macroscopically for the eurozone, economists predicted an economic growth of 1 percent for 2013, with the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn saying “a recovery is in sight” for the area. After Greece entered its second week without a government, the European Commission hoped the country would remain part of the eurozone, not withdrawing from the region and returning to its drachma form of currency.

For hedge funds, they saw an inflows increase of 1.24 percent so far in May, according to the GlobeOp Capital Movement Index.

• German Economy Grows Fast in Q1 2012 – 0.5%, Forex Crunch, May 15, 2012
• EU Commission wants Greece to stay in euro zone, Reuters, May 14, 2012
• Hedge Funds See Inflows Of 1.24% In May, FINalternatives, May 11, 2012
• Eurozone economy to shrink by 0.3%, EU Commission says, BBC, May 11, 2012
• US Jobless Claims Remain Low, Forex Crunch, May 10, 2012
• March job openings were the highest in almost four years, USA Today, May 8, 2012
• U.S. Economic Confidence Steady at Relatively Improved Level, Gallup, March 8, 2012

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