THURSDAY 5/29/14; GDP; SPX and TRAN New All-Time Intraday and Closing Highs

Japan retail sales disappoint falling more than expected at a negative pace not seen in four years. Fast Retailing and Aeon lose their shirts both down about -1%. China stocks float higher as fiscal and monetary policies remain on a steady course. The Chinese Yuan continues to hover around multi-week lows near 6.2623. Iron ore prices continue to collapse dragging Aussie mining stocks lower. Philippines growth is disappointing at 5.7% when over 6.4% was expected so its stock index falls -1%. India’s Infosys continues to lose top executives as the internal fight for the lead CEO position continues. Asia is in a wait and see mode for US GDP due out in a few hours.

Germany’s Merkel meets with the leaders of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia in preparation for the signing of association agreements in the weeks ahead. The trouble in Ukraine began once an association was formed with the EU and West. Russia then stepped up aggression to stop the creep of the EU towards Russia. Merkel stresses the importance of countries determining their own fates. She says the ongoing and threat of future sanctions are successful and Russian troop aggression is stalled at the East Ukraine border. Russia’s largest lender Sberbank drops -0.7% after reporting lackluster earnings and an increase in bad loans. The IMF says Russia is in recession.

At 2 AM EST, the 2-year Treasury yield is 0.37%. The 5-year yield is 1.49%, 10-year 2.43% and 30-year 3.29%. The dollar/yen is 101.67 moving lower as the euro weakness creates yen strength. US futures are flat to higher. S&P +2. Gold drops to 1252.

At 3 AM, European indexes open mixed .......





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Google begins complying with the European ‘right to be forgotten’ rule and provides a web page where folks can request that links to their personal information not be used in search results. Larry Page says he wishes he would have talked to officials years ago when Google was developing search tools but plans to now become “more European.”

Phablets account for 11% of smartphone sales and is growing stronger. Last year phablets made up less than 4% of smartphone sales. People want the larger screens for hand-held devices. AAPL’s Eddy Cue that heads up the software and services division says that this year Apple will release the best product line in 25 years. He has raised the bar so AAPL must deliver as the year proceeds.

Another near-miss airliner mishap occurs in the States with two airplanes passing within a couple hundred feet of each other narrowly avoiding a crash. This is the fourth near-miss in the skies in the last month. If you fly, make sure your insurance policy is paid up. In the Ukraine civil war, a Ukraine helicopter is shot down killing 14 troops and a general. The US says the pro-Russian separatists are using advanced weaponry that is supplied by Russia. Large-scale fighting is ongoing in East Ukraine.