Weekly Investment Commentary from Bob Doll | Nuveen

Key points from Bob Doll’s weekly investment summary:

  • We believe U.S. economic growth should rebound in the second quarter and corporate earnings will remain solid.
  • Investors remain uneasy about global macro conditions, but we believe the backdrop remains supportive for equities.
  • We may be seeing a transition in global equity leadership from the United States to Europe and select emerging markets.

Contrast this with Philip Parker’s outlook at Altair Investments.

Read more at: Weekly Investment Commentary from Bob Doll | Nuveen

Germany: DAX retraces

Germany’s DAX is retracing to test its new support level at 12400/12500. Rising Twiggs Money Flow signals long-term buying pressure. Respect of support is likely and would confirm a primary advance, with a target of 13400*.

DAX

* Target calculation: 12400 + ( 12400 – 11400 ) = 13400

Footsie powers on

Sterling weakened against the Euro, with GBPEUR headed for a test of primary support at 1.135/1.140. Breach would signal a fresh decline to test the 2016 low at 1.100.

GBPEUR

The FTSE 100 shrugged this off, advancing towards its medium-term target of 7700*. Rising Twiggs Money Flow indicates long-term buying pressure.

FTSE 100

* Target: 7400 + ( 7400 – 7100 ) = 7700

Footsie retraces

The FTSE 100 is retracing to test the new support level at 7400. Respect is likely and would indicate an advance to 7700*. Declining Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term selling pressure but the long-term signal remains bullish.

FTSE 100

* Target: 7400 + ( 7400 – 7100 ) = 7700

Europe advances

Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50, representing the top 50 stocks in the European Monetary Union, continues its advance. Rising Twiggs Money Flow signals strong long-term buying pressure.

Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50

Footsie breakout

The FTSE 100 broke through resistance at 7400, signaling a fresh advance. Another Twiggs Money Flow trough above zero confirms long-term buying pressure.

FTSE 100

Footsie bounce

The FTSE 100 rallied off support at 7100. Breakout above 7400 would signal a fresh advance. Declining Twiggs Money Flow indicates medium-term selling pressure; the long-term signal, however, remains bullish.

FTSE 100

Europe strengthens

Germany’s DAX broke through resistance from its 2015 high, signaling a fresh advance with a long-term target of 15000.

DAX

France’s CAC-40 index displays a similar bullish breakout, above resistance at 5000/5200 to offer a target of 6000.

CAC-40

Echoes of the Past: Syria, Chemical Weapons, and Civilian Targeting

Everyone should read this as a reminder of the brutality that states may employ for political ends, whether Ethiopia (1935), Chechnya (1995), Iraq (1998) or Syria (2017). Chemical weapons such as sarin or mustard gas leave horrific injuries, but any deliberate targeting of civilians — such as bombing of hospitals and residential neighborhoods — should IMO be treated as a war crime.

Luke O’Brien is a U.S. Army officer assigned to Aberdeen Proving Ground and is currently a Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Graduate Fellow at National Defense University:

…..Perhaps the most notorious example of this from recent memory, however, was the Iraqi chemical attack on the Kurdish town of Halabja in March 1988, as part of the Anfal Campaign at the end of the Iran-Iraq War. This attack struck the small Kurdish village with both conventional and chemical bombs, including sarin, just as Assad’s forces would nearly 30 years later. The first attacks used normal high-explosive bombs, which both drove civilians into basement shelters as well as broke open the villages windows and doors. These initials attacks were then followed up with chemical munitions, which quickly filled the basement shelters and killed their occupants.

Such brutality was intentional. The attacks were intended to break the back of the Kurdish peshmerga militia by depopulating its support. Commenting on the matter at the time, Iraqi Gen. Ali Hassan al-Majid bragged that he would “kill [all the Kurds] with chemical weapons.” The chemical bombardment of Halabja had its desired effect, with a stream of surviving civilians abandoning the town and fleeing to nearby Iran. This use of chemical weapons, moreover, had another added benefit: driving away civilians and insurgents who had become numb to the effects of conventional weapons…..

Read more at: Echoes of the Past: Syria, Chemical Weapons, and Civilian Targeting

Euro Stoxx signal fresh advance

Spurred by a favorable result in the first round of French elections, Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 broke resistance at 3500 and is likely to test the 2015 high of 3800. Rising troughs on Twiggs Money Flow indicate strong buying pressure.

Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50

Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 represents 50 of the largest, mainly industrial, stocks in the Euro monetary area.