Data released after hours on Wednesday shows that the slowdown
in China continues, as shown on the graph below.

As I mentioned in my post of August 15th, China's Shanghai Index is struggling
to stabilize at three-year lows. Without a sizeable pickup in demand for its
products, any temporary stimulus measures that its Central Bank may employ may
not have much effect. This is a major player in the global economic slowdown
that is currently unfolding, and is one to watch over the coming weeks.

FCX could see relief from lower dollar, rising metals prices & prospect of very aggressive QE — but technical pattern argues against climb beyond 40.

Originally published on MPTrader.com.

Data released today (Thursday) shows that consumers in
the Eurozone are growing ever-more uncomfortable, as shown on the graph
below.

Since Consumer Confidence is a "leading indicator of consumer
spending, which accounts for a majority of overall economic activity," and they
are approaching the 2009 lows, this does not match the buoyant signals that the
European markets have been sending/portraying. As they are major importers of
Chinese products, this will, no doubt, continue to impact China's slowing
economy, as mentioned in my last post.