China’s embattled Huawei sues US gov’t for banning firm’s technology: CNN
US sees rising Chinese military activity in the South China Sea: Bloomberg
US senators: Saudi crown prince has gone ‘full gangster’: Reuters
Japan’s Q4 GDP growth revised up: MNI
US service sector growth suggests Fed’s rate pause may end soon: Bloomberg
US trade deficit in goods reached a record level in 2018: WSJ
US private-sector job growth was steady in Feb at 2%-plus annual pace: ADP

Preliminary nowcasts for US economic growth in the first quarter suggest that the slowdown in 2018’s second half will continue, based on a set of estimates compiled by The Capital Spectator. The degree of the deceleration remains open for debate, of course, in part because it’s still early in the current quarter. In addition, survey data for February reflect a pickup in growth in the services sector, which may be an early clue that the macro trend is firming up.
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N. Korea is reportedly rebuilding key missile-test facilities: NY Times
Record number of migrant families arrested at US-Mexico border: WSJ
Trump is pushing negotiators for trade deal with China: Bloomberg
Global economic growth edged up in February: IHS Markit
OECD trims 2019 global economic growth forecast… again: Reuters
New home sales in US rebounded to 7-month high in December: CNBC
US ISM Non-Mfg Index posted strong growth in Feb: Logistics Mgt
US Services PMI: growth picked up to 7-month high in Feb: IHS Markit

The projected risk premium for the Global Market Index (GMI) ticked up in February to an annualized 4.6%, slightly above January’s forecast. Today’s revised estimate for GMI (an unmanaged market-value-weighted portfolio that holds all the major asset classes except cash) reflects the ex ante premium over the projected “risk-free” rate for the long run.
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Trump announces end of US preferential trade treatment for India: Reuters
China lowers 2019 growth target to 6%-6.5%: WSJ
House Democrats are conducting sweeping investigation of Trump world: CNN
Crisis is growing in Canadian Prime Minister’s Trudeau’s government: BBC
Eurozone PMI: sluggish economic growth edged up in February: IHS Markit
Sales of US light trucks and autos fell to 18-month low in January: Argus
10 years ago this week the market hit bottom during the Great Recession: CNBC
US construction spending 1-year growth rate fell to 7-year low in Dec:

In the spring of 2017, Yahoo pulled a fast one on the crowd by suddenly changing the technical coding rules for accessing its financial data, leaving countless R users high and dry, including yours truly. Numerous R files that had been meticulously written, revised and maintained over months and years were suddenly broken. Not fun.
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The major asset classes delivered a mix of gains and losses last week, led by foreign high-yield bonds and foreign stocks in developed markets. Meantime, broadly defined commodities and real estate investment trusts (REITs) in the US posted the biggest losses, based on monitoring markets with a set of exchange-traded funds.
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US and China appear set for trade deal: Reuters
Will Friday’s US jobs report calm worries about the economy? CNBC
Eurozone Mfg PMI: sector contracted in Feb: IHS Markit
Global Mfg PMI dropped to 32-month low in Feb: IHS Markit
US personal income fell in Jan–first monthly loss in 3 years: CNBC
US Consumer Sentiment Index for Feb revised down: Bloomberg
US Mfg PMI dropped to 18-month low in Feb: IHS Markit
ISM Mfg Index for US in Feb eased to lowest print since Nov 2016: CNBC
Consumer spending in US fell sharply in Dec–biggest slide in 9 years: AP

● Behavioral Finance:
What Everyone Needs to Know
By H. Kent Baker, et al.
Summary via publisher (Oxford University Press)
People tend to be penny wise and pound foolish and cry over spilt milk, even though we are taught to do neither. Focusing on the present at the expense of the future and basing decisions on lost value are two mistakes common to decision-making that are particularly costly in the world of finance. Behavioral Finance: What Everyone Needs to Know provides an overview of common shortcuts and mistakes people make in managing their finances. It covers the common cognitive biases or errors that occur when people are collecting, processing, and interpreting information. These include emotional biases and the influence of social factors, from culture to the behavior of one’s peers. These effects vary during one’s life, reflecting differences in due to age, experience, and gender.
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US stocks continued to rebound in 2019, generating the strongest performance for the major asset classes in February. Foreign stocks, high yield bonds and US real estate investment trusts (REITs) also rose while investment-grade bonds in the US and abroad slumped.
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