Frontrunning: January 4

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 01/04/2012 07:29 -0500

• China
• CPI
• Eurozone
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• MF Global
• recovery
• Reuters

• Iowa result leads to GOP confusion (FT)
• Romney ekes out Iowa caucus victory (FT)
• MF Global sold assets to Goldman before collapse (Reuters)
• China’s Wen Jiacao sees ‘relatively difficult’ first quarter (Bloomberg)
• German Scandal Adds to Pressure on Merkel (WSJ)
• US mortgage demand fell at year-end, purchases sag (Reuters)
• Bank worries hit Europe stocks, euro down (Reuters)
• Martin Wolf: The 2012 recovery: handle with care (FT)
• SNB Chief’s Wife Defends Dollar Trades (Bloomberg)
• China Home Prices Slide Amid Reserve-Ratio Speculation (Bloomberg)
• Analysis: Obama among the winners in Iowa (Reuters)

European Economic Data:

• Eurozone PMI Composite 48.3 – higher than expected. Consensus 47.9. Previous 47.9.
• Eurozone PMI Services 48.8 – higher than expected. Consensus  48.3. Previous 48.3.
• Eurozone CPI Estimate 2.80% - in line with expectations. Consensus 2.80%. Previous 3.00%.
• Germany PMI Services for December 52.4 – lower than expected. Consensus 52.7. Previous 52.7.
• France Consumer Spending for November -0.1% m/m -2.1% y/y – lower than expected. Consensus 0.4% m/m -1.8% y/y. Previous 0.0% m/m -0.9% y/y.
• France PMI Services for December 50.3 – higher than expected. Consensus 50.2. Previous 50.2.
• Italy PMI Services for December 44.5 – lower than expected. Consensus 45.3. Previous 45.8.
• Italy CPI - EU Harmonized for December 0.3% m/m 3.7% y/y – higher than expected. Consensus 0.2% m/m 3.5% y/y. Previous -0.1% m/m  3.7% y/y.