24Mar2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Looks Like Markets Will Flatline

Written by Gary

Although global markets are marginally in the red, there seems little dynamics today to move the markets much in any direction. USA futures are marginally in the green, whilst gold is off a few bucks and oil is up a few cents.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are lower today with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 is down 0.51% while Germany’s DAX is off 0.17% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.12%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Healthcare vote delay worries stocks, dollar LONDON (Reuters) – All eyes in global financial markets were fixed on stuttering Republican efforts to pass a replacement for Obamacare on Friday, with failure likely to undermine faith in Donald Trump’s promise to deliver a “phenomenal” U.S. tax reform.
	All drill, no frack: U.S. shale leaves thousands of wells unfinished NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. shale producers are drilling at the highest rate in 18 months but have left a record number of wells unfinished in the largest oilfield in the country – a sign that output may not rise as swiftly as drilling activity would indicate.
	PPG to make case for Akzo acquisition to Dutch government officials AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The chief executive of U.S. paint maker PPG meets Dutch government officials on Friday to make the case for its proposed 22.7 billion euro ($24.5 billion) takeover of Dutch peer AkzoNobel .
	YouTube’s bid to grab TV dollars imperiled by advertiser revolt (Reuters) – The decision by a handful of high-profile consumer brands to pull advertising from Google’s YouTube over offensive content could threaten the site’s long-term strategy of stealing ad dollars from television, analysts and ad industry professionals said Thursday.
	German environmental lobby sues motor authority over VW scandal HAMBURG/BERLIN (Reuters) – German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) has filed a suit against German motor authority KBA, accusing it of failing to act robustly enough over Volkswagen’s diesel emissions scandal.
	Twitter explores subscription-based option for first time SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Twitter Inc is considering whether to build a premium version of its popular Tweetdeck interface aimed at professionals, the company said on Thursday, raising the possibility that it could collect subscription fees from some users for the first time.
	How a border tax could divide Boeing and its suppliers SEATTLE (Reuters) – A U.S. tax overhaul proposed by Republican leaders in Congress would deepen divisions between big manufacturers like Boeing Co and the thousands of smaller companies that supply them, according to suppliers and tax and trade experts.
	Oil edges up as Saudis cut supplies to U.S., but global glut remains SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Oil prices edged up on Friday, supported by a fall in Saudi exports to the United States, but overall markets remained under pressure on the back of a world market awash with fuel.
	Samsung Elec rejects calls for holding company structure, for now SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd on Friday said it will not adopt a holding company structure for now, rejecting demands from U.S. activist hedge fund Elliott Management and putting off a long-anticipated restructuring.
	NSA To Provide “Smoking Gun” Proof Obama Spied On Trump Yesterday, Republican Devin Nunez Nunes held an explosive press conference outside the White House in which he told reporters that communications from the Trump team were picked up and disseminated within the government during the 2016 campaign. Not surprisingly, the comments ruffled some liberal feathers and the mainstream media launched an immediate smear campaign calling for Nunes to resign his post immediately. Now, according to Fox News sources, congressional investigators expect that a potential “smoking gun” from the NSA establishing that the Obama administration spied on the Trump transition team, and possibly the president-elect himself, will be produced to the House Intelligence Committee as early as tomorrow. The intelligence is said to leave no doubt the Obama administration, in its closing days, was using the cover of legitimate surveillance on foreign targets to spy on President-elect Trump, according to sources. The FBI hasn’t been responsive to the House Intelligence Committee’s request for documents, but the National Security Agency is expected to produce documents to the committee by Friday. The NSA document production is expected to produce more intelligence than Nunes has so far seen or described – including what one source described as a potential “smoking gun” establishing the spying. Classified intelligence showing incidental collection of Trump team communications, purportedly seen by committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., and described by him in vague terms at a bombshell Wednesday afternoon news conference, came from multiple sources,
	Swedes Begin Construction Of Police Fortress In “Little Mogadishu” Rinkeby is a suburban housing estate near Stockholm, where the Swedish welfare state keeps a large number of unassimilated migrants. 90% of the population is non-Swedish and many of these are Somalians given to crime and rioting. Some may remember it from the riots confirming President Trump’s fears about Sweden… In June 2010, Rinkeby was the scene of riots and attacks against the local police station and Rinkeby is the region in which the ’60 Minutes’ crew were attacked in 2016. The problems Sweden faces integrating large numbers of Muslim immigrants is a subject on which Nordstjernan columnist Ulf Nilson has written many times. His warnings of increasing radicalization among Sweden’s Muslims – warnings he started to broadcast a decade ago – now seem eerily prophetic in light of an Associated Press investigation that found Stockholm to be a breeding ground for jihadists among Swedish Somalis.
	16 Years Of European Terrorism In One Chart Europe has suffered many Islamist terrorist attacks in recent years, but before the assault on Charlie Hebdo, only two of them caused more than ten deaths: the Madrid train attack in May 2004 and the London tube and bus bombings 14 months later. Since then, and the beginning of the global ‘war on terror’, things have become exponentially worse… Mission Accomplished?
	Russia Warns Norway Over Missile Defense Plans Authored by Alex Gorka via The Strategic Culture Foundation, Russia has warned Norway over consequences of joining NATO ballistic missile defense (BMD) plans. According to Russian ambassador to Oslo, Moscow will retaliate. Norway’s possible accession to NATO’s missile shield «will be a new factor that will be considered in our strategic planning as the emergence of an additional problem in the Arctic region», Teimuraz Ramishvili told the Norwegian state media network NRK. In 2017, Norway may become a part of BMD. The Norwegian government has appointed an expert group to consider a possible Norwegian contribution to the missile shield. A detailed report on the issue is currently being prepared by experts from the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment and the US Missile Defense Agency to be submitted the year.
	How to Beat Tesla? Mercedes and BMW Take Different Roads Mercedes-maker Daimler has outperformed BMW in recent years, but the companies’ contrasting electric-vehicle strategies could mark a new turning point
	Why China’s Latest Cash Crunch Is Scarier This Time China’s short-term borrowing costs are surging again. This time round, the problem has become even more complex.
	Giant ‘Bad Bank’ Won’t Solve Europe’s Problems The European Central Bank is demanding lenders deal with their bad loans. But a proposal for a continentwide bad bank seems unlikely to be the solution.
	Rail Week Ending 18 March 2017: Short Term Rate of Growth Slowing Week 11 of 2017 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data.
	There’s been a surge of ‘deaths of despair’ among white middle-aged Americans Causes of death include drugs and suicide, as well as heart disease and cancer
	Market Snapshot: U.S. stock futures set course for worst week since November as Trump doubts niggle U.S. stock futures are clinging onto gains early Friday, but the Dow industrial and S&P 500 indexes are facing their worst week since before the U.S. election amid a difficult week for politics.
	The 3 things you should know about your credit score after Experian’s $3 million fine Recent cases against credit reporting agencies have likely confused consumers.