02Jun2017 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Near Historic Highs, DOW Up 62 Points, US Dollar Down Near Session Lows, Gold Trending Upwards

U.S. job growth slows; unemployment rate drops to 4.3 percent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job growth slowed in May and employment gains in the prior two months were not as strong as previously reported, suggesting the labor market was losing momentum despite the unemployment rate falling to a 16-year low of 4.3 percent.

Wall Street shrugs off jobs report to hit records as tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks advanced to record levels for a second straight session on Friday as a lukewarm jobs report was offset by gains in industrial and technology stocks.

Big U.S. companies stay on White House panel despite climate jolt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several major U.S. companies, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc and IBM Corp , on Friday said their CEOs will remain in an influential presidential advisory group despite objecting to President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.

Buffalo Wild Wings CEO to retire as activist Marcato wins board seats

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Buffalo Wild Wings Inc said on Friday that Chief Executive Officer Sally Smith would retire before the end of the year, a move that came as shareholders voted three activist hedge fund nominees onto the company’s board.

Boeing delays delivery of third 737 MAX jetliner

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co said on Friday it had delayed the delivery of its third 737 MAX jetliner, set for next week to Norwegian Air Shuttle , a move that comes after a brief delay in delivery of the first MAX last month.

Akzo responds to PPG approach after takeover battle ends

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Akzo Nobel, the Dutch paint maker that rejected a 26.3 billion-euro ($29.6 billion) takeover proposal from U.S. rival PPG Industries , has sent PPG a letter shortly after its suitor walked away, detailing its objections to doing a deal.

Morgan Stanley shuffles wealth management unit

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley has shuffled its wealth unit, eliminating a layer of management and promoting two key executives, according to a memo reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

Lawsuit accusing Whole Foods of overcharging is revived: U.S. appeals court

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal appeals court on Friday ordered Whole Foods Market Inc to face a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing it of overcharging shoppers in New York City by overstating the weight of pre-packaged food in its supermarkets.

Alibaba’s Jack Ma invited to join bid for L’Oreal’s The Body Shop: sources

LONDON (Reuters) – European private equity firm Investindustrial has invited the investment vehicle of Alibaba’s founder Jack Ma to join a consortium offering to buy L’Oreal’s The Body Shop for more than 800 million euros ($900 million), sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Putin: “In Moscow It’s Snowing; Now We Could Blame This On American Imperialism”

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday during a panel at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that the US investigations into whether the Kremlin meddled in the US election are nothing more than “hysteria,” and that the anti-Russia sentiment in the US was about as virulent as anti-semitism.

“It’s like saying everything is the Jews’ fault,” said Putin, who said the blame for Hillary Clinton’s November loss lies squarely at the feet of the Democratic presidential candidate and members of her party, according to a report by Fox News.

“This reminds me of anti-Semitism,” Putin said. “The Jews are to blame for everything. An idiot cannot do anything himself, so the Jews are to blame. But we know what such attitudes lead to. They end with nothing good.”

Putin, who was being interviewed by NBC’s Megyn Kelly, brushed off questions about meetings that members of the Trump campaign — including then-Sen. Jeff Sessions – had with Russian officials, including ambassador Sergey Kislyak.

“So our ambassador met someone. That’s his job. That’s why we pay him,” Putin said. “So what? What’s he supposed to do, hit up the bars?” Putin later described the focus on Kislyak’s comments as “nonsense.”

Putin turned even more combative when Kelly touched on the subject of Russian foreign news coverage spreading “disinformation.” Putin accused her “colleagues” of dragging …

Raoul Pal Slams Bitcoin: “It’s Not The Store of Value People Thought It Was”

Interested in precious metals investing or storage? Contact us HERE

Gymboree Misses Interest Payment, Prepares For Bankruptcy Filing

Another company on the infamous Fitch “retail death list” has taken its first step toward bankruptcy.

On Thursday, distressed children’s clothing retailer Gymboree elected not to make the interest payment due June 1 on its outstanding 9.125% notes due in 2018, Debtwire reported, with Moody’s downgrading the company to D from CC on Friday, as it does not expect Gymboree to make the interest payment, “or any other payments on its debt obligations, and sees a general default given ongoing lender negotiations.”

While not exactly news – the WSJ previewed the inevitable Chapter 11 at the beginning of May – a Gymboree bankruptcy filing is now assured over the next month, and certainly by July 1 when the grace period expires. In March, the company posted a $324.9 million loss for its fiscal second quarter; same-store sales fell 5% in the period while EBITDA crashed.

In early May, the WSJ reported that Gymboree was looking to close 350 of its 1,200 stores as part of a broader restructuring under Chapter 11 protection. Buckling under its debt, the company has been in talks with its lenders who may or may not agree on a prepackaged bankruptcy. According to the WSJ, the company has contacted firms known for liquidating inventories and other assets during store closures.

Gymboree was taken private in a $1.8 LBO buyout by Bain Capital in 2010, at which point the PE firm stripped out the assets, and loaded the company up with debt, $1.06 billion as of June 28, an amount company founder Joan Barnes described to Bloomberg as “horrendous.” Meanwhile, LTM EBITDA was cut by more than half from t …

Clash Between Qatar And The Saudis Could Threaten OPEC Deal

Authored by Cyril Widderhoven via OilPrice.com,

The cohesion of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which includes all Arab Gulf countries, seems to be cracking.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Anwar Gargash, openly stated that the GCC was facing a major crisis, as Qatar seems to be opening up to Iran. Gargash made his comments on Twitter less than a week after Saudi Arabia and the UAE signaled frustration at Qatar. The simmering conflict between the UAE and Saudi Arabia on one side and Qatar on the other has again been heating up after the Qatar’s News Agency (QNA) was purportedly hacked, spreading remarks by Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani which criticized Gulf rhetoric against Iran and suggested strains between the Emir and U.S. President Donald Trump. Qatar has vehemently denied these quotes, but the Saudi, Emirati and Egyptian governments have reacted by blocking Qatari news sites and TV stations, including Al Jazeera.

The crisis between Qatar and its GCC neighbors, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain, emerged shortly after Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, visited Saudi Arabia for the meeting between the heads of state of most Islamic countries and U.S. president Trump. During these meetings, as indicated by Arab sources, Sheikh Tamim has called Iran a force of stability. The latter is remarkable as most statements made to the press during the Riyadh Summit indicated that all attending countries agreed to keep Iran in poli …

If Jobs are Plentiful, How Come No One is Getting a Raise?

The unemployment rate keeps grinding lower, which normally results in rapidly rising wages as companies struggle to find workers. So far, it hasn’t.

RH’s First Restoration Task: Trust

RH’s move to lower guidance only two months after issuing it undermines its management’s credibility with investors.

China Is a Highly Suspect Leader on Climate Change

The world’s largest carbon emitter is now titular leader of the Paris accord’s climate efforts—but until China fixes distortions in its power sector, foreigners will find profit opportunities limited.

Market Extra: Stock market and bonds are rallying at the same time, and it’s befuddling investors

The stock market is surging to records on Friday, while government bonds are in rally mode, pushing long-dated Treasury yields to their lowest levels in seven months, marking a puzzling dynamic on Wall Street.

Gymboree is closer to bankruptcy after skipping interest payment

Children’s clothing retailer opted not to make an interest payment due Thursday on $171 million of 9.125% bonds that mature in 2018.

Three miners back Trump on Paris accord withdrawal as others criticize decision

Miners Cliffs Natural Resources, Murray Energy, and Peabody Energy were among the few companies to step forward in support of Trump’s decision to leave the Paris climate-change deal.