28Jun2017 Market Close: Wall Street Investors Happy Over Huge Jump In Markets Led By Financial And Tech Stocks, WTI Crude Settles Higher In The High 44 Handle

Banks, tech stocks lead broad Wall St. rebound

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 on Wednesday was on pace for its biggest one-day percentage gain in about two months as financial and tech stocks led a broad market rebound.

Meal-kit maker Blue Apron slashes IPO price as Amazon looms

(Reuters) – Blue Apron Holdings Inc sharply lowered the expected price range for its initial public offering on Wednesday, as Amazon.com’s $13.7 billion deal to buy Whole Foods Market Inc weighed on prospects for the meal-kit industry.

Canada’s top court rules Google must block some results worldwide

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canadian courts can force internet search leader Google to remove results worldwide, the country’s top court ruled on Wednesday, drawing criticism from civil liberties groups arguing such a move sets a precedent for censorship on the internet.

Nestle plan hailed as only the start of Schneider’s shake-up

ZURICH/LONDON (Reuters) – Nestle’s plan to shore up its capital structure, announced only days after being thrust into the spotlight by activist shareholder Third Point, was received by investors as a precursor to bigger changes under the company’s new leadership.

Southwest Airlines to scale down Cuba flights

(Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co said it would reduce the number of flights to Cuba, joining other U.S. airlines, as President Donald Trump’s Cuba policy continues to restrict Americans traveling to the country.

Meat processor settles with ABC in ‘pink slime’ defamation case

(Reuters) – Beef Products Inc has settled its closely watched defamation lawsuit against the ABC television network over news reports on its processed beef product that critics dubbed “pink slime,” both companies said on Wednesday.

In EU dealings, Google could learn from an erstwhile rival

BRUSSELS (BRUSSELS) – Google’s clash with EU antitrust enforcers has echoes of Microsoft’s decade-long regulatory battle, a legacy that parent company Alphabet should bear in mind as it considers challenging the Commission, lawyers and fund managers said.

Alibaba spending $1 billion to raise stake in Southeast Asia’s Lazada

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group Holding is investing an additional $1 billion in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group, boosting its stake by nearly a third to 83 percent and amplifying its focus on the region.

Lawsuit over Deutsche Bank’s Russia trades dismissed: U.S. judge

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit accusing Deutsche Bank AG of concealing major deficiencies in its anti-money laundering controls, including for “mirror trades” to launder money out of Russia.

Planning To Sell Volatility? Goldman Explains Why It Will Buy From You

Other than buying Ethereum, one strategy has stood out in investing circles – selling US equity market volatility, and as Goldman notes, the profitability of vol-selling strategies has accelerated in the last year. With vol at record lows, and after a long-run of success, Goldman unveils its guide to selling volatility, why it’s a good idea, and how to do it.

Via Goldman Sachs,

We are increasingly asked whether flows into options and VIX selling strategies are pressuring options prices and dampening stock price moves. Indeed, when an investor sells an option, the Market Maker on the other side of the trade “delta-hedges” the portion of the trade where there is not a natural buyer. This “delta-hedging” dampens the volatility of the underlying asset from the time of the trade until expiry, all else equal. In this report, we explore the public data that is available to assess whether options and VIX ETP flows have the potential to contribute to the decline in implied and realized volatility. While a significant portion of the options market trades in OTC markets (where public data is sparse), we believe trends in OTC markets are consistent with our findings in the listed markets. In fact, based on our discussions with those that run systematic options strategies, much of OTC volume is recycled into the listed market and likely to influence publically available data.

Why are investors asking if options selling strategies are crowded?

1. Recent volatility is low and options selling returns are strong. Volatility has been low and volatility selling strategies have produced strong risk-adjusted returns over the past several years, accelerating in the past year.

In Bizarre Note, Quant Admits Blowing Up Clients, Then Says “Being Wrong No Reason To Change One’s Stance”

In what is by far the most entertaining research report of the day, Canaccord quant Martin Roberge, essentially admits and apologizes for blowing up the bank’s energy client returns in 2017 (with an endless long oil reco), but then – in a bizarre follow up – says that while Canaccord overweight rating on energy has been “costly and like many investors, we feel like throwing in the towel on the group. However, being wrong is not a good reason enough to change one’s stance.”

Actually, Robert, our gratitude for the best joke of the day aside, being wrong is always a good reason to change one’s stance, unless of course you are long stocks, in which case being “wrong” simply means the Fed or some other central bank comes to bail you out the second markets “crash”by 5% or more.

And just to share some of the cheer, here are the key excerpts from Roberge’s note, “Mid-Week Market Observations”

What went wrong? The underperformance of energy stocks in 2017 has erased the outperformance in 2016. Our OW stance has been costly and like many investors, we feel like throwing in the towel on the group. However, being wrong is not a good reason enough to change one’s stance. After all, our OW stance has been predicated on four bullish factors: crude inventory draws, rebalancing world oil markets, a weak US$ and valuation of energy shares expanding from key historical supports. Except for the latter factor, most of these bullish elements are playing out. US commercial (and OECD) crude inventories should keep dwindling as long as gasoline inventories stay below their 26-week average (Figure 1).

Pornstar Jenna Jameson Nails Playboy WH Correspondent For Sassing Sarah Huckabee Sanders

Content originally published at iBankCoin.com

During Tuesday’s White House Press conference, Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders dropped several MOABs on Fake News following the release of a James O’Keefe / Project Veritas video featuring CNN Health producer John Bonifield, admitting that the Russia narrative against President Trump was for ratings, calling it “Mostly B.S.” pushed by CNN CEO Jeff Z …

Central Banks Give Sleepy Markets a Wake-Up Call

The U-turn in bonds is a sign that investors haven’t been paying attention to what central banks have been saying.

Blue Apron IPO Tied Up by Big Tech

Blue Apron Holdings is the latest startup to have a tech giant suck the air out of its public market debut. It certainly isn’t the first and likely won’t be the last.

Nestlé’s $21 Billion Buyback Not as Sweet as Can Be

Investors increasingly seem to expect the same sugar rush from Nestlé that they have got this year from Unilever. But that comparison shouldn’t be pushed too far.

Trump Today: Trump Today: President says Republicans will get health-care ‘over the line,’ targets Amazon’s Bezos again

President Donald Trump on Wednesday predicted Republicans will get their Obamacare redo “over the line,” threw another barb at Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and agreed to jet to Paris for Bastille Day.

The Tell: Paddington Bear tried his paw in the stock market, and it didn’t go well

As the world remembers Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond, there is one episode that investors would be wise to watch.

Potential homeowners are scrambling to buy a home

U.S. home inventory dropped nearly 9% in the past year and is 20% lower over the last five years.