08Aug2017 Market Update: Wall Street’s Trump Rally Resumes Its Vigor And Makes New Historic Highs, WTI Slips Fractionally, US Dollar Index Climbs Two Percent

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 0.66% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.45% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.16%.

S&P, Dow hit record highs as Apple climbs

(Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes reversed course to trade higher on Tuesday morning, with the Dow and the S&P hitting a new record, helped by a rise in Apple’s shares.

Fired Google memo writer draws scorn, cheers and a job offer

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The male Google engineer fired for circulating a memo decrying the company’s diversity hiring program became the center of a heated debate on sexism, drawing scorn, cheers and even a job offer on Tuesday from WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.

Time Inc misses revenue estimates, unveils new cost cuts

(Reuters) – Magazine publisher Time Inc reported a lower-than-expected quarterly revenue on Tuesday and announced a fresh cost-cutting program.

U.S. job openings at record high; labor market tightening

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job openings jumped to a record high in June, outpacing hiring, the latest indication that companies are having trouble finding qualified workers.

U.S. asks judge to dismiss Toyota acceleration case as monitoring ends

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday asked a federal judge to dismiss a criminal charge against Toyota Motor Corp after the Japanese automaker completed three years of monitoring as part of a $1.2 billion settlement over claims of sudden unintended acceleration in its vehicles.

Uber considering sale of U.S. car-leasing business: source

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing company Uber [UBER.UL] is evaluating options for its capital-intensive U.S. car-leasing business, including a sale of the unit, a source familiar with the matter said.

‘Two Davids’ tread in father-in-law’s footsteps in bid to halt Clariant deal

ZURICH (Reuters) – Following a formula pioneered by their corporate raider father-in-law, two men are stirring up the chemicals sector with a push to halt Clariant’s $20 billion merger with Huntsman.

Exclusive: Toshiba auditor to split opinion on finances, governance – sources

TOKYO (Reuters) – The auditor for Toshiba Corp is likely to sign off on the conglomerate’s annual results while giving a thumbs down on the group’s corporate governance during a series of crises, people with direct knowledge of the discussions said on Tuesday.

Michael Kors lifts full-year revenue forecast, shares soar

(Reuters) – Michael Kors Holdings Ltd reported better-than-expected profit for the first quarter as it cut down on promotions and sold more premium handbags, and lifted its full-year revenue forecast, sending the company’s shares up as much as 22 percent.

King Dollar creates bullish reversal pattern at support

King Dollar hasn’t had much to brag about the past 6-months, as it has decline nearly 10% this year. The decline took it down last week to test a potential dual support point, that could be important. See support and reversal point in the chart below-

Rand Tumbles After South African President Zuma Survives “No Confidence” Vote

National assembly speaker (and purported replacement) Baleka Mbete’s secret no-confidence vote has failed to oust South African President Zuma.

Speaker of Parliament Baleka Mbete shocked South Africans Monday when she announced her decision to allow the vote to proceed on a secret ballot, which would allow party members to vote against their leader outside the public spotlight.

“I understand and accept that a motion of no confidence in the president is a very important matter, a potent tool toward holding the president to account,” she said at a press briefing Monday in Cape Town. She did not take questions from reporters.

The no confidence vote, she said, “constitutes one of the severest political consequences imaginable” and her decision to allow the vote to proceed anonymously is “about putting the resilience of our democratic institution to test.”

Mbete needed 201 votes (Zuma’s ANC dominates the Parliament with 249 out of 400 seats and so for the motion to pass, at least 50 party members would have to defect to the opposition – something that has never happened before in a party that defeated South Africa’s apartheid system and is known for its loyalty).

However, some have argued that the number is lower. If the need arises, National Assembly will seek legal opinion on whether majority in no-confidence motion on President Jacob Zuma is based on number of seats in assembly or if vacanci …

US “Confirms” N.Korea Has ICBM-Ready Nuclear Warheads

First thing this morning we reported that according to a 500-page report by the Japanese Defense Ministry, North Korea may now be in possession of a miniature nuclear warhead. That said, the report did not move the market because the Japanese report was largely inconclusive and did not claim with certainty that this is the case.

Now, moments ago, the exact same narrative escalated when the WaPo echoed what Japan said, only it now “confirms” that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, “crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power, U.S. intelligence officials have concluded in a confidential assessment.”

As the WaPo adds, the analysis completed last month by the Defense Intelligence Agency comes on the heels of another intelligence assessment that sharply raises the official estimate for the total number of bombs in the communist country’s atomic arsenal.

“The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include delivery by ICBM-class missiles,” the assessment states, in an excerpt read to The Washington Post. The assessment’s broad conclusions were verified by two U.S. officials familiar with the document. It is not yet known whether the reclusive regime has successfully tested the smaller design, although North Korean officially last year claimed to have done so.

Of course, another vivid instance of “confirmation” o …

The Most Important Chart For Stocks

We have previously shown the chart below on countless occasions, so we are content to see that increasingly more banks are showcasing it as the biggest potential threat to the future of the market’s artificial levitation. Here is BofA’s Martin Mauro explaining why “investors may be well served by locking in some profits in US stocks.”

Central banks turning off the liquidity spigot: Among the most striking market developments in recent years has been the coordinated efforts by the world’s central banks to supply liquidity by purchasing financial assets. Investment Strategist Michael Hartnett points out that since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008, central banks have bought $10.8 trillion in assets, and that liquidity has propelled financial markets all over the world.

That phase, as Citi’s Matt King warned two months ago, is ending.

Now it appears that we are on the cusp of global synchronized monetary tightening, according to Hartnett. Central banks in the US, Canada and China have raised rates this year, while the Bank of England has stopped asset purchases and the European Central Bank is on track to end its asset purchases in 2018. Moreover, the reduced pace of re-investment that the Fed has outlined would reduce the size of its balance sheet by $2 trillion by the end of 2022.

Iron and Copper Rallies Are Getting Overheated

One takeaway from China’s latest trade data: Excitement in metals markets over capacity cuts and global growth is running ahead of the fundamentals.

Look Here, A Market Where Something Is Actually Happening

A strong Swiss franc, one of the landmark byproducts of the eurozone debt crisis, appears finally to be unwinding. It is more significant than just being a foreign-exchange trade.

Cash-Hungry Tesla’s Missed Opportunity

Tesla chief Elon Musk’s choice of debt to finance his Model 3, while the company’s share price is so strong, may turn out to be a mistake.

June 2017 JOLTS Job Openings Significantly Improves

Written by Steven Hansen

The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) can be used as a predictor of future jobs growth, and the predictive elements show that the year-over-year growth rate of unadjusted private non-farm job openings showing significant improvement.

In One Chart: What that viral New York Times inequality chart really shows

Here’s what that viral New York Times inequality chart shows.

Futures Movers: Oil prices shrug off reports of Saudi cuts to Asia sales

Saudi Arabia—the world’s largest producer of crude oil—is expected to cut sales of oil supplies to Asia by up to 10% in September, to tackle the global crude glut, according to multiple reports Tuesday.

MarketWatch Update: Take a sneak peek at upcoming changes to Virtual Stock Exchange

MarketWatch is rebuilding Virtual Stock Exchange — or VSE. It’s a refresh of sorts for one of the best stock-market simulation games out there.