Written by Gary
US stock market’s main indexes marched higher today (SPY +0.9%), driven by gains in Wal-Mart and technology shares, while investors are awaiting a vote on the Republican tax bill.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 2.57% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.88% and Mexico’s IPC is up 0.23%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Ex-Trump lawyer to defend AT&T-Time Warner mergerWASHINGTON (Reuters) – AT&T Inc said it had hired media lawyer Daniel Petrocelli, whose clients have included U.S. President Donald Trump, to defend its acquisition of media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc if the government sues to block the deal. |
| Wal-Mart, tech stocks lead Wall Street gains(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes marched higher on Thursday, driven by gains in Wal-Mart and technology shares, while investors awaited a vote on the Republican tax bill. |
| Emerson sweetens bid for Rockwell Automation to $29 billion(Reuters) – U.S. industrial automation equipment company Emerson Electric Co raised its cash-and-stock offer to acquire Rockwell Automation Inc to $29 billion on Thursday, ratcheting up pressure on its smaller peer to engage in deal talks. |
| Tesla to unveil electric big-rig truck in midst of Model 3 factory ‘hell’SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc on Thursday will unveil a prototype electric big-rig truck, which may be able to drive itself, throwing the company into a new market even as it struggles to roll out an affordable sedan which is central to the company’s future. |
| Wal-Mart shares jump on strong U.S. sales growthCHICAGO (Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc reported better-than-expected U.S. comparable sales on Thursday, as customers stocked up on food and other supplies ahead of hurricanes and online purchases soared, sending its shares up more than 8.5 percent. |
| Hong Kong IPO surge challenges New York in battle for China listingsHONG KONG (Reuters) – It’s not often Hong Kong can boast hotter initial public offerings than New York, but some recent deals and a potential pipeline of big Chinese tech floats suggest a shift in the balance between the two fundraising rivals. |
| Siemens to cut 6,900 jobs to tackle flailing turbines businessFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Siemens will cut about 6,900 jobs, or close to 2 percent of its global workforce, mainly at its power and gas division, which has been hit by the rapid growth of renewables. |
| Volkswagen taps Brazil growth with new model to challenge Fiat, GMBERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen launched its new Virtus model on Thursday to tap Brazil’s highest-volume segment as part of a recovery plan that analysts said will help it regain ground on rivals General Motors and Fiat in South America’s largest car market. |
| IBM urged to avoid working on ‘extreme vetting’ of U.S. immigrantsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – A coalition of rights groups launched an online petition on Thursday urging IBM Corp to declare that it will not develop technology to help the Trump administration carry out a proposal to identify people for visa denial and deportation from the United States. |
| Watch Live: House Votes On Tax-Reform PlanFollowing a pep talk by President Donald Trump that went swimmingly according to media accounts, House Republicans are preparing to vote on their version of a tax-reform package that will slash the corporate tax rate, cut taxes for individuals and reduce the number of tax brackets. House Republican leaders say they have the 217 votes needed to pass the bill – but seeing as the Trump era has seen its fair share of legislative upsets, the vote isn’t over until it’s over. Watch live here: The vote is slated for 1:30 pm ET…. |
| Warning: One of These Monopolies is Going to Control YouVia The Daily Bell Why are governments so interested in breaking up monopolies? To protect the biggest monopoly of all, the government. The American people are skilled mental gymnasts. They can totally agree that monopolies in the private sector are bad. But monopolies on defense, law enforcement, courts, education, roads, and so on are perfectly fine, even necessary! This comes down to the myth of the process. People have been convinced that since companies are motivated by profit, they are untrustworthy. Governments are allegedly altruistic, working in the best interests of the people. In reality, the people in government take their profits in power. We pay businesses voluntarily and use their services if we like them. We are taxed whether we like it or not when it comes to government. Yet everyone goes crazy over alleged private monopolies, and doesn’t bat an eye at the worst coercive monopoly of all! |
| The Superhero Complex: Are We Incapable Of Saving Ourselves?Authored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, If we felt empowered in daily life, would we be so enamored of superheroes constantly saving our world from destruction? It’s been widely noted that the U.S. film industry ably functions as a pro-global hegemony propaganda machine: even when the plot features evil rogue elements at work in a global-hegemony agency (Pentagon, CIA, NSA, etc.), the competence of the agency is never in doubt, nor is the agency’s ability to rid itself of the evil rogue element. Evil conspiracies are revealed and the Good Guys/Gals win. This depiction of official competence and the moral righteousness of patriotic employees is not surprising; these agencies have long “cooperated” with Hollywood on many levels. More troubling is the recent film-industry depiction of our dependence on superheroes and their superpowers to set things right. The benign view is that Hollywood is always seeking new billion-dollar source materials for multi-film franchises, and comic book heroes are tailor-made for franchises: not only can multiple films be made about individual superheroes, but the potential for mix-and-match combinations of superheroes is practically endless. The less benign view is that the popularity of superhero movies reflects a deep insecurity and worrisome desire for fantasy saviors, as if mere mortals can no longer save themselves with their pitiful real-world powers. Psychoanalyzing the zeitgeist of films has long been a popular parlor game: much has been written about the popularity of monster films (often featuring nuclear radiation as the trigger of the mayhem) in 1950s Japan, and the meaning of the American Noir films in the 1950s. Correspondent C.D. recently su … |
| Comparing Digital MetalsComparing Digital Metals Written by Craig Hemke, TF Metals Report and Sprott Money News With total Comex silver open interest near the 200,000 contract level, we thought it would be enlightening to once again discuss the total volume of physical mine supply versus digital metal supply on this futures exchange. We’ve written on countless occasions about Comex alchemy and the fraud of digital metal. As a refresher, you might review both of these links before we continue: • • Today, we just tho … |
| Why Wal-Mart Should Worry Amazon InvestorsWal-Mart still can learn a lot from Amazon, but it has the online retailer beat in one important category—profits. |
| Car Makers Count Costs of Global Warming Emissions StandardsCar makers are spending billions to develop electric vehicles and comply with emissions rules designed to combat global warming. But the effort may not be enough to avoid hefty fines in Europe. |
| Chinese Banks Find a Convertible Solution to Capital ProblemStruggling midsize banks that need to raise equity are turning increasingly to the convertible-bond market. |
| October 2017 Headline Industrial Production Significantly ImprovedWritten by Steven Hansen The headlines say seasonally adjusted Industrial Production (IP) was up. The manufacturing segment of industrial production also improved.
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| The New York Post: Goldman, other big banks secretly used chat rooms to rig U.S. Treasury auctions, lawsuit allegesThe new accusations, leveled by several pension funds and wealthy individual investors, are contained in an expanded class-action suit originally filed in July 2015 — and include an unusual twist: Some of the evidence came from confidential informants and one of the banks sued in the earlier action. |
| Trump decision to allow import of elephant trophies enrages animal loversTwitter lit up with rage Thursday at the Trump administration’s decision to overturn an Obama-era ruling. |
| Currencies: Dollar pares gains after economic dataThe U.S. dollar retraced earlier gains on Thursday, after having started the session by adding on to the mildly positive sentiment from Wednesday, which was spurred by some supportive economic data on Wednesday. |
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