02Jan2018 Market Close: Wall Street Begins 2018 With Gains As Momentum Still Strong, WTI Settles In The Low 60 Handle, Gold Continuing To Trend Higher

Written by Gary

US stocks rose moderately today (SPY +0.7%) in the first session of the new year as investors were optimistic that 2018 will bring more gains for the market. Analysts expect their favorite Nasdaq stocks to rise as much as 43% in 2018

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall Street begins 2018 with gains as momentum still strong (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Tuesday in the first session of the new year as investors were optimistic that 2018 will bring more gains for the market.
	Boeing-Embraer talks have not settled question of control: sources SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Tie-up talks between Boeing Co and Embraer SA have not settled key questions such as control of the Brazilian planemaker or the possibility of a more narrow joint venture, two people familiar with the negotiations told Reuters, pushing back against a newspaper report on Tuesday.
	Amazon says over 5 billion items shipped in 2017 via Prime (Reuters) – Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said on Tuesday it shipped over 5 billion items worldwide via its subscription based Prime service in 2017 while adding more new members than ever before.
	LeEco founder defies China return order, stays in U.S. for car fundraising SHANGHAI (Reuters) – The founder of debt-laden tech conglomerate LeEco has defied orders from Chinese regulators to return to the country before the end of 2017, saying he needed to stay in the United States as a fundraising for his electric car business was making progress.
	Passenger rights group takes legal action that could block Niki sale to IAG FRANKFURT (Reuters) – A group representing airline passengers has taken legal action to shift insolvency proceedings for budget airline Niki to Austria from Germany, in a move that could endanger the sale of the Air Berlin unit to Britain’s IAG .
	BP sets $1.5 billion charge for U.S tax changes but sees long-term boost LONDON (Reuters) – Oil giant BP will take a one-off $1.5 billion charge to adjust to new U.S. tax rules, but expects a long-term boost from the corporate-friendly tax rates, it said on Tuesday.
	Airbus delivered over 700 jets in 2017, met target: sources LONDON (Reuters) – European planemaker Airbus delivered over 700 aircraft in 2017, breaking company records and meeting its core industrial target for the year, industry sources said.
	Speculators raised net short bitcoin positions in Dec 26 week: CFTC NEW YORK (Reuters) – Speculators raised net short position on bitcoin futures traded on Cboe Global Markets last week amid a selloff sparked by experts’ warnings of a bubble, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission released late Friday.
	Oil hits highest since mid-2015, then dips LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices eased on Tuesday after hitting mid-2015 highs in early trading, as major pipelines in Libya and the UK restarted and U.S production soared to the highest in more than four decades.
	Mining Bitcoin In The US? Best Do It In Louisiana, Study Says Mining Bitcoin In The US? Best Do It In Louisiana, Study Says Tyler Durden Tue, 01/02/2018 – 15:55
	Men From “Syria Or Afghanistan” Arrested In German New Year’s Eve Sex Attacks Men From “Syria Or Afghanistan” Arrested In German New Year’s Eve Sex Attacks Tyler Durden Tue, 01/02/2018 – 15:48
	2017: The Year The Unicorn Died 2017: The Year The Unicorn Died Tyler Durden Tue, 01/02/2018 – 15:22
	BofA: Beware A Violent Unwind In The Most Crowded Trades BofA: Beware A Violent Unwind In The Most Crowded Trades Tyler Durden Tue, 01/02/2018 – 15:02
	Bright Side of Higher Treasury Yields There could be serious problems in financial markets if long-term interest rates rise in 2018. There could be serious problems if they don’t.
	Games Growth Not a Given in China Selling smartphone games in China has been one of the best businesses in the world in the past few years. But can the companies involved, like tech giant Tencent, keep hitting the high scores?
	Europe’s 2018 Challenge: Keeping the Good News Coming The eurozone economy performed so well in 2017 that some analysts started using the term “Euroboom” unironically, while the euro strengthened and European stocks rose. The challenge for 2018 is to maintain momentum and avoid any setbacks that might damage the goodwill built up in 2017.
	The Tell: $80 oil and 9 other surprises that Byron Wien is bracing for in 2018 Blackstone’s Byron Wien is back with his annual list of potential surprises for the year ahead, including a call for $80 oil and a 10% correction by the S&P 500.
	The Tell: Why investors are facing ‘the Icarus dilemma’ in 2018 After rallying to a record number of records in 2017, is the U.S. stock market destined to fall back to earth in the new year?
	How to potentially get a 30% return in three months with the ‘January Effect’ The practical way to take advantage of the January Effect is to buy dips in certain stocks, says Nigam Arora.

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