Written by Gary
Gains on the US stock markets evaporated today (SPY +0.03%) after a US grand jury indicted Russians for interfering in with the 2016 presidential election. US oil benchmark extends win streak to 3 days.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Wall Street erases gain after U.S. indicts Russians(Reuters) – Gain on Wall Street evaporated on Friday after a U.S. grand jury indicted several Russians for interfering in with the 2016 presidential election to help then-candidate Donald Trump. |
| GE faces shareholder lawsuit over insurance shortfall, SEC probeNEW YORK (Reuters) – General Electric Co was sued on Friday by a shareholder who accused the conglomerate of concealing mounting insurance liabilities and a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe, saying it cost shareholders tens of billions of dollars. |
| Backstory: Warren Buffett’s Valentine’s Day surprise for investorsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Warren Buffett had a Valentine’s Day surprise for investors in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd . |
| Wynn Resorts says ex-CEO Steve Wynn not entitled to severance pay(Reuters) – Wynn Resorts Ltd said on Friday that former Chief Executive Officer Steve Wynn was not entitled to severance payments or any other compensation. |
| Coca-Cola sales beat on strong sales of vitamin water, coffee(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly profit and sales on Friday as it sold more teas, coffees and vitamin water, offsetting sluggish sales of fizzy drinks, sending its shares up as much as 2 percent. |
| Uber plans to sell Southeast Asia business to Grab: CNBC(Reuters) – Uber Technologies [UBER.UL] is preparing to sell its Southeast Asia ride-hailing business to Singapore-based Grab in return for a substantial stake in the company, CNBC reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter. |
| Qualcomm says open to more deal talks with Broadcom following meeting(Reuters) – Qualcomm Inc on Friday called a meeting with Broadcom Ltd to discuss the latter’s $121 billion bid constructive and opened the door to more talks, but continued to reject the proposed deal between the semiconductor companies. |
| Intel hit with 32 lawsuits over security flaws(Reuters) – Intel Corp said on Friday shareholders and customers had filed 32 class action lawsuits against the company in connection with recently-disclosed security flaws in its microchips. |
| Airbus concerned about German coalition’s tougher stance on arm salesMUNICH (Reuters) – The head of Airbus’s defense unit criticized Germany on Friday for not spending more on defense and said the new coalition agreement’s call for a tougher approach to arms exports could prompt the weapons maker to re-examine its business plans. |
| Massive Squeeze Sparks Best Week For Stocks In 7 Years As Dollar CrashesThis week can be summed up thus… and thus… Year-to-Date, Gold is leading stocks as bonds get battered…
But it was quite a week for stocks… Nasdaq, S&P – best week since Dec 2011 Dow – best week since Nov 2016 Small Caps – best week since Dec 2016 “Most Shorted” Stocks – biggest weekly short-squeeze since Nov 2016 VIX – biggest weekly drop since Nov 2016 US Treasury Yield Curve – 2nd biggest weekly flattening since Sept 2011 HYG (HY Bond ETF) – best week since Feb 2016 (despite record outflows) Dollar Index – 2nd worst week in 6 months Gold – best week since April 2016 Bitcoin – best week in 2 months … |
| Federal Prosecutors File First-Ever Fraud Charges Against Crypto TraderThe nearly 10-year-old cryptocurrency space has reached one of the more ignominious milestones to date. Several months after the SEC filed the first civil fraud action against an ICO founder who was believed to have stolen money from investors, US prosecutors are sending a message to the community by filing the first case of a criminal fraud prosecution in blockchain history, according to federal prosecutors in Chicago. Prosecutors are expected to outline the charge that “from September through November 2017, Kim transferred more than $2 million of the trading firm’s Bitcoin and Litecoin to personal accounts to cover his own trading losses, which had been incurred while trading cryptocurrency futures on foreign exchanges.” But unlike the previous civil actions, the criminal case involves an employee at a blockchain startup who stole from his employer to fund a severe gambling problem, according to ABC 7.
According to a local Chicago television station, a 24-year-old trader named Joseph Kim considered himself “invincible” according to federal investigators. T … |
| Peter Thiel “Makes A Killing” With Massive Vol-Spike BetWhile Thiel is best known for venture investments like those in Facebook and PayPal, Bloomberg writes that it was his macro strategy that positioned him to make a killing on last week’s spike in market volatility. Outspoken Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel was along for the ride in the world’s great short-volatility trade with a $404 million bet as recently as the end of 2014.
But in the latest filings from Thiel Macro, it appears Thiel changed his mind in the latter half of last year and reversed his position into a massive bet on volatility jumping… |
| Trump Responds: Mueller Indictment Shows “Campaign Did Nothing Wrong. No Collusion!”Russia wasted no time responding to today’s surprising DOJ charge which found not Russia collusion, but what some have described as criminal trolling: “13 people interfered in the US elections?! 13 against an intelligence services budget of billions? Against intelligence and counterintelligence, against the latest developments and technologies? Absurd? Yes” Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharaova wrote on Facebook. And then, shortly after 3pm, in his first official response which also took place on a social network, in this case his favorite Twitter, President Trump also responded to the DOJ, stating that because “Russia started their anti-US campaign in 2014, long before I announced that I would run for President” and because “the results of the election were not impacted” then “The Trump campaign did nothing wrong – no collusion!”
And while Trump can celebrate for now, earlier in the afternoon, the top House Intel Committee Democrat Schiff laid out what the next angle of attack will be in the special counsel probe:
We expect the answer will be unveiled shortly, especially after |
| Health-Care Deals: An Offer They Can’t RefuseThe health-care industry is in the throes of a major shake-up. That creates a situation in which companies face a greater risk by standing pat than possibly overpaying for an acquisition. |
| Cisco Switches Back OnThe network giant’s old businesses help revive growth. |
| Nestlé’s Fortunes Melting Like Ice CreamNestlé’s Chief Executive Mark Schneider has grasped the challenge facing the world’s largest food company. But making Nestlé more responsive and entrepreneurial is proving to be a very tall order. |
| Trump Today: Trump Today: President says Democrats ‘abandoned’ DACA after he ended program, lobbied against Senate billPresident Donald Trump slammed Democrats after immigration measures failed in the Senate, as he left for Florida and suggested he’ll meet with family members of the mass shooting at a high school. |
| Futures Movers: U.S. oil benchmark extends win streak to 3 days as crude claws back lost groundThe U.S. benchmark futures contract is on track for a third winning session even as report shows another rise in the number of oil rigs. |
| Market Extra: Here’s what everybody gets wrong about bond fundsOwning bonds isn’t about their performance, which comes and goes, but about muting stock market volatility. |
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