Written by Gary
The US equities main benchmarks have slipped below the unchanged line and trading sideways for the time being (SPY -02%). Banks led the slide as results from big lenders failed to enthuse investors.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
Traders Corner – Health of the Market
Stocks fall, led by JP Morgan and Wells Fargo
Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Wall St. drops as JPMorgan leads bank stocks lower(Reuters) – Banks led a slide in U.S. stocks on Friday, as results from big lenders including JPMorgan failed to enthuse investors keeping a wary eye on Russia’s plan to consider banning some U.S. imports. | |
Trade war backfire: Steel tariff shrapnel hits U.S. farmersKANE COUNTY, Ill. (Reuters) – Lucas Strom, who runs a century-old family farm in rural Illinois, canceled an order to buy a new $71,000 grain storage bin last month – after the seller raised the price 5 percent in a day. | |
Wells Fargo faces $1 billion fine from loan abuses(Reuters) – Two U.S. regulators have proposed Wells Fargo & Co pay $1 billion in penalties to resolve probes into auto insurance and mortgage lending abuses at the third largest U.S. bank, overshadowing its first quarter results. | |
JPMorgan profit just below estimates on weak investment banking(Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co’s quarterly profit fell short of Wall Street expectations on Friday as lower revenue from investment banking ate into gains from stock trading and higher interest rates. | |
Citigroup profit beats on strength in consumer banking, equity trading(Reuters) – Citigroup Inc reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday, driven by strength in its consumer banking business and a surge in equities trading. | |
Musk says Tesla will be profitable in third-quarter, fourth-quarter(Reuters) – Tesla Inc will be profitable in the third and fourth quarters of this year and will not have to raise any money from investors, billionaire Chief Executive Elon Musk said on Friday, driving shares in the electric carmaker up to 3 percent higher. | |
Trump says U.S. will only rejoin Pacific trade pact if terms are improvedWASHINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States would only join the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multinational trade deal his administration walked away from last year, if it offered “substantially better” terms than those provided under previous negotiations. | |
Trump orders review of U.S. Postal Service following criticism of AmazonWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday ordered the creation of a task force to study the U.S. Postal Service and its financial difficulties, after recently claiming without evidence that deliveries for Amazon.com Inc were costing the service money. | |
Volkswagen’s new CEO treads carefully on road to reformWOLFSBURG/BERLIN, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s new Chief Executive Herbert Diess embarked on the most far-reaching shake-up in the carmaker’s history on Friday, seeking to unite a company whose feuding factions have often slowed reform. | |
Who’s Driving The Mysterious Swiss Franc Slump?The last couple of weeks have seen something mysterious occur in the Swiss Franc, Amid all the chaotic economic, geopolitical, and military machinations – that have sparked a bid for gold and bonds – the Swissy, a traditional safe-haven currency, has weakened notably. In fact the weakness has been going on since Davos in February… So who is selling swiss francs? Bloomberg ventures to suggest nervous … | |
The Risk Of AlgosAuthored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,
My friend Doug Kass made a great point on Wednesday this week:
| |
Russia Has “Irrefutable Evidence” UK Staged Syrian Chemical AttackAs the blame game over the alleged chemical attack in Syria escalates ahead of what is expected to be an imminent, if contained, air strike campaign by the US, UK and/or France against Syria, on Friday morning, Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow had “irrefutable evidence” that the attack – which allegedly killed more than 40 people in an April 7 chemical weapons strike on the former rebel outpost of Douma -was staged with the help of a foreign secret service. “We have irrefutable evidence that this was another staged event, and that the secret services of a certain state that is now at the forefront of a Russophobic campaign was involved in this staged event,” he said during a press conference according to AFP. Speculation that said “certain state” was the UK was confirmed shortly after, when Russia’s defense ministry alleged that Britain was involved in the suspected chemical attack. According to defense ministry spokesman, Major General Igor Konashenkov, the Kremlin has evidence that Britain was behind the attack. | |
Trump Reportedly Weighing Full Pardon For Scooter LibbyNational Security Advisor John Bolton has barely been working in the West Wing for a week, but already his influence is being strongly felt. In addition to pushing out a handful of security advisors who had been brought in either by his predecessor, HR McMaster or former President Barack Obama, Bolton has apparently convinced President Trump to consider issuing a full pardon to I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby – who famously took the fall for the Valerie Plame scandal following an investigation by a special prosecutor who many of Libby’s allies have accused of overreaching (sound familiar?). Libby was convicted on four felony counts in 2007 for perjury before a grand jury, lying to the FBI and obstruction of justice. George W Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, but refused to offer a full pardon – a decision that strained Bush’s relationship with his Vice President, Dick Cheney, per the New York Times. Pardoning Libby has long been a priority for conservatives – particularly the neoconservatives like Bolton who helped push the War in Iraq on the American people. Though such a pardon would put Trump in a potentially awkward position: Absol … | |
Is the Yuan in China’s Trade-War Arsenal?China’s currency, formerly a hot-button topic, has been mostly out of the limelight in the current trade fight. Could that change if things escalate? | |
Chip Makers Are Better off Without Crypto MinersMiners of cryptocurrencies may soon stop buying chips from Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices. But some businesses are more trouble than they are worth. | |
How Big Biotech Can Win Back InvestorsBig biotech stocks are trading at their lowest valuations in years, but don’t underestimate their ability to turn things around quickly. | |
Key Words: Head of world’s largest asset management firm says this is key for stock-market investorsThe market is in the late stages of an economic cycle nearing its ninth year, but Larry Fink, CEO of asset management behemoth BlackRock Inc., says investors ought to forgo attempts to time the market and stay invested. | |
Mark Hulbert: Here’s what to do with your stocks if the U.S. military strikes SyriaMarkets in crisis typically recover quickly from investors’ panic, writes Mark Hulbert. | |
FDA bans sale of pure caffeine in bulk quantities after two deathsThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it is banning the sale of dietary supplements that contain high levels of concentrated or pure caffeine in bulk quantities direct to consumers after at least two deaths of otherwise healthy individuals. |
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated: