Written by Gary
The US stock markets tried to climb into positive territory today, but closed mixed (SPY +0.3%). Nasdaq and $RUT closed down dampened by jitters over rising bond yields and corporate costs.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Wall Street struggles for footing on cost worries, rising yieldsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street climbed into positive territory on Wednesday as optimism over a spate of upbeat earnings was dampened by jitters over rising bond yields and corporate costs. |
| Chipotle rallies ahead of debut report from new CEOSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill rallied on Wednesday ahead of the company’s first quarterly report under a new chief executive hired to turn around the struggling burrito chain. |
| Chevron evacuates Venezuela executives following staff arrests(Reuters) – U.S. oil major Chevron Corp has evacuated executives from Venezuela after two of its workers were imprisoned over a contract dispute with state-owned oil company PDVSA, according to four sources familiar with the matter. |
| Comcast confirms $31 billion bid for Sky, sparking battle with FoxLONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. media group Comcast submitted a 22 billion pound($30.7 billion) bid for Sky on Wednesday, prompting the European pay TV group to drop its support for a lower offer from Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox . |
| Trump and Apple CEO Cook meet at White House with trade the focusWASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump met with Apple Inc Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook on Wednesday to discuss trade issues as the technology industry grapples with a U.S. spat over import tariffs with China, a manufacturing hub for the iPhone maker and other companies. |
| Nasdaq open to cryptocurrency exchange in future, says CEO(Reuters) – Nasdaq Inc is open to launching a cryptocurrency exchange in the future as the regulatory environment evolves, the head of the exchange operator said on Wednesday. |
| Volatile ruble encourages McDonald’s to cook up Russian friesLIPETSK, Russia (Reuters) – French fries at McDonald’s restaurants from Moscow to Murmansk will be Russian from now on, as the American fast-food chain turns to homegrown potatoes to deal with rouble volatility caused by fluctuating oil prices and Western sanctions. |
| Volkswagen reaches $33.5 million diesel emissions settlement with MarylandWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG has reached a $33.5 million settlement with Maryland over state claims related to the German automaker’s excess emissions, court documents show. |
| Twitter shares fall on outlook of slower growth, rising costs(Reuters) – Twitter Inc shares fell on Wednesday after the social network said its revenue growth would slow this year and costs rise as it works to fight the spread of hate speech and allegations of election manipulation through its service. |
| Boeing Bounce Saves Stocks But Bond Bloodbath ContinuesNo macro data today for US but earnings “beats” were met with “sell the news” but dip-buyers stepped in to save the day… Futures show the chaotic trading around the pre-open to EU close… and then the standard buying panic into the close…
Cash indices all scrambled desperately in the last hour to get green (Trannies were green all day)…Nasdaq and Small Caps ended the day red…
Boeing’s post-conference-call bounce … |
| Kanye Fires Manager, Tweets His Way Through “Meltdown” Accusations And MSM LiesEver since rapper Kanye West praised a conservative black woman and reaffirmed his support for Donald Trump to his nearly 28 million Twitter followers, the knives have been out for the beleaguered impresario – as his mostly liberal, mostly millennial base struggles to reconcile one of their favorite safe space poets supporting a president they’ve been programmed to hate. His subreddit, for example, is a trainwreck of fans not knowing which emotion to register. Less than a week after West’s nearly year-long break from Twitter, the controversial hip-hop star who endorsed Donald Trump in the 2016 election tweeted his support on Saturday for black pro-Trump conservative, Candace Owens.
Owens is the director of urban engagement for Turning Point USA, and feels that black Americans are “slaves on the Democratic Party plantation.” Given that the media’s go-to when West goes off script is “he’s crazy,” that’s exactly where they went.
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| DiMartino Booth: “Markets Better Prepare For Stagflation”Authored by Danielle DiMartino Booth via Bloomberg.com, Investors better wake up to the growing risk of stagflation. The coming weeks promise to deliver the verdict on how they should be positioned.
By all metrics, inflation is heating up. But it’s not clear the same can said for underlying economic activity. According to producers, input costs have risen for six of the past eight months. And it’s not just big companies that are feeling pressure. One in four small businesses say they plan to raise prices, a 10-year high, according to the National Federation of Independent Business. Inflation’s persistence will finally begin to trickle through to consumers. David Rosenberg, chief economist at the wealth management company Gluskin Sheff, recently quipped that investors “better say a prayer for Jay Powell,” the Federal Reserve chair. The deniers will dismiss the suggestion. But Rosenberg is serious, citing the core consumer price index’s March leap to 2.1 percent, a level that breaches the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target.
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| Ted Cruz Endorses Donald Trump’s 2020 Reelection BidPresident Donald Trump’s most intransigent primary opponent has become the first to openly endorse Trump’s bid for reelection in 2020. Despite Trump spreading rumors that Cruz’s father Rafael Cruz was somehow involved in the assassination of John F Kennedy, Cruz told Rebecca Mansour and Joel Pollak during an interview on Breitbart News Tonight that he would support the president during his reelection campaign.
Cruz initially refused to endorse Trump after Trump defeated Cruz and every other Republican candidate during a historically bruising primary race. Later, Republican convention attendees booed Cruz during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio, when he encouraged the audience to “vote your conscience.” before ultimately endorsing Trump and stumping on his behalf during the final months of the campaign. |
| How African Deals Entangled a Billionaire Media MogulInvestors already attach such a governance discount to Vivendi that allegations of bribery in Africa at its parent company may not add much. |
| Credit Suisse Finds Right Formula for Fickle MarketsCredit Suisse has spent the past couple of years focusing on what it could control and worrying less about what it couldn’t: that approach is bearing fruit. |
| Beware the Chinese Tech IPO RushSeveral Chinese household tech names are planning to list this year. The hype already looks out of control. |
| The New York Post: NFL owners reportedly angered by Trump’s vilification of kneeling playersNFL team owners privately laid into President Trump for his attacks on players “taking a knee” during an extraordinary summit with league athletes and executives in October, according to a new report. |
| Deep Dive: These 3 cutting-edge stocks can sharpen your investment portfolioBuffalo Discovery Fund manager taps companies with strong growth potential. |
| Bond Report: 10-year government bond yield extends climb above 3%, hits highest since late 2013The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note sweeps further beyond the 3% handle on Wednesday, notching a level not seen since late December of 2013, as traders increasingly bet the Federal Reserve will have to raise interest rates more aggressively than the two or three more times Wall Street had anticipated in 2018. |
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