11Jun2018 Midday Update: Wall Street’s Gains As Investors Look Past G7 Acrimony, WTI Crude Makes Sharp Move Upward Into The 66 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The IPC is up 0.39% while the S&P 500 gains 0.39%. The Bovespa is off 0.57%.

‘Fair trade, fool trade’, Trump’s tweets spew ire on NATO allies, Trudeau

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump fired off a volley of tweets on Monday venting anger on NATO allies, the European Union and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the wake of a divisive G7 meeting over the weekend.

Tesla’s Autopilot to get ‘full self-driving feature’ in August

(Reuters) – Shares of Tesla Inc rose as much as 5 percent on Monday after Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk tweeted that its Autopilot driver assistance system will get full self-driving features following a software upgrade in August.

Wall Street edges higher ahead of Trump-Kim meet

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks edged higher on Monday, helped by gains in Facebook and a handful of healthcare stocks ahead of a highly anticipated meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

KKR to take Envision private for $5.57 billion in healthcare push

(Reuters) – KKR & Co said on Monday it will take U.S. physician services provider Envision Healthcare Corp private in a deal valued at $5.57 billion, its latest acquisition in the healthcare sector.

USG takes $7 billion offer from Knauf after spurned advances

(Reuters) – Sheetrock maker USG Corp accepted a $7 billion cash offer from German construction products maker Gebr Knauf KG on Monday after three months of back-and-forth negotiations that began when longtime USG shareholder Warren Buffett teamed up with the German bidder to sell his stake.

Rolls-Royce, preparing to cut thousands of jobs, says engine problem has spread

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Rolls-Royce said a costly compressor problem that had grounded Boeing planes had now been found in a different type of engine, compounding pressures on a group that is due to cut more than 4,000 jobs this week.

Takeda shareholder group aims to block $62 billion Shire deal

TOKYO (Reuters) – A group of Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd shareholders is trying to build support to block the $62 billion acquisition of London-listed Shire Plc at an extraordinary general meeting, a leading member of the group told Reuters on Monday.

With assembly team and samosas, IKEA lays ground for India debut

MUMBAI/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – IKEA is set to open its first store in India next month, and the world’s biggest furniture retailer is localizing its offering – from the food menu to its “do-it-yourself” (DIY) assembly model – to ensure success in the country.

Audi CEO named as suspect in German emissions probe

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German prosecutors on Monday widened an emissions cheating probe into Volkswagen’s luxury carmaker Audi to include the brand’s Chief Executive Rupert Stadler among the suspects accused of fraud and false advertising.

Permian Boom Jeopardized By Pipeline Troubles

Authored by Irina Slav via OilPrice.com,

The Permania, as someone called the oil industry and private equity rush to West Texas and New Mexico, has begun to take its toll on all those investors that saw it as the next huge thing. With production booming, pipeline capacity has become tight, and producers are forced to sell their crude at a painful discount to benchmarks. They are also losing billions in market capitalization.

A recent story from Bloomberg estimated that over the last two weeks, eight of the biggest oil producers with a presence in the Permian have shed a collective US$15.6 billion in market value, or over US$1 billion per day, with some of the shares booking double-digit drops.

It is an impressive turning of the tables. Just a year ago, everyone who had acreage in the Permian was a magnet for investors. The U.S. Geological Survey had upgraded the reserve estimates for the basin, especially thanks to a major upward revision of the Wolfcamp area. Producer …

Iranians Rage At Nike After World Cup Team Forced To Switch Shoes

It’s not merely that the Iranian national team for the 2018 World Cup will no longer have access to Nike shoes or equipment, it’s that their current shoes are actually being taken away from them.

The announcement set Iranian social media ablaze with anger over the weekend, with many Iranians declaring they would never again buy Nike products: “The sanctions mean that, as a U.S. company, we cannot provide shoes to players in the Iran national team at this time,” Nike told NBC News in a statement.

Members of the Iranian national soccer team arrive at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on June 5. Image source: TASS

Soon after initial breaking reports of the decision last week, Iranian-American Middle East analyst Holly Dagres noted, “In the wake of Nike’s decision to not provide cleats to Iran’s national football team, Iranians are pushing a boycott of the US brand using #BoycottNike.”

Nike will provide 60% of World Cup players with their shoes as official sponsors when they take the field on June 14 …

Salvini: Italy Will No Longer Accept Refugees; It’s Now Spain’s Turn

Over the weekend, Italy once again roiled Europe, only this time not with its plunging bonds but with its drastic shift in immigration politics, when the country’s new populist leader, Matteo Salvini, now operating as Minister of the Interior, made good on his warning last weekend that “the good times for illegals are over”, writing an urgent letter ordering Malta to accept a ship carrying 629 shipwrecked North African migrants currently sitting off the Italian coast – calling Malta the “safest port” for the passengers, and advising that Rome will no longer offer refuge.

The MV Aquarius

The Italian message to Europe was simple: having been the port of landing for tens of thousands of migrants in the past two years, Rome would no longer accept boat after boat of North African (or middle eastern) refugees.

Italy’s vocal resistance to accepting further migrants even prompted prominent globalist George Soros, the person many have accused of being behind Europe’s forced migration patterns, to

Geopolitical Tensions Reach Boiling Point Ahead Of OPEC Meeting

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

The upcoming OPEC meeting on June 22 is shaping up to be a contentious one, after news broke that the U.S. government asked Saudi Arabia to increase oil production before Washington pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal.

Earlier last week, news surfaced that the U.S. government asked Saudi Arabia to boost output to relieve pressure on prices. But Reuters followed up with a report on June 7, adding more context to that story. According to Reuters, a high level Trump administration official called Saudi Arabia a day before Trump was set to announce the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, asking for more oil supply to cover for disruptions from Iran.

The last time the U.S. government pressured OPEC into adding supply, it was also over Iran.

Debt and Groceries Are an Unappetizing Mix

Groupe Casino’s big debt pile is causing problems as Parisians take to online grocery shopping.

Bidding for Fox Will Get Serious After Court Ruling

Not so long ago, Rupert Murdoch’s decision to sell the crown jewels of his media company, 21st Century Fox, looked like an acknowledgment that the sun was setting on his reign. Now, as Disney and Comcast prepare to do battle over those coveted assets, Mr. Murdoch looks set to go out in a blaze of glory.

Winners in Traditional Retailing Are Also Winning Online

Macy’s and Kohl’s are fighting back against Amazon, while Sears and J.C. Penney fall farther behind.

Encore: The 2018 Social Security Trustees Report contains no surprises

Outlook virtually unchanged from last year

numberFire: Here are 10 players to watch at the 2018 World Cup

What does 2018 have in store? In order of group, here are 10 players to keep an eye on during this year’s FIFA World Cup.

2018 Tony Awards: ‘The Band’s Visit’ and ‘Harry Potter’ triumph

First-ever Broadway Middle Eastern-set musical takes 10 Tony Awards