14Oct2019 Midday Update: Wall Street Flat As Trade Deal Optimism Wanes, Earnings In Focus, DOW Up 5 Points, Oil Prices Fall Nearly 3%

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The Bovespa is up 2.09% while the IPC gains 0.04%. The S&P 500 is off 0.09%.

Google’s fight against EU antitrust fine to be heard February 12-14 at EU court

Alphabet unit Google’s fight against a 2.4-billion-euro ($2.64 billion) EU antitrust fine will be played out over three days in February 2020 at Europe’s second-highest court, according to parties involved in the case.

Oil falls nearly 3% in caution over first phase of U.S.-China trade deal

Oil prices fell nearly 3% on Monday as a lack of details about the first phase of a trade deal between the United States and China undercut optimism over a trade relations thaw that had helped lift crude markets at the end of last week.

Wall Street flat as trade deal optimism wanes, earnings in focus

U.S. stocks stalled on Monday after three straight sessions of gains as a bare-bones trade deal with China announced on Friday dampened sentiment and triggered a 2% drop in oil prices, ahead of the start of third-quarter earnings season.

What to watch in third quarter earnings from U.S. companies

U.S. companies are preparing to report third-quarter results following a rocky few months in which they grappled with a U.S.-China trade conflict undermining the business environment and an overall economy that has been showing signs of struggling.

Facebook’s Libra faces support test after payment giants jump ship

Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency faces a pivotal meeting of backers on Monday, days after the ambitious project to bring digital coins into mainstream commerce suffered a severe setback when major payment firms quit.

Factbox: Facebook’s Libra in trouble as firms jump ship

A number of payment processors and fintech companies that joined Facebook Inc’s digital currency project Libra with great fanfare earlier this year, have abandoned the project, dealing a blow to the social media giant’s plans.

WTO clears U.S. to target EU goods with tariffs over Airbus

The World Trade Organization (WTO) formally authorized the United States on Monday to impose tariffs on up to $7.5 billion of imports of EU goods after an arbitrator’s decision over subsidies to planemaker Airbus .

Stocks meander on caution over trade talks, dollar gains

The U.S. dollar gained on Monday as initial optimism ebbed over a potential U.S.-China trade deal that President Donald Trump outlined last week, but a gauge of global equity markets was little changed as investors sought details.

Uber launches boat service in Nigeria’s megacity Lagos

Global ride-hailing firm Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] on Friday launched a pilot test of a boat service in Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos to attract commuters seeking to avoid the megacity’s notoriously congested roads.

Bitcoin Will Free The World “From The Mercy Of Dictators”, Billionaire VC Tim Draper

Bitcoin Will Free The World “From The Mercy Of Dictators”, Billionaire VC Tim Draper

Authored by Tim Draper via Medium.com,

The Startup Government Preface. Tribalism to globalism.

The Startup Religion. We have a particularly diverse student body at Draper University, and in the program, the students are asked to do challenging projects in teams. As a result, they build extraordinarily tight bonds with each other. Most of them overcome biases that they may have held before entering the school.

One particularly powerful and illustrative moment of this took place in the spring of 2019.

I was starting to give my 20th Draper University graduation speech, when I noticed that about 10 Arab students were missing. I asked where they were, and a fellow student said that they were out praying.

I said, œGo get them. We will all pray. So, the praying Arab students were rounded up, and proceeded to lead the class of about 80 students in a Muslim prayer.

Then I asked, œWould anyone else like to lead a prayer, and the magic began. Doron Segev, our one Israeli female student said, œI will lead a Jewish prayer. We all followed along with her.

Then I said, œAnyone else? And three Indians got up and led us in a Hindu prayer.

Finally, two Catholics led us in a Catholic prayer.

It was such a strong emotional event, I got chills. The spirits were loving this.

œOnly at Draper University, I claimed, but deep down, I hoped that this was the beginning of a s …

Sears Will Close Another 100 Stores Amid Failed TurnaroundÂ

Sears Will Close Another 100 Stores Amid Failed TurnaroundÂ

A new report by The Wall Street Journal indicates about 100 of the 425 Sears and Kmart stores that financier Edward Lampert acquired out of bankruptcy are set to close by year-end.Â

Lampert, who was chairman and chief executive of parent Sears Holdings Corp., decided in late 2018 to file for bankruptcy protection.Â

Move To Replace Columbus With Indigenous Peoples’ Day Is Gaining Momentum

Move To Replace Columbus With Indigenous Peoples’ Day Is Gaining Momentum

Authored by Kelli Ballard via LibertyNation.com,

The second Monday in October is celebrated across the nation ” with a few exceptions ” as Columbus Day. It’s a time to honor Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who mistakenly landed on American soil and started the migration of Europeans and the colonization of a previously occupied land. The first celebrations of the day were created by Italian and Catholic communities seeking to recognize and honor the momentous event that led to the creation of the United States we know today. As time continued, more people got on board, and it finally became a national holiday in 1972, when President Richard Nixon designated the second Monday in October to honor the explorer.

However, just as soon as the day became official, another crusade to oust Columbus and replace him with indigenous peoples began. In 1977, participants at the United Nations International Conference on Discrimination against Indigenous Populations in the Americas suggested renaming that Monday to Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

US Congressional Delegation Denied Visas In Beijing Over Planned Stop In Taiwan

US Congressional Delegation Denied Visas In Beijing Over Planned Stop In Taiwan

Over the past several weeks there has been an ongoing tit-for-tat between visas granted by China and the United States for each others citizens. One of the more significant, we found out Sunday in the Wall Street Journal , is that China barred a bipartisan delegation of American lawmakers over their planned stop in Taiwan.Â

What Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee thinks about Indian economy

What Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee thinks about Indian economyAbhijit Banerjee, who on Monday won the 2019 Nobel for Economics, said Indian economy is on a shaky ground.

How India can fix the slowdown problem

How India can fix the slowdown problemIndia needs to fix rot in 3 economics drivers “agriculture, investment by industry & credit growth from banks.

For Indian millennials, diamonds are forever

For Indian millennials, diamonds are foreverSome 20% of jewellery sales by volume is now diamond-studded jewellery, according to industry executives.

Capitol Report: Here are all of the Democrats running for president, as a dozen get ready for Tuesday debate in Ohio

Former Vice President Joe Biden continues to lead his fellow Democratic presidential contenders as enthusiasm grows for Sen. Elizabeth Warren and the field has narrowed somewhat.

Key Words: Nobel winner Robert Shiller: A recession that could discredit Trump looms large

Yale University finance professor and Nobel laureate Robert Shiller talks to Time about what he sees as an inevitability.

The Moneyist: My stepmother hid my father’s will and bequeathed their home to her daughter

‘I know my father wanted to provide for her while she was living. I was told he wouldn’t let her sell the house while she was alive.’