Written by Gary
The markets moved around – and ended up basically unchanged on improved GDP data and mellow corporate earnings.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 5.41 points, or 0.03% to 17,745.98. The S&P 500 gained 0.06 points (essentially unchanged) to 2,108.63 and the Nasdaq improved 17.05 points, or 0.33% to 5,128.79.
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Obama Asks Supreme Court to Review Insider-Trading RulingThe Obama administration asked the Supreme Court to review last year’s insider-trading decision by a federal appeals court that overturned two convictions and set a higher standard for proving the financial crime. | |
U.S. Stocks WaverGlobal stock markets were mixed as investors focused on the latest batch of corporate earnings and digested a weaker-than-expected first reading for the second-quarter U.S. gross domestic product. | |
Another Day, Another V-Shaped Manic-Melt-Up Recovery In Stocks (To Unchanged)After 3 days of magical buying on no volume after hevay volume dumps, this seemed appropriate… “if you don’t buy the dip, then you are a f##king idiot” First things first… Fed Funds Futures prices tumbled (implying a big shift higher in rates expectations)… Chinese stocks plunged overnight as no late-day rescue arrived… But more importantly in the US, another day, another opening dip, and another melt-up V-Shaped Recovery… Stocks and bonds decoupled again today…once again triggered as Europe closed… But despite the best e … | |
Airbus seeks to rebuild trust as A400M systems fall short PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus Group has told buyer nations of the A400M transporter aircraft that it cannot deliver all of its high-tech defenses according to plan, casting a shadow over some of its military uses as Europe battles growing instability on its borders. | |
Brazil’s Economy Slides Into Depression, And Now Olympians Will Be Swimming In FecesBack on December 29 of last year, we explained how under the burden of its soaring current account deficit, and its its first primary fiscal deficit since 1998, not to mention numerous corruption scandals and a dysfunctional monetary policy, the Brazilian economy “just imploded.” We also noted the main reason for the Latin American collapse: Brazil had for the past decade become China’s favorite source of commodities, and now that China suddenly no longer needed commodities, the Brazilian economy went into freefall. We followed this up a month later with “Brazil’s Economy Is On The Verge Of Total Collapse” which repeated more of the same, only this time the situation was even worse. It took the rating agencies 7 months to figure out what our readers had known since 2014, when two days ago S&P downgraded Brazil’s credit rating from Stable to Negative citing, what else, the “sharp deterioration of the growth and fiscal consolidation outlook and heightened political/institutional friction” adding that “the negative outlook reflects the agency’s view of a “greater than one—in—three likelihood that the policy correction will face further slippage given fluid political dynamics and that the return to a firmer growth trajectory will take longer than expected.” In other words, Brazil is about to become the next BRIC to follow Russia into junk territory: Goldman followed up S&P with a report in wh … | |
Point72 Hires New Head of Data and AnalyticsThe $9 billion investment firm run by Steven A. Cohen continued its push into the world of big data, hiring former Bridgewater Associates co-head of research Matthew Granade as chief market intelligence officer. | |
Facebook shares dip as results fail to impress (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s shares fell as much as 5 percent on Thursday, after the company’s weak advertising sales growth outlook dampened investor expectations boosted by Google Inc’s strong report earlier this month. | |
Ukraine, Bondholders Move Closer to DealUkraine and a group of its bondholders moved closer to deal over $19 billion in debt after creditors agreed to take a small reduction in the face value of their holdings. | |
Venezuela currency blues hit U.S. blue-chip companies BOSTON (Reuters) – Venezuela’s currency woes cut nearly $3 billion in profit at U.S. blue-chip companies during the second quarter and prompted Procter & Gamble Co to remove its operations in the South American country from its consolidated financial reports. | |
In China Stocks, Late Jolts Are New NormalAnyone trading Chinese shares shouldn’t take a long lunch. That is the lesson from the Shanghai market’s behavior in recent days, as margin calls and moves linked to government buying shake up trading. | |
From Hill-ary To Mountain-ary – How UBS Sent Millions To The Clintons After Saving The Bank In 2009How many more blind eyes can the press (or “we, the people”) turn? Source: Townhall.com * * * As Liberty Blitzkrieg’s Mike Krieger explains…
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Google loses bid to overturn low-cost patent licenses to Microsoft NEW YORK (Reuters) – In a setback for Google Inc , a U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that the low licensing rate Microsoft Corp pays to use some of Google’s Motorola Mobility patents had been properly set. | |
NBCUniversal Said to Be Near Investing in BuzzFeed and Vox The prospective deal would be the latest effort by big media companies to get a toehold in digital media and its large audience of young people. | |
The Real Story Behind Turkey’s US-Backed “War On Terror”A quick Google search for the phrase “Turkey joins ISIS fight” reveals that generally speaking, the media is doing its best to pitch Ankara’s newfound willingness to engage Islamic State militarily as a kind of come-to-Jesus moment for the Erdogan regime. Here’s the official line, excerpted from the NY Times:
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GE may ship $10 billion in work overseas as U.S. trade bank languishes WASHINGTON (Reuters) – General Electric Co is taking steps to shift some U.S. manufacturing work overseas now that the U.S. Export-Import Bank will be shuttered at least until September, the industrial giant’s global operations boss told Reuters on Thursday. | |
Bakken Driller’s Reset Points to More Pressure on OilWhiting Petroleum’s capitulation suggests oil price rallies will be capped in 2016. | |
7 ‘Saves’ In 7 Months: A Market Going Nowhere FastSubmitted by Charles Hugh-Smith of OfTwoMinds blog, Can markets be saved an eighth time, a ninth time, a tenth time this year? How about next year? What do we make of a stock market that’s been “saved” seven times in a mere seven months? Saved from what, you ask? Saved from rolling over, of course; after six years of upside, the current uptrend is getting long in tooth, and evidence of global recession is mounting. What’s “saved” the market seven times in seven months? The usual burps of hot air: the Federal Reserve issued more mewlings (zero rates forever), Greece was “saved” again, China’s crumbling stock bubble was “saved” again, and so on. The problem for bulls is they keep hitting their head on the ceiling after every “save”: instead of running to new highs in an extension of the six-year uptrend, the S&P 500 reverses once it reaches the narrow band of recent highs. As soon as the SPX hits this range, somebody starts selling. It’s called distribution: the smart money sells to whomever is buying–bot, trader, hedge fund, it doesn’t matter, as long as someone takes the shares off their hands. This raises the question: how many more “saves” can there be? How many more times can Greece be “saved” so global markets rally? How many more times can China’s imploding stock market be “saved,” bailing out global markets again? How many more times can the Fed talk up zero interest rates and put off an eventual click up in rates? Are there an unlimited num … | |
Molybdenum: Minor Metal Is Major Headache for InvestorsThe steelmaking ingredient is the worst-performing metal this year, as demand has fallen but not supply. | |
P&G results raise concerns about pace of turnaround (Reuters) – Procter & Gamble Co reported its sixth straight quarter of falling sales, hurt mainly by the stronger dollar. | |
Greece, Europeans must reach deeper deal before IMF program possible WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund can only approve new loans for Greece after Athens reaches an agreement with European governments that would ensure it can pay its debts, an IMF official said on Thursday. | |
Caught On Tape: Angry Mexican Crowd Attacks Uber DriversWhile everyone knows “you don’t mess with Texas,” it appears technologists worldwide just learned another truism, “you don’t disrupt in Mexico.” As the following disturbing clip shows, as WFLA reports, an angry crowd attacked Uber drivers and their vehicles with clubs and stones Tuesday outside the Mexico City airport. Amateur video captured the incident, showing people smashing car windows and throwing eggs and flour at vehicles. One man destroyed a moving car’s rear window with a large rock. Uber said between 10 and 12 cars were damaged in the attack. There were no reports of serious injuries. Mexico City became the first city in Latin America to make official regulations for smartphone-based taxi services earlier this month. The Organized Taxi Drivers of Mexico, a union campaigning against Uber, denied any involvement in Tuesday’s attack. Perhaps some disruption is too much disruption…
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Wall Street mixed; Procter and Whole Foods slide (Reuters) – The S&P 500 was on track for its flattest session in two weeks on Thursday as investors digested ho-hum corporate earnings and new data showed that the economy grew more quickly in the second quarter. | |
Trade Like A Market Wizard – An Interview With Mark Andrew RitchieSubmitted by Erico Matias Tavares via Sinclair & Co.,
Erico Tavares: Mark, it is a great pleasure to be speaking with you today. Your life has been an inspiration t … | |
Exxon Mobil, Chevron Put Squeeze on BuybacksAhead of the Tape: Dividends are a lifeline as Exxon Mobil and Chevron slash buybacks amid oil’s slump. | |
Flying through Dallas: Virgin America CEO says worst is over (Reuters) – Virgin America Inc , a low-cost airline partly owned by billionaire Richard Branson, said it expects business to improve in Dallas, a major airline hub where competition has led to increased discounting. | |
Mixed Signals on U.S. Oil Output Puzzle InvestorsInvestors, traders and executives who rely on federal data from the Energy Information Administration are tripping over conflicting images of U.S. production that have emerged from separate EIA reports in recent months. | |
Market Drifts as Investors Get Good News, and Some Not So Good Shares of Procter & Gamble and Facebook fell after disappointing earnings, but a government report showed the economy rebounded in the second quarter. | |
Oil companies slash spending, jobs as prices slide for second time HOUSTON (Reuters) – The stark reality of a much-feared second dip in crude prices is prompting global oil majors and nimble U.S. shale companies alike to ax spending once again a year after the first price crash started. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
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