Written by Gary
Markets closed down after a n afternoon of meandering sideways in a sea-saw fashion on low volume as many investors sat on the sidelines. WTI crude, on the other hand, took several quick dips to end up in the middle of a wide support zone (45.34) with investors wondering what is going to happen here too.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Wall St. ends down slightly ahead of jobs report NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks edged lower on Thursday as investors digested mixed healthcare and tech earnings a day ahead of Friday’s U.S. jobs report. | |
Valeant CEO feels heat as shares tumble to 2-1/2 year lows NEW YORK/BOSTON (Reuters) – Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc shares fell as much as 20 percent on Thursday to a level not seen since 2013, heaping new pressure on Chief Executive Officer Michael Pearson after weeks of steep losses due to concerns about the drugmaker’s business practices. | |
Volkswagen luxury cars in Europe fitted with devices that U.S. says cheated tests BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s luxury diesel cars in Europe are fitted with the same software that American regulators say was used to cheat emissions tests in the United States, the carmaker said on Thursday. | |
Ex-Goldman employee pleads guilty over N.Y. Fed leaks NEW YORK (Reuters) – A former Goldman Sachs Group Inc employee pleaded guilty on Thursday to illegally obtaining confidential information from a former colleague at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. | |
Goldman Sachs to promote junior bankers faster in bid to keep talent (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc unveiled a series of changes designed to retain junior bankers, including promoting them more quickly and encouraging mobility within the firm. | |
Boeing to pay $57 million to settle 401(k) lawsuit (Reuters) – Boeing Co said it had agreed to pay $57 million to settle a lawsuit in which employees accused the company of mismanaging their 401(k) retirement plan. | |
Lufthansa cabin crew to start week-long strike Friday FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa’s main cabin crew union said a week-long strike would start on Friday at the German carrier, after last-minute talks between staff and management over early retirement benefits and pensions broke down. | |
Former Rabobank traders convicted in U.S. trial over Libor rigging NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two former Rabobank [RABO.UL] traders were found guilty of fraud on Thursday in the first U.S. trial arising from a global investigation into whether banks sought to manipulate the interest rate known as Libor. | |
International lawyers plan Volkswagen investor lawsuit as soon as February LONDON (Reuters) – Bentham Europe, a litigation funder, said on Thursday it was in contact with Volkswagen’s top 200 investors about launching a damages claim in Germany as soon as next February for alleged negligence and breaches of German securities law. | |
FedSpeak & Fireworks Day Leave Crude Crushed, Copper Clubbed, Stocks Soft, & Bonds BruisedWith The Fed now on 24 hours a day jawboning expectations up for a rate-hike in December (which has suddenly spooked assets) and Fireworks Day (Guy Fawkes may have been on to something after all) across the pond, stocks, bonds, and commodities all leaked lower ahead of tomorrow’s “most important ever” payrolls… Stocks started the day off with the usual pre-eopn ramp With Trannies somehow outperforming today… In spite of the collapse in crude… S&P 2100 was once again all important… driven sending VXX to the low of the day… Stocks were glued to USDJPY all day – especially after crude decoupled… | |
JPM Head Quant Is Back: The Rally Drivers Are Gone With “Downside Risk” Ahead, But No Flash Crash Unless…Over the past 3 months, the name Marko Kolanovic, head of JPM’s Quant Team, has become one of the most loved, or feared (depending on which way he is leaning) and respected on all of Wall Street for one simple reason: think Dennis Gartman, only correct every time. The reason, as we have profiled before, is simple: he has somehow succeeded in calling every single market inflection point since the August 24 flash crash, and we have documented them all: August 21, just before the Black Monday flash crash: “Why The Market Is Crashing Into The Close: JPM Explains” August 27: “JPM Head Quant Warns Second Market Crash May Be Imminent: Violent Selling Could Return On Thursday” September 3, before the next leg lower in stocks: “Home JPM Head Quant Is Back With New Warning: “Only Half The Selling Is Done; Expect More Downside”” But his most prodigious call came on September 24 when we wrote “Bears Beware, JPM’s Head Quant Just Flipped To Bullish: “The Technical Buying Begins.” So it did, leading to the biggest market ramp in history, and biggest monthly point gain ever. … | |
Breadth Breaking Bad – Where It All Went Wrong For The FedWith the S&P 500 just over 1% from its all-time record-high, it is perhaps shocking that only just over 50% of the index members are trading above their 200-day moving average. Worse still, the divergence between index price performance and underlying component performance has never been greater as The Fed’s last money-printing effort drove a wedge between the have-nots and the have-yachts… The S&P 500 (with its 108x P/E Facebook and 928x P/E Amazon) is practically back to record highs but underlying breadth remains a disaster… But, when we look at the entire US equity market – based on the world’s largest stock index NYSE Composite – this is a story that began when The Fed unleashed the $85bn per month QE3… As is clear, the massive surge in performance of the overall indices was concentrated more and more among the names underlying the index as the free money party from The Fed only benefitted the biggest. And that’s where it all went wrong for The Fed as their plan to re-wealth the world failed to trickle down yet again. Charts: Bloomberg | |
New Start Is Near for 130-Year-Old Stock ExchangeThe National Stock Exchange has submitted a final rule filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission and could restart trading as early as December. | |
Agricultural Giants Look to Join ForcesSome of the world’s largest agricultural companies are looking to combine with one another as three years of shriveling crop prices have pressured profits, in what would be the industry’s first big shake-up in at least a decade. | |
Wells Fargo to Pay $81.6 Million in Bankruptcy SettlementWells Fargo has agreed to pay $81.6 million to settle claims it failed to notify thousands of bankrupt homeowners that it was increasing their mortgage payments in violation of federal bankruptcy law. | |
Currencies: Dollar climbs as traders bet jobs report will support rate hikeThe U.S. dollar held on to its gains from the prior session on Thursday as investors embraced the notion that the Federal Reserve could raise interest rates at its December meeting. | |
Capitol Report: Why Dick Cheney likes being called an ‘iron ass’ by George H.W. BushFormer President George H.W. Bush is unloading on two of George W. Bush’s top aides in a forthcoming book, saying former Vice President Dick Cheney and ex-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld served his son badly. | |
Capitol Report: Elizabeth Warren calls for Social Security pay riseNew legislation introduced by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and 17 other senators would give Social Security recipients the same raise chief executives saw last year. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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: