05Jan2016 Market Close: Markets Cut Losses From Morning Trading To A Mixed Close, Crude Down, US Dollar Up, Investors Concerned

Written by Gary

US markets closed mixed, the DOW up 10 points, the Nasdaq down -0.24% and crude down to the high 35s, as traders shrugged off growing tensions between two of the world’s biggest oil producers. The Spooz (SP500) pared morning losses by ignoring Iran and the Saudi’s looking at the US oil glut instead.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	U.S. auto sales in 2015 set record after strong December DETROIT (Reuters) – Automakers on Tuesday set a new U.S. sales record for 2015 even as December sales fell short of expectations, and most forecasters said the new year will be even better.
	Wall Street stabilizes after weak start to year (Reuters) – U.S. stocks were near flat in choppy trading late Tuesday afternoon, though the Standard & Poor’s 500 edged higher, stabilizing after steep losses on the first trading day of the year.
	Whistleblower sues Viacom, alleges Ninja Turtles tax fraud plan NEW YORK (Reuters) – Viacom Inc was sued by a former vice president who said the media company fired her in retaliation for opposing its alleged plan to illegally avoid paying U.S. taxes on the international licensing rights for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
	Samsung urges U.S. court to overturn $120 million patent verdict for Apple WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd urged a U.S. appeals court on Tuesday to find that a jury in 2014 should not have made the South Korean company pay nearly $120 million to Apple Inc for infringing three patents.
	Deutsche Bank cuts U.S. GDP forecasts NEW YORK (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank economists on Tuesday reduced their forecast on U.S. economic growth in the fourth quarter of 2015 and first quarter of 2016 due to recent disappointing data on trade, construction spending and manufacturing activity.
	VW struggling to agree fix for U.S. test cheating cars: source BERLIN/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volkswagen is struggling to agree with U.S. authorities a fix for vehicles capable of cheating emissions tests, a VW source said on Tuesday, showing how relations between the two sides remain strained four months after the cheating came to light.
	AT&T steps up ‘smart cities’ push, to offer more services NEW YORK (Reuters) – AT&T Inc will expand its smart city services to help municipal authorities remotely monitor conditions of roads and bridges in real time and give citizens mobile apps to stay informed about things like traffic and safety problems, the company said on Tuesday.
	JPMorgan fined $48 million for failures in U.S. robo-signing settlement WASHINGTON (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase has been fined $48 million for failing to meet terms of a settlement to resolve mortgage servicing violations, U.S. bank regulators said on Tuesday.
	Oil slides toward 11-year low as traders shrug off Mideast tensions NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell about 2 percent towards its 11-year low on Tuesday, as traders shrugged off growing tensions between two of the world’s biggest oil producers, and focused instead on a stronger U.S. dollar and swelling U.S. crude inventories.
	Where Are We Right Now On Citi’s “Bear Market Checklist” Earlier we showed why, one day after JPM said that “the regime of buying the dips might be over and selling any rallies might be the new one”, another major bank, this time Citigroup, said that after six years of outperformance, “fading EPS momentum and rising Fed funds mean that… we cut the US to Underweight.” Perhaps the most important observation Citi made was that the US economy is now precariously poised between Phase 3 and Phase 4 in the credit/equity cycle: “Phase 4 when both equity and credit sell-off sharply. It seems that we are now well into Phase 3 of the US credit/equity cycle although the ECB is trying to hold back the progression of this cycle, in the Eurozone.” How long the ECB keeps the US on life support may be the most important question of all as we enter 2016. And while there is much more surprising gloom, if not all out doom, in the full report (link), it wasn’t all bad. For Citi, the biggest bullish factor is that when looking at its “bear market checklist”, only 3.5 factors are “flashing red”: What else would make us worry the next full-blown bear market is imminent? Figure 15 compares the current situation to the start of previous bear markets. In 2000, almost all our 16 checklist factors were flashing red. In 2007, we had 12.5 sending warning signals. This compares to 3.5 now, although this is up from just one in 2014. This bull market is definitely showing signs of old age but may not be finis …
	All Bubbles Are Different (But End The Same) Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, In the last “Technical Update” I discussed the outlook for 2016 (you can also get the full version here) and the risks that lay ahead as we approach the end of the first half of the full market cycle. The New Year, unfortunately, started off with the wrong kind of bang. However, the sell-off was not unanticipated. As I stated previously, a lot of the selling in December was a result of capital losses being taken by institutional players for tax purposes for the 2015 tax year. Monday’s decent was the opposite. Most of the action appeared to be capital gains harvesting for the 2016 tax year where taxes will not have to be paid for 15 months. I say this because the focus of the bloodbath on Monday was last years big winners – the FANG trade: Facebook (-2.33%), Amazon (-5.76%), NetFlix (-3.86%), and Google (-2.25%). Financials, Healthcare, Mid/Small-Cap and Emerging Markets also took a pretty healthy beating. However, regardless of the reasoning behind the sell-off, the technical downtrend that begin in December remains firmly entrenched. As I wrote last week: “After a second attempt at the downtrend resistance, the market has built an accelerated downtrend. If the market is unable to reverse this decline in short-order, the odds of …
	Sweden Prepares For FX “War” With Bloodthirsty Hedge Funds On Monday, the Riksbank said it would Å“instantly intervene ï¿½ in the FX market in the event ongoing krona strength ends up imperiling Sweden’s inflation target. Å“During 2015, the Riksbank has cut the repo rate to “0.35 per cent, adjusted the repo-rate path downwards and purchased large amounts of government bonds and also announced additional purchases during the first half of 2016, ï¿½ the bank said, in a statement. Å“However, since the last monetary policy meeting in mid-December, the Swedish krona has appreciated against most other currencies [and] if this development were to continue, it could jeopardise the ongoing upturn in inflation. ï¿½ As a reminder, Sweden is caught between a rock and a hard place. The Riksbank – like the SNB, the Norges Bank, and the Nationalbank – is effectively beholden to the ECB. When Draghi eases, Stefan Ingves must ease as well or risk Å“undesirable ï¿½ currency appreciation. In other words, in the endless, beggar thy neighbor race to the Keynesian bottom, it’s ease or be eased upon (so to speak), as everyone fights to stay alive in the ongoing global currency wars. Despite the Riksbank’s best efforts to appease an angry Paul Krugman who, prior to Ingves’ relent and subsequent plunge into NIRP-dom, accused the bank of being what he calls Å“sadomonetarists, ï¿½ Sweden has struggled to push inflation higher and keep a lid on the krona in the face of Mario Draghi’s â€šÂ¬1.1 trillion asset purchase program and attendant move to cut the depo rate into negative territory. Meanwhile, negative rates have inflated a massive housing bubble that Ingves is powerless to r …
	U.S. Stocks Steady After China Turmoil U.S. stocks steadied Tuesday, but the tepid recovery reflected investors’ caution after a sharp selloff that kicked off the year.
	Accounting Rule that Whipsawed Banks’ Earnings to Be Scrapped The Financial Accounting Standards Board saidÃ‚ it would change a rule that requires banks to take losses when some of their own debt is considered safe, and to record gains when the debt is considered riskier.
	J.P. Morgan Fires KCG Holdings as Its NYSE Market Maker J.P. Morgan Chase has replaced KCG, its market maker on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, with Virtu Financial, according to a trader notice sent out from the exchange.
	Capitol Report: Gun stocks rally as Obama outlines new measures Gun stocks rallied for a second day on Tuesday, as investors again bet that new restrictions rolled out by President Barack Obama not only wouldn’t deter sales but would propel them.
	First Solar rallies on Goldman Sachs upgrade Analysts at Goldman Sachs raise their firm’s rating on the stock to buy, calling First Solar an underappreciated bellwether.
	The Margin: What time is the Powerball drawing? There’s a $450 million estimated prize at stake in Wednesday’s drawing.