Written by Gary
US markets down, mostly over one percentage point with the DOW down 168 points. WTI crude slipped further erasing earlier gains on Friday to fall for a fifth day to settle in the high $32’s and the US dollar closed down after a brief run for the gold ring this morning.
This was the worst first week of the year for US equities as major stock indexes posted sharp weekly losses.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
![]() | Billionaire Cohen settles with SEC, could soon manage outside money (Reuters) – The hedge fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen has resolved U.S. charges related to insider trading, in an accord that clears the way for one of Wall Street’s top investors to soon manage outside money even after his former firm pleaded guilty to fraud. |
![]() | Wall Street declines heading into close (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell in choppy trading on Friday afternoon as sliding oil prices offset upbeat U.S. job growth data. |
![]() | Chipotle sued for misleading investors over food safety CHICAGO (Reuters) – Chipotle Mexican Grill , under scrutiny for months over outbreaks of foodborne illness linked to its restaurants across several U.S. states, was sued on Friday for allegedly misleading investors about its food safety controls. |
![]() | Texas Instruments, Analog Devices drop potential Maxim bid: Bloomberg (Reuters) – Chipmakers Texas Instruments Inc and Analog Devices Inc have decided not to pursue an acquisition of Maxim Integrated Products Inc at this time, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. |
![]() | Mazda recalls 374,000 vehicles for Takata airbag defects WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Mazda Motor Corp said Friday it will recall 374,000 U.S. vehicles linked to potentially defective front passenger- side airbags made by Takata Corp . |
![]() | Wall Street expects March hike, China a wild card: poll (Reuters) – Wall Street’s top banks say the Fed is likely to raise rates by March, but subsequent rate increases will be slow, particularly if China devalues its currency at a rapid rate in 2016. |
![]() | After dreadful week, stocks look for reason to bounce NEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors who were bloodied in the year-opening stock rout will be hard pressed to find any salve next week. |
![]() | VW blasted for shielding emissions documents from U.S. probe (Reuters) – Three U.S. state attorneys general criticized Volkswagen AG on Friday for citing German law to withhold documents from a group of states investigating the German automaker’s use of illegal diesel emissions software. |
![]() | Oil prices dip, erasing earlier gains; down 10 percent on week NEW YORK (Reuters) – Crude oil prices erased earlier gains Friday to fall for a fifth day and were poised for a weekly decline of 10 percent amid global oversupply and a bleak demand outlook that made it hard to guess when the market would find a floor. |
![]() | Market Massacre: Worst Ever First Week Of TradingWhat better analogy than this… This was the worst first week of the year for US equities… ever! Dow… (even worse than 2008) S&P… Europe was a disaster… And epic for China… And while only Trannies are in a bear market (down 20%) in the US, these 7 developed world markets are already there…(h/t SocGen’s Andrew Laphthorne) |
![]() | “The Entire Risk Paradigm Is Shifting” – Stocks Join Global ‘Reality’ AdjustmentsSubmitted by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners, The focus on China as if their problems were only Chinese is highly misplaced, though you can understand the appeal of the excuse. This sentiment was expressed over and over today (just as it was in August):
This is one of those forest and trees moments that get caught up on the surface of anachronistic thinking. Even if all that were true, the fact that China is an export economy having trouble finding any sustained and sufficient demand for its industrial capacity is a direct reflection upon global “demand”; which still includes the same business climate that US companies derive their revenue and earnings from. But it never really is so much about business today as it is risks for business tomorrow. In raw terms, if Chinese firms and its economy can so struggle in th … |
![]() | Auto Sales Are About To Choke: Increase In Non-Revolving Credit Is Smallest In 4 YearsMoments ago, the Fed released the latest, November, consumer credit data: it was not good. Rising by just $13.95 trillion, it was a big miss to the $18.5 trillion expected, and below the $15.6 billion downward revised increase in October. In fact, three months after the historic surge in September to the highest print in the revised series, total consumer credit has tumbled to the lowest since January. But the big problem was not in the total data, but in one of the two key component data sets. Recall that a few days ago we noted something very disturbing for US auto makers: for all the hoopla around the auto sales number, US domestic car sales had actually dropped to a 6 month low, missing estimates by the most since 2008. What was just as disturbing was that “plans to buy an auto” had tumbled the most since January of 2013. Lacking the most recent credit data, we did not know what may have caused this dramatic slowdown in auto purchasing, and intentions. Now that we have … |
![]() | Cohen Deal Opens Door to Managing Outside MoneyHedge-fund billionaire Steven A. Cohen settled a long-standing case with the SEC that opens the door for him to resume managing outside money “a remarkable turnaround for the Wall Street titan. |
![]() | The Junk-Bond Market’s Newest Big Buyer: Goldman SachsMany investors are taking a break from the junk-bond market, but not Goldman Sachs. Buyout firms are increasingly calling on investors such as Goldman, which are willing to lend even in choppy markets. |
![]() | U.S. Stocks Slip, Capping Turbulent WeekU.S. stocks fell Friday, capping a tumultuous week for markets across the globe. Major stock indexes posted sharp weekly losses. |
![]() | What We Read Today 08 January 2016
This feature is published every day late afternoon New York time. For early morning review of headlines see “The Early Bird” published every day in the early am at GEI News (membership not required for access to “The Early Bird”.). BECOME A GEI MEMBER – IT’s FREE! Every day most of this column (“What We Read Today”) is available only to GEI members. To become a GEI Member simply subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. |
![]() | Economic Report: Hiring surges, U.S. adds 292,000 new jobs in DecemberThe United States gained almost 300,000 new jobs in December, capping off the fifth straight year in which employment grew by at least 2 million to power a steadily growing economy. |
![]() | Economic Report: November consumer credit up at slowest pace since JanuaryConsumer credit decelerated to a $14 billion gain in November, the slowest pace since January, the Federal Reserve said. |
![]() | MarketWatch First Take: Strong jobs report is reminder economy and stock market are not the same thingThe U.S. economy is actually doing really well by the most important benchmark, jobs. But that doesn’t mean much to the stock market, writes Steve Goldstein. |
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