08Feb2016 Market Close: Major Averages End Session Over One Percentage Point Down, Crude Steady, Gold Slips And US Dollar Falls Fractionally

Wall Street falls on economic worries; financials down

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks dropped on Monday as concern over global growth hit banks and other economically sensitive shares, but a late rally in energy shares left the market well off its lows of the day.

India introduces net neutrality rules barring Facebook’s free Internet

NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – India introduced rules on Monday to prevent Internet service providers from having different pricing policies for accessing different parts of the Web, in a setback to Facebook Inc’s plan to roll out a pared-back free Internet service to the masses.

Chesapeake moves to quash bankruptcy fears as shares plunge

(Reuters) – Chesapeake Energy, the No. 2 U.S. natural gas producer, said on Monday it had no plans to file for bankruptcy, after sources told Reuters the company had asked its longtime counsel to look at restructuring options.

GM suspends Egypt operations due to currency crisis: company source

CAIRO (Reuters) – General Motors temporarily suspended its operations in Egypt due to a currency crisis, a company source told Reuters on Monday.

Tech stocks extend losses, valuations dented

(Reuters) – Technology shares with lofty valuations, including those of midcap data analytics company Tableau Software Inc and Internet giant Facebook Inc, extended their losses on Monday following a gutting selloff in the previous session.

DoubleLine’s Gundlach calls market trends ‘relentless and powerful’

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Jeffrey Gundlach, the widely followed investor who runs DoubleLine Capital, repeated a December warning on Monday that the dramatic slowdown in global growth will trigger a collapse in some credit funds, saying that the high-yield “junk” bond market still has not hit bottom.

Verizon enlists AOL CEO to explore Yahoo deal: Bloomberg

(Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc has given Tim Armstrong, chief executive officer of its AOL unit, a leading role in exploring a possible bid for Yahoo Inc’s assets, Bloomberg reported, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.

LafargeHolcim receives revised divestment order from India

ZURICH (Reuters) – LafargeHolcim has received a revised order from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to divest its interest in Lafarge India, including three cement plants and two grinding stations with total annual capacity of 11 million tons, it said.

Either Banks Are Cheap… Or The Market’s Gonna Crash

Large cap financials have had an awful time in the last month and are 11.7% lower so far in 2016.

As ConvergEx’s Nick Colas details, that’s worse than pretty much anything else, including all other S&P 500 sectors, the Russell 2000 small cap index, and even the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

This down and out sector is worth a look for three reasons. First, it seems clear now that the investment case for the Financials, based on a series of Fed rate increases and a steeper yield curve, was either wrong or early. Which is the same thing as wrong. Second, volatility in the group (both actual and implied) is now equal to the levels of August-September 2015. Third, even if the largest banks, brokers and regionals merely meet the lowest earnings expectations on the Street, they are still only trading for 10-12x this year’s EPS and 9.5-11.0x next year.

One caveat, though, and it’s a big one. If the stock prices for these largest financial institutions are right, then the broader market is clearly still overpriced. Something has to give.

Ask any veteran stock analyst what industry group draws the smartest but quirkiest colleagues, and you’ll probably hear one sector more than any other: “Insurance”. At my first job in a bulge bracket research department, the fellow who covered the space was fond of talking to himself at the oddest times and modulatin …

“We Can Put Refugees On Buses”: Leaked Memo Shows Erdogan Blackmailed Europe For Billions

If there’s anything we’ve learned over the past twelve months it’s that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is prepared to employ all manner of nefarious tactics in order to preserve his grip on power in Ankara.

Following unfavorable election results last June, Erdogan plunged the country into civil war be restarting a long simmering battle with the PKK and proceeded to crack down on journalists and anyone else critical of the ruling AKP. Ultimately, new elections were called and AKP put up a stronger showing, effectively paving the way for Erdogan to rewrite Turkey’s constitution and install an executive presidency.

But Erdogan’s bullying isn’t confined to his domestic political agenda. Greek media has obtained an internal memo which suggests the Turkish strongman effectively blackmailed the EU by demanding cash payments in exchange for efforts to curb the flow of migrants into Western Europe. œWe can open the doors to Greece and Bulgaria anytime and we can put the refugees on buses, Erdogan allegedly said, on the way to demanding $3 billion per year in aid.

Read more below.

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Submitted by Keep Talking Greece

In internal EU memo obtained by Greek media reveals the blatant Turkish blackmail on the refugee crisis. The memo contains a summary of the dialogue between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with European Commissioner Jean Claude Juncker and President of the European Council Donald Tusk on 16th November 2015 during the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey. The three Presidents were discussing the Action Plan to …

Edge vs Risk Management (Video)

By EconMatters

Some traders think having good risk management in place is an edge, but there is a distinction to be made here. Today is a good day in financial markets to discuss this topic in depth.

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Dow Pares Losses to End Volatile Session Off 1.1%

The flight from risky assets accelerated Monday as the Dow industrials declined nearly 200 points and gold prices logged their biggest one-day gain in more than a year.

Deutsche Bank Shares Drop as European Banks Get Pummeled

Deutsche Bank’s shares dropped sharply Monday, losing almost 10% of their value as the battered European banking sector came in for fresh punishment.

Chesapeake Energy: The End Isn’t So Near

Chesapeake Energy is in survival mode, but investors have reacted with undue alarm to steps it has taken to stay afloat.

This government group wants to crack down on college financial aid cheats

A closer eye on companies cheating students and taxpayers out of financial aid dollars.

Market Extra: Why Wall Street isn’t panicking about the stock-market tumble

Sharp moves in the stock market as defined by 1% or higher, have become the norm.

Bond Report: 10-year Treasury yield falls to one-year low

Treasury prices rally, pushing yields to a 12-month low on Monday, as stocks skid and investors bid up safe assets.