01Mar2016 Market Close: Market Rallies, DOW Closes Up 350 Points, US Dollar Slips Off Morning Highs, Some Investors Going For Risky Assets

Written by Gary

US markets rallied today mostly because of HFT algo computers, but we have seen that before. The DOW closed up almost 350 points, the Spooz closed up 2.4% and crude climbed higher in the morning and then traded sideways, I am looking for a fractional market correction tomorrow morning.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	U.S. February auto sales jump 7 percent, no slowdown yet DETROIT (Reuters) – U.S. February auto sales soared to a 15-year high for the month, carmakers reported on Tuesday, in the latest sign of continued consumer confidence.
	‘Bond King’ Gross: I did not quit Pimco (Reuters) – Bond fund manager Bill Gross on Tuesday accused Pacific Investment Management Co of falsely claiming he suddenly decided to abandon the firm he co-founded in an effort to win dismissal of his $200 million breach-of-contract lawsuit.
	Apple lawyer, FBI director face off before Congress on iPhone encryption WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey told a congressional panel on Tuesday that a court order forcing Apple Inc to give the FBI data from an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino shooters would be œpotentially precedential in other cases where the agency might request similar cooperation from technology companies.
	NYSE owner ICE may gatecrash Deutsche Boerse-LSE merger (Reuters) – New York Stock Exchange owner ICE said it may make a rival bid for London Stock Exchange , raising the prospect of a takeover battle with Deutsche Boerse and lifting LSE shares to a record high on Tuesday.
	McLaren Automotive could triple car production by 2022: CEO GENEVA (Reuters) – McLaren Automotive, which only began building its range of luxury sports cars for general sale in 2010, could triple volumes to up to 5,000 cars by 2022, its CEO told Reuters on Tuesday.
	Banks and tech fuel robust gains on Wall Street (Reuters) – Wall Street surged on Tuesday to its highest since early January, led by financial and technology stocks after encouraging U.S. factory and construction data suggested the world’s biggest economy was regaining momentum.
	U.S. factory, construction data bolster growth prospects WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing appeared to stabilize in February, with production accelerating and new orders holding steady at higher levels, in another dose of good news for the economy after growth slowed in the fourth quarter.
	Fiat Chrysler CEO says not in tie-up talks at present GENEVA (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) is not in tie-up talks with anyone at present, and a potential partner would need to have the same multi-brand strategy as FCA for a merger to work, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Tuesday.
	Downside Risk Escalates As “New Highs” Falter Submitted by Eric Bush via Gavekal Capital blog, We have had a nice little bounce in the equity market over the past two and half weeks. Since making a multi-year low on 2/11, our GKCI United States Index has rallied by nearly 7%. From the May 2015 peak to the February trough, the index fell by almost 16%. So has the latest rally kicked the equity market correction to curb and have equity markets entered into a new bull phase? Unfortunately, one of the more reliable market internal data points is indicating to us that there is probably further downside ahead in the short-term for investors. When at least 55% of US stocks are making new 20-day highs, this is a sign that the overall asset class is in demand and that stocks are being widely bought. In other words, this is a sign that equities are in a bull market and investors should be participating. In the chart below, we plot new 20-day highs against the GKCI United States Price Index and we have added a line at 55% to mark when new highs hit this threshold. Granted, this indicator missed the 06-07 rally (perhaps a sign of the narrowness of that bull market), but otherwise it has generally been correct in identifying when stocks are in a bull market. One of the reasons we are holding back our enthusiasm for this latest rally is the fact that new 20-day highs only reached a peak of 33% last week and have since fallen to just 22%. This is a sign to us that the distribution phase of the correction isn’t over yet and the market hasn’t moved into a broad accumulation phase.
	Google Releases Its Robotic Dog In The Wild, Leads To The Following “Close Encounter” One week ago we showed a clip by Google-owned Boston Dynamics in which a 5’9″, 180lbs humanoid robot called Atlas engaged in various human activities, such as walking, picking itself up, opening doors, and carrying heavy loads. The robot in question, clearly an old prototype (which prompted many to wonder just how far advanced is the underlying technology now if Google has no industrial espionage concerns with this particular specimen) was not only this close from putting millions of workers in menial, repetitive occupations out of a job, but could easily serve as a solider in any army that has a “lower” standard of acceptance. It was the latter which led to visceral reactions among viewers, some of whom complained that the clip was “disturbing”, “frightening” and outright “terrifying”, and if there is anything Google does not want, it is to scare the general public with its arsenal of “disturbing” robots. Which may explain the resulting attempt at damage control, because one week after GOOG shocked the public with the eerie-looking “Atlas”, it has now gone the cuteness route and released another clip, this time of Spot, Google’s electronic dog, which is seen in the following clip in “the wild”, engaged in a close encounter with an actual terrier belonging to Android cofounder Andy Rubin. The terrier’s less than enthusiastic reaction is about what one would expect. While the clip is also disturbing, as BGR puts, it, “watching a dog play with a robot is far more enjoyable than watching a bunch of humans abuse a robot.” From the description: The robot’s lifelike movement catches the attention of a real do …
	Sweden’s Migration “Industry” Submitted by Nima Gholam Ali Pour via The Gatestone Institute, That Sweden is a “humanitarian superpower” is a myth that needs exposing once and for all. The recent migration wave to Sweden has made some people poor and others very, very rich. It is all about money, and it is about winners and losers. If liberal journalists outside Sweden believe that rape is humanitarian, then Sweden has a humanitarian migration policy. Meanwhile, thousands of “unaccompanied refugee children” are disappearing. and no one knows where they are. There is nothing “noble” in Sweden’s migration policy — far from being a good example of how a migration policy should function, it is a disaster, and its final result is chaos, conflict, and corruption. When you talk to journalists from the U.S. or the UK, they often seem to think that Sweden is a humanitarian superpower that has received refugees because the Swedish government is following some ideology based on doing good deeds. That Sweden is a humanitarian superpower, eager to lead by example, is a myth that needs exposing once and for all. The recent migration wave to Sweden has made some people poor and others very, very rich. Every day one reads news in Sweden about the winners and the losers in the migration industry. One of the winners in Sweden’s migration industry is ICA Bank. In November 2015, it invoiced the Swedish Migration Agency $8 million for providing asylum seekers prepaid cards. For every cash withdrawal, ICA Bank takes a $2 fee, and for every prepaid card activated, it takes $21. ICA Bank
	Spot The End Of Monetary Policy Effectiveness Growth scare? Not when it lasts four years… Source:Yardeni.com And if you need help spotting the moment when monetary policy became impotent… Time for a Summers-ing!!
	Dow Rises More Than 300 Points U.S. stocks started the month with a broad rally, as upbeat economic data helped calm fears of a slowdown.
	‘Critical Mass’ of Oil-Producing Countries Agree to Freeze Output A œcritical mass of oil-producing countries have agreed to freeze oil production, Russia’s energy minister said Tuesday, as African, Latin American and Persian Gulf producers expressed optimism about joining the deal.
	Barclays Shares Plummet on Dividend Cut, Wider Loss Shares in Barclays dropped more than 10% after the bank said it would slash future dividends and set out plans to sell down its African business.
	Currencies: Dollar strengthens as consumer spending stages a comeback The dollar edged higher Tuesday against most of its major rivals as car-sales data added to evidence that consumer spending recovered in early 2016.
	Bond Report: Treasury yields close at 1-month high as investors ditch haven assets Treasury prices plunged Tuesday, pushing yields to their highest level in a month, as surging stock prices pushed investors out of Treasurys.