07Mar2016 Market Close: Large Caps Close Higher, WTI Crude Settles In The High $37,s

Written by Gary

Markets sea-sawed for most of the session and the large caps ended in the green with the DOW up67 points and the $NDX down 0.6%. WTI crude has stopped just below the resistance (38) and may or may not climb higher. A lot depends of a continuing bull run and is impossible to predict anything.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	BlackRock gold fund may face penalties over unregistered share issue NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc’s iShares Gold Trust may face penalties and other costs after the U.S.-listed fund sold $296 million in shares earlier this year without properly registering them, the company said in a filing on Monday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. …
	S&P 500 flat as energy spike offsets tech slide (Reuters) – Major U.S. stock indexes were mixed in late Monday trading as a spike in energy shares offset sharp declines in large-cap technology names.
	Oil at 2016 high above $40 per barrel after producer price support talk NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global oil markets jumped more than 5 percent on Monday, with Brent hitting a 2016 peak above $40 a barrel, after Ecuador said it was holding a meeting of Latin American crude producers as OPEC sought a higher anchor price for oil.
	Microsoft takes on Oracle, opening up database software to Linux SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp planned on Monday to announce its move into a new business, unveiling a database software that works with a rival to its Windows operating system, a move that takes aim at a market long dominated by Oracle Corp .
	Brent hits 2016 peak above $40; U.S. stocks dip NEW YORK (Reuters) – Brent oil prices shot above $40 a barrel on Monday to their highest level since December after data showed a smaller-than-expected U.S. build in crude stockpiles, while technology shares weighed on U.S. equities.
	Fed officials set battle lines on rate hikes ahead of March meet WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A pitched battle over the right path for U.S. interest rates is expected at next week’s Federal Reserve policy setting meeting, increasing pressure on Chair Janet Yellen midway through her tenure.
	Raytheon must face $1 billion whistleblower lawsuit: U.S. appeals court (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Monday revived a $1 billion lawsuit accusing defense contractor Raytheon Co of fraudulently overbilling the federal government under a contract to develop a weather sensor for a costly environmental satellite system.
	Exelon, Pepco agree either company may terminate proposed deal (Reuters) – Exelon Corp said it entered into an agreement with Pepco Holdings Inc under which either company may terminate their proposed deal at any time.
	S&P Panic-Bid Above 2,000 As Short-Squeeze Rip Trumps Fed’s Fischer Dip Just when you thoughjt it was safe to chase the biggest short squeeze in history Fed vice-chair Fischer f##ked it all up… The US equity market has only been more overbought 3 days in history… Amid the Biggest short squeeze…ever! It’s not the fundamentals; it’s oil stupid!! As WTI (front-month continuous based on BBG data) has the biggest 3-week gain since August 1990… And SPY (S&P 500 ETF) saw its lowest volume of the year…
	The Business Media Is Sounding More Socialist Every Day Authored by Mark St.Cyr, Here in the U.S. election season is in full swing, and it’s near impossible to find relief from the minute by minute relentless political ads, along with the ever-present media commentary. However, I never contemplated when I previously prayed, then begged for relief from the incessant pharmaceutical ads that bombarded me daily that my calls would be answered in the form of replacing them with ads of the political sort. Now I find myself again pleading or begging to return those intestinal discomfort or dysfunction et al ads. It truly gives credence to that old saying: “Be careful what you wish for!” Which is fitting to the topic of not only today’s politics, but business in general. One of the newest (although it’s as old as time itself) idea dynamics to openly enter the U.S. political/business debate in my lifetime has undoubtedly been: Socialism. What has baffled me is not only the rapid acceptance of the idea, rather, the call for it to be implemented here in the U.S. on a grand scale. We currently not only have politicians publicly advocating it, we also have many “business leaders” demanding varying forms of its implementation throughout sectors of the economy. Whether or not one agrees with what is being called for, as well as, what has already been implemented, is up to you. Understanding the how, why, and where it leads based on prudent contemplation and where you’ll fit in as an entrepreneur, business leader, or solo-practitioner is quite another. For no matter what the political theme-of-the-day is currently being touted (i.e., Get the 1%! et al.) The people directly in those cross-hairs of “oth …
	Oil Prices Lifted by Supply-Cut Hopes Oil prices surged on hopes that declines in oil drilling around the world and an output deal among major producers would shrink the global glut of crude.
	Justice Department, SEC Investigating Visium Visium Asset Management, a $8 billion hedge-fund firm run by Jacob Gottlieb, is being investigated by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission over trading and valuation issues.
	Why the Fed Isn’t Out of Ammo The Federal Reserve actually has plenty of ammunition left. But it doesn’t work in its conventional weapons.
	Trucking Tonnage Contracting In January 2016 Truck shipments are in contraction year-over-year.
	Bond Report: Treasury yields rise as focus returns to diverging monetary policy Treasury yields rose to levels last seen more than a month ago on Monday as investors warmed up to the idea that the Federal Reserve will likely raise U.S. interest rates at least once or twice this year, extending the spread between yields in the U.S. and abroad.