Written by Gary
Most commodities are in the red. Global markets mixed. Dollar remains on strengthening streak. USA futures showing a flat open. Not expecting much from the markets today.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are broadly higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.08% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.30% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.05%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. xxxxxxxxxxx | |
 | General Mills sales miss on strong dollar, weak U.S. demand (Reuters) – General Mills Inc , the maker of Cheerios cereal and Yoplait yogurt, reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales, hurt by a strong dollar and weaker sales in the United States. |
| Futures little changed day after Brussels attacks (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Wednesday as investors remained cautious a day after the attacks in Brussels and ahead of the Good Friday market holiday. |
| In era of cheap oil, Saudi loses shine for foreign workers RIYADH/KHOBAR, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) – Mobarak Musa, a mobile telephone salesman from Syria, has spent 10 years working in Saudi Arabia, sending part of his wages back home to support his parents and three brothers. A shift in Saudi labor policy means he won’t be able to do so for much longer. |
| Europe recovers from Brussels-driven losses LONDON (Reuters) – European stock markets bounced back on Wednesday from the concerns over security that have dominated the past 24 hours, helped by a handful of more positive signals on the health of the world’s major economies. |
| Credit Suisse steps up cost and job cuts in investment banking ZURICH (Reuters) – Credit Suisse Group on Wednesday announced 800 million Swiss francs ($821 million) in additional cost cuts and plans to shrink its investment bank further as part of a restructuring plan aimed at revitalizing its earnings.Like its global peers, Credit Suisse is grappling with record low interest rates, low commodity prices and slower growth in emerging markets such as China. |
| Fiat Chrysler to recall 419 cars in Russia: standards agency MOSCOW (Reuters) – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will recall 419 Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Liberty and Dodge Viper cars in Russia, the country’s technical safety watchdog Rosstandart said on Wednesday. |
| U.S. grants China’s ZTE temporary reprieve on export curbs WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government will give Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker ZTE Corp a three-month reprieve on tough export restrictions it imposed this month, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. |
| In oil rout, some U.S. energy bosses were spared the pain BOSTON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – More cash, lower targets and bigger share awards – not all U.S. energy bosses are feeling the full impact of tumbling oil prices in their paychecks. Some oil and gas companies are making it easier for their top managers to meet performance goals or are offering more cash as a prolonged oil slump keeps share prices at lows not seen in five years, filings show. |
| Asia sentiment brightens with turnaround in China view: Thomson Reuters/INSEAD HONG KONG (Reuters) – Sentiment at some of the biggest companies across Asia brightened in the first quarter of 2016, rising from a four-year low registered three months prior, as executives bet on economic improvement in China, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed. |
| Dollar Winning Streak Continues For Fourth Day Pushing Oil Lower; Futures FlatFollowing two days of rangebound moves, where Monday’s modest market rebound was undone by the Tuesday just as modest decline (despite the early surge higher on the latest “bullish for stocks” European terrorism), overnight equity action continued to be more of the same, and as of this moment S&P 500 futures were unchanged, while European stocks were modestly higher. But while equities remain surprisingly uneventful despite loud warnings by both JPM and Goldman now that another bout of volatility and equity downside is coming, in FX there has been a substantial change, one which has seen the US dollar rise for a fourth day, the longest winning streak in a month, driven by the latest round of hawkish Fed jawboning courtesy of the Chicago Fed’s Charlie Evens yesterday, which in turn has pushed down prices of oil, gold and copper.
As noted earlier by Bloomberg, the greenback gained against almost all of its major peers, with only the Japanese yen keeping pace, after a Federal Reserve official commented on the interest-rate outlook. This is in line with a warning issued by JPM yesterday, according to which selling of USD is about to fall out of vogue as it heads for worst month since 2011. The bank said hedge funds cut bets on further gains in dollar to the lowest since 2014 prior to last week’s Fed meeting, and with speculators having already ditched the U.S. currency, few are left to sell and push it down further, making greenback less susceptible to outflows of hot money. The last 4 days appear to have confirmed just this. |
| Trump Learns Of Naked Melania Photo Used In Attack Ad, Threatens To “Spill Beans” On Heidi CruzYesterday we were stunned when we learned that in order to support Ted Cruz and to “attack” Donald Trump, Liz Mair’s anti-Trump Make America Awesome super PAC launched a Facebook campaign which in addition to showcasing Mitt Romney’s support for Ted Cruz, emphasizing Trump’s past support for pro-choice policies, it also crossed the family line when it showed a GQ modeling photo of Melania Trump posing nude. Crossed lines aside, what surprised us most is that “showing a naked Melania Trump, a successful, multi-lingual supermodel and undoubtedly the most attractive first lady America would ever have, is not exactly an attack ad” and we wondered how badly this ad would backfire “the moment men end up seeing the ad.” We will find out the moment the Utah primary results come in, even though by her admission, Mair certainly did her best to only focus on women voters. In any case, about an hour ago Trump found out about Cruz’ attack ad. This is what he said:
“Spill the beans?” Cruz immediately responded, attempting tto explain he had no idea what is going on, but warning Trump to stay away from Heidi:
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| “Western Tuesday” Results: Trump, Clinton Win Arizona; Cruz Gets Utah; Sanders Takes 2Latest: Ted Cruz cruises to victory in Arizona taking all 40 delegates. Update: Bernie Sanders takes Utah, Idaho Update: CNN Calls it… Donald Trump wins the Republican presidential primary in Arizona, a victory in a delegate-rich winner-take-all state that boosts his effort to win his party’s nomination before this summer’s GOP convention.
Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic presidential primary in Arizona, adding to her streak of victories over rival Bernie Sanders.
* * * As we detailed earlier, Tuesday was supposed to be all about Arizona and Utah where voters will soon make their choice for the Republican and Democratic presidential nominees. Polls in the two states as well as Democratic caucuses in Idaho will of course be overshadowed by this morning’s terrorist attacks in Brussels, but this evening’s elec … |
| Fascism, American StyleSubmitted by John Whitehead via The Rutherford Institute,
This is an indictment of every politician who has ever sold us out for the sake of money and power, it is a condemnation of every politician who has ever lied to us in order to advance their careers, and it is a denunciation of every political shill who has sacrificed our freedoms on the altar of Corporate America. They’re all fascists. If Donald Trump is a fascist—as nearly half of Americans surveyed believe—then so is every other politician in office or running for office in America who has ever prioritized money and power over human beings.
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| Global Stocks Rally StallsGlobal stocks were steady as the dollar gained and European stocks continued to recover in the wake of the Brussels attack. |
| Credit Suisse Ramps Up Cuts as Trading Revenue SlumpsCredit Suisse plans to further slash its investment bank and ramp up cost and job cuts, as the Swiss bank struggles to revamp under its recently appointed chief executive. |
| Amazon and Biotech Are Ruining the Year for the NasdaqThe stock-market rally has left the Nasdaq behind. More than half of its decline this year can be attributed to 10 companies of the composite’s roughly 2,600 components. |
| Even As Russians Withdraw, Their Legacy In Syria Remainsfrom STRATFOR
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| Need to Know: Only this could shake stocks out of their resilience to terrorAs police nab a suspect in the Brussels attacks this morning and two brothers are implicated, stocks don’t look like they’re set to dive due to terror fears ” but this one event could change that. |
| The Wall Street Journal: As Trump racks up delegates, contested convention lacks voter supportDonald Trump won the Arizona primary on Tuesday, racking up another victory in his quest for the Republican presidential nomination before a month-long period when GOP primaries will be fewer and farther between. |
| Metals Stocks: Gold lower as safe-haven appeal dulls, focus back on ratesGold prices are slipping as gains in the dollar dampen the value of holding the precious metal. |
As the departure of Russian forces from Syria announced March 14 continues, evidence of construction at Russia’s main air base in the country demonstrates Moscow’s intention to maintain a military presence there. Imagery dated March 17 acquired by Stratfor of the Bassel al Assad air base in Latakia province and the naval base at Tartus highlights the ongoing Russian drawdown of its forces in Syria that Moscow contends will be largely completed by March 20.Earnings Summary for Today
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