04Apr2016 Pre-Market Commentary: WTI Crude Slipping, Markets To Open Flat And Perhaps Slide During Morning Hours, Investors Remain Uncertain Of Market Direction

Written by Gary

US Markets to open higher, but flat as some analysis look for another blah session as investors seek higher ground to avoid getting feet wet in uncertain times, Trump warns of a looming rescission and more notable analysts say ANY call for a recession are pure bull. WTI crude is falling and today’s session may drift lower.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 0.62% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.58% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.45%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Tax evasion probes underway after Panama Papers leak SYDNEY/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Tax authorities in Australia and New Zealand are probing local clients of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive data leak for possible tax evasion.
	Alaska Air to buy Virgin America for $2.6 billion NEW YORK (Reuters) – Alaska Air Group Inc said on Monday that it would buy Virgin America Inc for $2.6 billion to compete more effectively with larger airlines and become the top carrier on the U.S. West Coast.
	Airbus warns British employees on cost of Brexit LONDON (Reuters) – European planemaker Airbus Group said its future investment in Britain could depend on whether the country remains in the European Union, in a warning to its British employees ahead of a vote on June 23.
	Oil falls on fading supply freeze prospects; dollar steadies LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices hit one-month lows as prospects of top exporters agreeing to curb chronic oversupply faded, while other commodities also lost ground as the dollar steadied after Friday’s strong U.S. data.
	From Silicon Valley to Main St, firms say SunEdison owes money LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Businesses ranging from Silicon Valley venture capitalists to a small Massachusetts solar installer say they are owed money by SunEdison Inc, underscoring the breadth of a breakneck expansion seen contributing to the solar and wind energy company’s financial woes.
	Global investment banking fees fall 29 percent in first-quarter, worst since 2009 LONDON (Reuters) – Global investment banking fees fell 29 percent in the first quarter of 2016 from a year earlier as market volatility put a brake on dealmaking and equity and debt capital markets activity, Thomson Reuters data published on Monday showed.
	Panama lawyer at center of data leak denounces attack on privacy PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – The head of a Panama-based law firm at the center of a massive leak of offshore financial data on Sunday denied any wrongdoing, and said his firm has fallen victim to “an international campaign against privacy”.
	Tax authorities begin probes into some people named in Panama Papers leak SYDNEY/PANAMA CITY (Reuters) – Tax authorities in Australia and New Zealand are probing local clients of a Panama-based law firm at the centre of a massive data leak for possible tax evasion.
	Suspicion and soured relationships sank Bouygues Telecom’s deal PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – When French Prime Minister Manuel Valls phoned billionaire Martin Bouygues on Thursday evening in an attempt to save a merger between Bouygues Telecom and state-controlled Orange, it was already too late.
	The Future of Money Submitted by Charles Hugh Smith from Of Two Minds The cartels and state organs are frantically trying to co-op, outlaw, corral or control this disruptive technology. To say that the future of money is blockchain-based crypto-currencies and payment platforms is to state the obvious nowadays. If this wasn’t the case, then why are Goldman Sachs et al. (i.e. the global too big to fail banks) rushing to patent their own proprietary versions of blockchain technologies? Why are banks investing heavily in companies that are trying to establish a global blockchain platform for banks? The reason is that banks understand their core reason to exist is threatened by peer-to-peer, decentralized payment platforms and currencies. If payments no longer need to be routed through a centralized trusted institution, then one core function of banks disappears. If peer-to-peer lending and securitization becomes easier and cheaper due to the blockchain, then banks’ function of allocating capital also vanishes. Gordon White and I discuss The Future of Money (and its connection to meaningful work) (1:11 hrs; be forewarned we cover a wealth of topics, from philosophy to higher education to gardening to creating value in an economy that is being disrupted.) Since money–currency that serves as a medium of exchange–no longer needs to be issued by central banks/states, central banks/states are also in danger of being mooted/bypassed as enterprises and people realize they can escape the relentless destruction of their purchasing power by inflation-seeking central banks/states. If you aren’t familiar with blockchain technologies and crypto-currencies, and how thes …
	Frontrunning: April 4 Ties between Germany and Russia enter new chill (Reuters) Tax authorities begin probes into some people named in Panama Papers leak (Reuters) SEC investigates ex-JPMorgan debt traders (FT) Who Will Win Wisconsin? Here Are Six Credible Predictions (BBG) Victim in Wall St. Scheme Was a Classmate of Its Accused Architect (NYT) Makers took big price increases on widely used U.S. drugs (Reuters) Fed’s New Bank Critic Keeps Heat On (WSJ) Biggest Ever Saudi Overhaul Targets $100 Billion of Revenue (BBG) Behind Anbang’s Curious Starwood Courtship (WSJ) Migrants sent back from Greece arrive in Turkey under EU deal (Reuters) Tesla Model 3 orders point to potential $10bn sales (FT) Euro-Area Unemployment Declines to Lowest Since 2011 (BBG) Saudi Arabia Enters Ho …
	Germany To Greece: No Debt Relief For You Whether or not the IMF intended to use a Greek credit event to destabilize Europe as the Greek government first alleged, or whether this was “nonsense” as Lagarde responded to Tsipras letter, is irrelevant – ultimately the underlying premise was whether or not Greece gets debt relief, something the IMF has been insisting on since the third bailout package. And as is well-known, it was Germany – not Greece – that stood in the IMF’s way. So after a terse weekend in which relations between Greece and the IMF devolved once again to frigidly sub-zero levels, moments ago Germany chimed in with its position, which can be summed up in another familiar word: “nein”. As Bloomberg reports, citing spokesman Martin Jaeger, “Greek debt relief isn’t on the agenda right now”, adding that the “priority is to put Greek budget on sustainable footing.” He also said that Greece already has historically low repayment costs on bailout loans, and that “we remain confident that we can achieve progress, though there’s still quite a bit of work to do.” Finally, he said that we “don’t see why we can’t complete review before Orthodox Easter.” Additionally, the German chief govt spokesman Steffen Seibert said in response to reporter’s question whether they discussed IMF-Greece relations Merkel, that Tsipras spoke by phone on Sunday to discuss œa variety of issues.” He made it clear that Merkel government position on IMF participation in Greek aid program and debt relief hasn’t changed. Elsewhere, as we first noted in our summary of the Greek reaction to the leaked IMF letter, Bloomberg writes that “Greece could again face the threat of being pushed into default and out of the euro area if its current bailout review drags on into June and July, according to European officials monitoring the slow progress of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s negotiations with creditors.”
	Regeneron’s Blockbuster Dreams Get Brighter A new drug candidate can help reverse the pharmaceutical company’s 2016 stock slump.
	What Restoration Hardware Can Learn From J.C. Penney Restoration Hardware’s move to end promotions means it isn’t out of the woods after recent supply-chain woes.
	Global Markets’ First-Quarter Report Card: Limited Progress After a wild ride in the first quarter, markets are offering few easy choices for investors.
	Are Stress Tests Still Informative? from Liberty Street Economics — this post authored by Beverly Hirtle, Anna Kovner, and Samantha Zelle Since the height of the financial crisis, each year the Federal Reserve has disclosed the results of its stress tests, and stress testing has become “business as usual” in the U.S. banking industry.
	Need to Know: 4 reasons the Dow is headed toward 20,000 by the end of the year While yet-to-be-named bankers, CEOs and ” who knows? ” presidential candidates chew their fingernails, and the 99% fantasize about what could be revealed in the œPanama Papers, traders are focused on a stock market that, for now, seems to be bucking the odds.
	The Ratings Game: Buy Netflix stock ahead of earnings Netflix Inc.’s stock should be bought ahead of the video-streaming company’s first-quarter results, as fears over the outlook for U.S. subscriber growth are overdone, Pacific Crest analyst Andy Hargreaves said.