15Apr2016 Market Close: US Markets Down With The DOW Off 30 Points. $RUT Up 0.2%, Investors Completely Lost On Market Direction Next Week

Written by Gary

US markets closed down fractionally on low volume as oil price declines weighed on energy shares and Apple dragged on the market, but major indexes were still poised to post weekly gains. U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter. Earnings season shifts into high gear next week in what is expected to be the weakest U.S. quarterly results reporting period since 2009.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Energy shares, Apple weigh on Wall Street (Reuters) – Wall Street slipped on Friday as oil price declines weighed on energy shares and Apple dragged on the market, but major indexes were still poised to post weekly gains.
	U.S. industrial output falls, signals weak first-quarter GDP growth WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. industrial production fell more than expected in March as manufacturing output dropped by the most in a year and mining maintained its downward trend, the latest indication that economic growth braked sharply in the first quarter.
	Apple extends iPhone production cut for another quarter: Nikkei (Reuters) – Apple Inc will continue its reduced production of iPhones in the quarter ending June in light of sluggish sales, the Nikkei business daily reported, citing parts suppliers notified of the plan.
	Obama tax inversion rules may overstep authority: U.S. lawmaker WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama’s proposed rules to stop U.S. companies from reincorporating abroad, if only on paper, to avoid U.S. income taxes appear to overstep legal authority, a top Republican lawmaker said on Friday.
	Intel plans to cut thousands of jobs: report (Reuters) – Intel Corp is planning to cut thousands of jobs this spring, including reducing headcount in some business units by double-digit percentages, news website Oregonlive said, citing sources inside the company familiar with the plan.
	G20 worried by ‘modest’ global growth, commodities weakness WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Financial leaders from the Group of 20 nations said on Friday they were heartened by a recent recovery in financial markets, but warned that global growth was “modest and uneven” and threatened by weakness in commodities-based economies.
	Investors look for trough in profit downturn NEW YORK (Reuters) – As earnings season shifts into high gear next week in what is expected to be the weakest U.S. quarterly results reporting period since 2009, the hope among some is that this is as bad as it’s going to get.
	SunEdison says in talks for potential DIP financing (Reuters) – Solar energy company SunEdison Inc said on Friday it was in talks for potential debtor-in-possession financing with some of its first and second-lien lenders.
	Citigroup reports profit drop, sees more pain if oil slips (Reuters) – Citigroup Inc’s quarterly profit plunged 27 percent, dragged down by lower revenue from trading and investment banking as well as costs to shrink some businesses and cover bad loans to the energy industry.
	Why All Central Planning Is Doomed To Fail Authored by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com’s Pater Tenebrarum), Positivist Delusions [ed. note: this article was originally published on March 5 2013 – Bill Bonner was on his way to his ranch in Argentina, so here is a classic from the archives] We’re still thinking about how so many smart people came to believe things that aren’t true. Krugman, Stiglitz, Friedman, Summers, Bernanke, Yellen – all seem to have a simpleton’s view of how the world works. A bunch of famous people with a simpleton view of how the world works…who not only seriously think the economy can and should be “planned”, but arrogantly believe they are the ones who should do it. It’s a bit like the crazy guy who doesn’t know he’s crazy. They believe they can manipulate the future and make it better. Not just for themselves… but also for everyone else. Where did such a silly idea come from? After the Renaissance, Aristotelian logic came to dominate Western thought. It was essentially a forerunner of positivism – which is supposedly based on objective conditions and scientific reasoning. “Give me the facts,” says the positivist, confidently. “Let me apply my rational brain to them. I will come up with a solution!” Beyond the Herald’s Cry This is fine, if you are building the Eiffel Tower or organizing the next church supper.< …
	Which Are The Highest Paying Trading Jobs As the following chart showing the collapse in trading revenue across the banks who have reported Q1 earnings so far shows… … it has been a very bad start to the year for America’s largest, too big to fails/too big to prosecute. It has been just as bad for bank employees, but while most US banks have seen the occasional drib and drab here and there, nothing compares to Barclays, which in the past 4 months has fired a stunning 8,000 workers. But while in 2016 the pain is prevalent, as many traders are scared the next round of pink slips may just cost them their job, it’s not all doom and gloom especially when one recalls that, on average, most traders are paid far better than 99% of all other jobs. And some are certainly more equal than others. Below we present a breakdown of the highest paying trading jobs, based on an analysis from UK-based Emolument, which has examined London traders’ salary and bonus data at Director level to provide a glimpse into their remuneration profiles. As expected, dealing with more complex financial products provides the best pay. Across every single trading desk, traders receive bonuses that range from 40% (repo traders) to 113% of their annual salary (flow rates traders).
	“It’s Turning Into A Ghost Town” – One In Five Calgary Offices Is Now Empty As we’ve covered extensively in the past (here and here), home prices and vacant offices in Calgary have been a complete disaster as a result of the collapse in oil prices. Recall the troubling divergence in home prices that Calgary is experiencing in relation to other major cities in Canada. And also, vacancy rates ebb and flow with the price of crude. And now with the price of crude hovering around $40/bbl, CBRE Canada estimates that Calgary’s downtown office vacancy rate was 20.2% as of March 31, nearly twice as high as the 11.8% a year ago. This means that one in five offices is now vacant. It says vacancies are at historic highs, with eight million of the downtown area’s 41 million square feet of office space available and subleases making up close to half of what’s on offer With three million square feet of office space under construction still, experts say that it could be well over a decade before the market rebalances. Calgary’s downtown commercial office space vacancy rate has risen to 20.2%, according to CBRE. As CTV News adds, “it …
	Citi Earnings: Finding Keys to Unlock Trapped Capital Citigroup’s 27% decline in net profit masked significant progress elsewhere in the bank.
	Oil’s Rally Is Running on Fumes Ahead of the meeting this weekend between Saudi Arabia and other big exporters, there is clear scope for disappointment
	China’s Economy Faces Recovery Without Legs The more China’s nascent economic rebound is fueled by debt and property, the more concerned Beijing will be that it is pushing the gas too hard.
	Currencies: Dollar retreats after mixed economic data The dollar moves slightly lower on Friday after a batch of mixed economic releases but logs gains against major rivals over the past week, after two consecutive weeks of losses.
	Bats Global brings a glimpse of spring to the IPO market Bats Global Markets maintained a strong stock performance in its market debut Friday. With a few more data points, analysts say the IPO market could be unfrozen.