29Apr2016 Pre-Market Commentary: US Futures Fractionally Lower, Crude Prices Moving Higher, US Dollar Sliding And Gold May Fail At Resistance

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are broadly lower today with shares in France off the most. The CAC 40 is down 1.53% while Germany’s DAX is off 1.37% and London’s FTSE 100 is lower by 0.58%.

Yen’s best week since 2008 crisis hits stocks and dollar

LONDON (Reuters) – The yen hit an 18-month high on Friday as investors wagered the Bank of Japan might be done adding fresh stimulus to the economy, culminating in a sharp rise on the week that dragged stocks around the world lower.

Exxon Mobil first-quarter profit drops 63 percent

HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer, reported a 63 percent drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, citing plunging crude prices and weak refining margins.

Amazon profit crushes estimates as cloud-service revenue soars

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc on Thursday reported profit and revenue that blew past analysts’ expectations, sending its shares soaring in after-hours trading and demonstrating the growing market power of its core retail business and new cloud services division.

Fed’s Kaplan says he will advocate for raising interest rates gradually

LONDON (Reuters) – Dallas Federal Reserve President, Robert Kaplan, on Friday pledged to push for gradual increases in the U.S. benchmark interest rate, as long as inflation continues to rise and the U.S. economy remains near full employment.

AB InBev to sell more SAB assets as seeks EU deal approval

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Brewing giant Anheuser-Busch InBev plans to sell the eastern European assets of SABMiller , which could fetch almost $8 billion, as it seeks European regulatory approval for its $100 billion-plus takeover of its closest rival.

Valeant files annual report, says in compliance with covenants

(Reuters) – Beleaguered Canadian drugmaker Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc filed its long-delayed annual report on Friday, in which it identified misstatements that would reduce some of its previously reported revenue.

Mitsubishi Motors has cash to weather mileage scandal, but brand battered, again

TOKYO (Reuters) – Mitsubishi Motors’ (MMC) market value and Japanese orders have halved since it admitted last week to rigging fuel economy tests, but with more than $4 billion in cash and low debt, the automaker should contain the potential damages.

Euro zone economy above pre-crisis peak as growth surges past U.S., Britain

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) – Overcoming years of poor health and crisis, the euro zone economy grew at its fastest pace in five years in the first quarter, driven by unlikely stars such as France and Spain.

Analysts grow more bullish on oil, OPEC poses no threat to rebalancing

(Reuters) – Analysts are growing increasingly confident that a near-two-year rout in oil has ended, and raised their price forecasts for a second month running, as healthier demand and a drop in U.S. shale output balance the market by 2017.

Trending On Twitter

One look at Twitter this morning and we are left with the impression that if it was indeed the intention of Bloomberg’s source (and/or Bloomberg), to “shut down” the website, it may have backfired.

The Full Story Behind Bloomberg’s Attempt To “Unmask” Zero Hedge

Over the years, Zero Hedge has proven to be a magnet for media attention.

It started years ago with a NY Magazine article published in September 2009 which first “unmasked” the people behind Zero Hedge with the “The Dow Zero Insurgency: The nothing-can-be-believed chaos of the financial crisis created a golden opportunity for a blog run by a mysterious ex-hedge-funder with a dodgy past and conspiracy theories to burn” in which we were presented as a bunch of “conspiracy theory” tin foil hat paranoid loons.

We are ok with being typecast as “conspiracy theorists” as these “theories” tend to become “conspiracy fact” months to years later.

Others, such as “academics who defend Wall Street to reap rewards” had taken on a different approach, accusing the website of being a “Russian information operation”, supporting pro-Russian interests, which allegedly involved KGB and even Putin ties, simply because we refused to follow the pro-US script. We are certainly ok with being the object of other’s conspiracy theories, in this case completely false ones since we have never been in contact with anyone in Russia, or the US, or any government for that matter. We have also never accepted a dollar of outside funding from either public or private organization – we have prided ourselves in our financial independence because we have been profitable since inception.

Which brings us to the latest “outing” of Zero Hedge, this time from none other than Bloomberg which this morning leads with “Unmasking the Men Behind Zero Hedge, Wall Street’s Renegade Blog” in which it makes the tacit admission that …

“You’ve Lost Their Confidence” Tom Coburn Exhorts Congress “America Doesn’t Trust You Anymore”

“America doesn’t trust you anymore. That’s the truth… and that’s not one party, that’s both” raged former Senator Tom Coburn during a hearing before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week. As FreeBeacon reports, Coburn, making his first appearance before the Senate since his farewell speech when he retired in late 2014, pleaded with Congress to take action to reform government, quoting de Tocqueville, that an ever more centralized control reduces its citizenry “to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”

As FreeBeacon.com’s Elizabeth Harrington reports, Coburn is leading a movement of more than 1 million activists working to hold a Convention of the States, allowed by Article V of the Constitution, to force Congress to balance the budget. He said 10 of 34 states needed have passed resolutions so far.

“I would just tell you a little of my background this last year in 2015 I spent my time in 21 different states,” Coburn told the committee. “And America doesn’t trust you anymore. That’s the truth. Because they don’t see the actions coming out of Congress that should be coming out.”

“And that doesn’t mean that they’re right all the time, but you’ve lost their confidence,” he said. “And that’s not one party, that’s both. And so when …

Gold & Silver Surge To New Cycle Highs After China Strengthens Yuan By Most In 11 Years

With Japan closed, and unable for now to do more damage (or damage control), China stepped in with some modest turmoil of its own by strengthening the Yuan fix by the most since 2005, pressuring the USD weaker for the 5th day in a row. Commodities have tended to push higher on the back of this with Crude above $46.50 but Gold and Silver have surged to fresh 15 month highs (over $1275 and near $18 respectively).

The biggest strengthenig in Yuan fix (implicitly pressuring the USD weaker) since 2005…

Sent PMs higher overnight…

And lifted crude (June) to the highest since Thanksgiving…up 4 days in a row

As it appears crude is playing catch up with gold post-BoJ…

Amazon’s Cloud Keeps Making It Rain

A strong performance by Amazon Web Services swelled Amazon.com’s bottom line and helped maintain its pricey valuation.

What Slump? How Eurozone Growth is Bucking the Global Trend

Unusually, the eurozone is leading the way. Strong first-quarter growth bodes well for the year.

China’s Banks Face Bad-Loan Pinch

Chinese banks’ precarious balance of provisioning just enough for bad loans while keeping profits flat won’t last much longer.

March 2016 Inflation Adjusted Personal Consumption Growth Disappoints.

Written by Steven Hansen

The data this month showed good income growth. The big disappointment this month is that consumers are spending less.

BookWatch: This Warren Buffett rule can work wonders on your portfolio

Ask Warren Buffett for the single most powerful factor behind his investing success, and he’d respond œcompound interest ” without skipping a beat.

Economic Report: Cost of employing workers shows little sign of speeding up, ECI shows

An index that measures what it costs a business to employ a worker rose a mild 0.6% in the first quarter and showed no sign of acceleration in the cost of labor.

Chuck Jaffe: Some of Warren Buffett’s most valuable lessons are getting twisted

It’s time for the annual Warren Buffett lovefest in Omaha, Neb., otherwise known as the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting and investor extravaganza.