02May2016 Market Update: DOW Up Almost Triple Digits, Crude Prices And US Dollar Sliding, But Expected To Rise Again, Volume Rising From Anemic Levels

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The S&P 500 is up 0.59% while the IPC gains 0.19%. The Bovespa is off 0.61%.

Wall St. higher as financial, consumer stocks rise

(Reuters) – Wall Street was higher on the first trading day in May on Monday, helped by a rise in financial and consumer discretionary stocks.

Oil down 3 percent on OPEC output hike, speculative ramp-up in Brent

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices fell about 3 percent on Monday as production from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries neared all-time peaks and record speculative buying in global benchmark Brent sparked profit-taking on last month’s outsized rally.

U.S. factory activity expands; construction spending rises

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. manufacturing activity rose for a second straight month in April but at a slightly slower pace, as new orders and production fell.

Baker Hughes tries to reassure investors as Halliburton deal fails

(Reuters) – Baker Hughes Inc sought to reassure investors on Monday by announcing a $2.5 billion plan to buy back stock and pay down debt, using the breakup fee it will receive following the collapse of its long-stalled takeover by fellow oilfield services provider Halliburton Inc .

Ackman: Valeant has no plans to sell ‘crown jewel’ assets – CNBC

BOSTON (Reuters) – Billionaire hedge fund manager William Ackman told television station CNBC on Monday that embattled drug company Valeant Pharmaceuticals has no plans to sell any “crown jewel” assets and that he stuck with his bet on the company because he thought he could “fix it”.

Puerto Rico government bank in tentative deal with key creditors

SAN JUAN (Reuters) – Puerto Rico’s Government Development Bank, which announced plans to skip the bulk of a $422 million debt payment on Sunday, said it reached a framework deal with some creditors to keep negotiating a debt restructuring.

Investors may have profited from leaked U.S. data: ECB research paper

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Investors earned millions of dollars in profits from correctly betting on market moves ahead of sensitive U.S. economic data, suggesting leaks of key indicators, a European Central Bank research paper said on Monday.

Fidelity raises estimated value of Airbnb, Cloudera and Nutanix

(Reuters) – Valuations of apartment-sharing startup Airbnb Inc and other promising pre-IPO companies rose in March, according to the latest monthly estimates released by Fidelity Investments.

Big bargains entice Warren Buffett fans on Berkshire weekend

OMAHA (Reuters) – Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, is known for his keen eye for a bargain.

Is Charlie Munger Becoming Austrian: “It Was Massively Stupid For Our Government To Print So Much Money “

Any moment now we expect Paul Krugman to come out with an op-ed suggesting that not just Time magazine, but Charlie Munger is the latest to join ZH payroll following what were some surprising comments by Warren Buffett’s right hand man earlier today on CNBC when he said that “the U.S. is looking more like Japan given the prolonged low-interest-rate environment.”

The one phrase which Krugman will surely have something to say about was the following: “I strongly suspect it was massively stupid for our government to rely so heavily on printing money and so lightly on fiscal stimulus and infrastructure,” Munger told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

Munger also blasted Japan’s decision to become the latest nation to implement negative interest rates: “It surprised all the economists of the world.”

But before we accuse Charlie Munger of transitioning into a full blown Austrian, his policy recommendation left something to be desired: “I think we would’ve been way better off if we’d used fiscal stimulus because ¦ this [low interest rate] approach runs out of fire power.” Of course, “fiscal policy” is merely a more polite way to say take on more debt, which ultimately goes back to the fundamental problem: there is just far too much debt in the world, and the main reason why the Fed and other central banks have been forced to unveil unorthodox monetary policy is to keep interest rates as low as possible or else risk an out of control explosion in not just debt but servicing costs.

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Meanwhile, in other, somewhat tangential news, none other than Warren Buffett went on an epi …

A Decade Of Maximum Peril

Submitted by Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

In this decade of maximum peril, a prankish God delivers two maximally detested candidates to lead the faltering nation as events run ahead of all the convenient narratives. For instance: the idea that Republican “insiders” can block Trump’s path to the nomination. The insiders may be phantoms after all. For instance, the loathsome Koch brothers have already made their move onto Hillary’s side of the game-board. Trump won’t miss their campaign contributions for a New York minute (while Hillary might find a way to stuff the cash into some Cayman Islands lock-box of the Clinton Foundation).

Events played right into Trump’s smallish hands last week when protesters outside a Donald rally in Costa Mesa, CA, waved Mexican flags and placards calling for the reestablishment of Aztlán del Norte. Kind of proves his point about illegal immigration, don’t it? Trump also supposedly blundered in saying that Hillary had only “the women’s card” left to play in her donkey trot to the election. I’m not so sure he’s wrong about that — though the indignometer needle danced through the red-line after he said it.

Has it come to this? The women’s party against the men’s party? What kind of idiot psychodrama is this country acting out? Mom and dad mud-wrestling in an election year hog-wallow? A Reality TV show writ large from sea to shining sea? Are there no better ways of understanding the difficulties we face?

Lately Hillary has been boasting of her ability to bring Wall Street to heel, theoretically after Wall Street installs her in the White House. Voters (especially women) might want to pay attention to Hillary’s lavish praise for Preside …

“The Claims Don’t Add Up” – Is The “Unmasking” Of Bitcoin’s Satoshi Nakamoto Just A Publicity Stunt

Earlier today we reported that in what many are convinced is just another self-gratifying publicity stunt, Australian entrepreneur Craig Wright “outed” himself as bitcoin’s mysterious creator “Satoshi Nakamoto” by unleashing a major PR campaign and revealing his “identity” to three media organizations – the BBC, the Economist and GQ.

As Verge writes, after meeting with Wright, Bitcoin core developer Gavin Andresen stated unequivocally, “I believe Craig Steven Wright is the person who invented Bitcoin.” But while established bitcoin figures were quick to agree with Wright’s claims, many remain deeply unconvinced, believing Wright has come forward to drum up interest in a new supercomputer venture. Others are even more skeptical, and are convinced that after digging through Wright’s claims, that “Satoshi” is anyone but the Australian.

As a reminder, this is not the first time Wright has made headlines in relation to bitcoin. In December, the Australian businessman was put forward as a possible founder of Bitcoin by Wired and Gizmodo. After the news broke, Bitcoin fans discovered a string of apparent fabrications from Wright’s past, and Wright was brought up on charges by Australian tax authorities on uncertain grounds.

Among the things that are perplexing is Wright’s sudden desire to “claim fame” for being Satoshi: why keep quiet for so many years then suddenly appears out of the blue. Then again, “even skeptics have to admit, Wright is the strongest candidate we’ve ever had. He claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto ” and some of the biggest names in Bitcoin believe him.”

However, as the Verge adds, “what’s missing is the math. Wright’s demonstration showed both reporte …

“We’ll Want People Who Previously Didn’t Know Where We Were” – Goldman Makes Push Into Smaller Retail Prey

Goldman Sachs is looking for a new pool of cash to plunder, and this time the firm is setting its sights slightly “lower” than normal. As revenues continue to plummet, Goldman is now looking to generate a new revenue stream with clients that are “mass affluent”, or have less than the estimated $50 million average account size their current clients have.

As Reuters reports, the firm is creating a strategy that will involve partnering with small brokerages and wealth management firms to lend money to their clients. The strategy is set to enable the vampire squid to do more traditional lending, as well as margin lending to a larger much less wealthy client base. Goldman has tripled loans to its own private wealth clients according to Reuters, having $45 billion in loan receivables at the end of 2015.

The new strategy comes just after the Fed approved Goldman’s purchase of deposits from GE Capital Bank, further increasing its banking operations.

“We’ll want people who previously didn’t know where we were.” Blankfein said last year, speaking of customers unfamiliar with the firm.

We suspect those clients who previously didn’t know the vampire squid will be very well acquainted with them in short order.

Halliburton-Baker Hughes Deal: What Has Been Gained and Lost

The failure of a merger between oil-field-service rivals Halliburton and Baker Hughes is less disastrous for both companies than it seems.

From Apple to Facebook: What Tech Investors Want Now

Yield-hungry investors still want to see growth in their tech portfolios.

Chinese Water Company Makes Wrong Kind of Splash

Beijing Enterprises Water took a risky dip into rival Sound Global, buying a stake just after regulators suspended the company’s shares from trading.

Capitol Report: Typically clean Apple dips its toes into use of made-up metrics

Apple is the rare tech company that doesn’t use non-GAAP metrics to paint a rosier picture of earnings. That may change.

Outside the Box: How arbitragers profit off mom and pop investors

Mom and pop investors think they are getting a great deal by being able to trade for $10, but they don’t understand how arbitragers are profiting off their trades, writes Tim Quast.

Outside the Box: Apple should buy Tesla ” and make Elon Musk CEO

A combination of an operations executive such as Tim Cook and a visionary such as Elon Musk would be formidable, says Vivek Wadhwa.