05May2016 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Flat, Crude Prices Slip, US Dollar Showing Strength, Disappointing Earnings Soured Investors’ Appetite For Risk

Wall Street ends little changed ahead of jobs report

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks gave up big early gains on Thursday as consumer discretionary shares fell and investors showed caution ahead of the April jobs report.

U.S. jobless claims rise; planned layoffs surge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, posting the biggest gain in more than a year, but the underlying trend continued to point to a strengthening labor market.

Alibaba’s revenue soars, but new ventures hit profit

(Reuters) – Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, China’s biggest e-commerce company, said fourth-quarter sales rose 39 percent after its core online shopping business grew, but profit fell for the first time as it spent on ventures like food delivery.

Oil up as fire curbs Canada output; higher dollar, stockpiles cap gains

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices surged on Thursday after a raging wildfire near Canada’s oil sands region curbed output that mainly flows to the United States, before settling off their highs as a rebounding dollar and a huge U.S. stockpile build cut into gains.

FCC backs Charter purchase of Time Warner Cable, Bright House: sources

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A majority of the five-member U.S. Federal Communications Commission has voted to approve Charter Communications Inc’s acquisitions of Time Warner Cable Inc and Bright House Networks, two sources briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Sumner Redstone’s ex-girlfriend must sway judge on incompetence claim

SAN FRANCISCO/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Sumner Redstone’s much-discussed mental state will be dissected in public during a trial set to start on Friday, as an ex-girlfriend tries to convince a Los Angeles judge that the 92-year-old media mogul is incompetent in the culmination of a salacious, months-long legal drama.

South Africa extends regulatory scrutiny of SAB, AB InBev for fifth time

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa’s competition watchdog was on Thursday granted an extra five days to study Anheuser-Busch InBev’s planned $106 billion takeover of SABMiller – a fifth extension that could delay the consumer industry’s biggest ever deal.

Exclusive: Shift in Saudi oil thinking deepens OPEC split

LONDON/DUBAI (Reuters) – As OPEC officials gathered this week to formulate a long-term strategy, few in the room expected the discussions would end without a clash. But even the most jaded delegates got more than they had bargained with.

Little risk for Google in retrial vs Oracle over Android

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Even if a jury orders Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay the full $8.8 billion sought by Oracle Corp in an upcoming San Francisco copyright trial over the Android operating system, shareholders and analysts say it will likely have little impact on the search giant’s bottom line.

Warning Signs

Submitted by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Housing Recovery – Not So Much

“Everyone wants a house, and that’s a big problem.

We’ve noted in the past that there is a substantial issue in the housing market right now. Too few homes are being built for the number of people that want to move into them, thus driving up prices and keeping some lower-end or first-time buyers out of the market.”

It is quite amazing that amount of optimism surrounding the housing market which has yet to recover substantially from post-financial crisis lows given the exorbitant amount of monetary stimulants injected into it.

The chart below shows the Total Housing Market Activity Index which is a composite of new and existing home sales, permits and starts. Yes, housing has recovered, but remains well below levels seen in 1999.

But let’s not let a trivial matter of data get in the way of a good story.

“Meanwhile, according to the Conference Board, although the share of …

When You Run Out Of Other People’s Money

…it’s time for another bailout!!

Source: Townhall.com

Energy Transfer Could Soar if It Plays Nice With Williams

Energy Transfer would love to get out of its merger with Williams. If it takes a gentler approach its shares could gain.

The Jobs Report: Gauging Underappreciated Strength

The labor market’s momentum shouldn’t be overlooked by investors and the Federal Reserve ahead of Friday’s jobs report.

The Truth About Fannie Mae’s Dividend

Recent quarterly results show that the original 10% dividend really was unsustainable.

Currencies: Dollar rises against euro for third day after jobless-claims report

The U.S. dollar stretches gains against its main rivals into a third day ahead of remarks from a host of Federal Reserve officials later Thursday as well as a widely watched report on April job gains due Friday.

The Fed: Fed’s Lockhart says he’s on the fence on June rate hike

Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart said he’s undecided about whether to support a June interest rate hike.

David DeWalt out as FireEye CEO, Kevin Mandia to take over

FireEye Inc. announced Thursday that the founder of its biggest acquisition will take over as the head of the company, moving Chief Executive David DeWalt to executive chairman.