Written by Gary
The S&P 500 ended flat on Thursday, with gains in Microsoft, Monsanto and Exxon offsetting a tumble in Apple to a two-year low, but the Nasdaq fell, weighed by the iPhone maker. Oil prices rose 1 percent in volatile trade on Thursday, with U.S. crude hitting six-month highs as investors weighed a forecast for tighter global supplies against signs of another storage build at the hub for U.S. crude futures.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | U.S. jobless claims hit 14-month high; analysts blame Verizon strikeWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose last week to a more than one-year high, but economists blamed striking telecommunications workers for the surge and said the data did not signal a deterioration in the overall labor market. |
| Apple falls below $90 as iPhone worries festerSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Shares of Apple dropped below $90 on Thursday for the first time since 2014 as Wall Street worried about slow demand ahead of the anticipated launch of a new iPhone later this year. |
| S&P breaks even despite Apple slideNEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended flat on Thursday, with gains in Microsoft, Monsanto and Exxon offsetting a tumble in Apple to a two-year low, but the Nasdaq fell, weighed by the iPhone maker. |
| Fed to delay rate hike until September on tame inflation outlook: Reuters poll(Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve will likely wait until September before raising interest rates again, stretching to nine months the time since its first hike in nearly a decade, as it waits for clear signs inflation is picking up, a Reuters poll found. |
| In search for growth, Goldman turns to debt(Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Group Inc is hosting its first ever leveraged finance conference next week as the Wall Street bank tries to strengthen its position in debt underwriting and looks for new avenues of growth. |
| Exclusive: Mexico widens tax evasion probe in wake of Panama Papers – documentsMEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico is widening a probe into tax evasion by requiring banks to hand over names of local clients with transactions in tax havens, documents showed, weeks after the “Panama Papers” cast a spotlight on how the world’s rich and famous stash their wealth. |
| Nissan buying $2.2 billion controlling stake in scandal-hit Mitsubishi MotorsYOKOHAMA, Japan (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co has agreed to buy a 34 percent stake in Mitsubishi Motors Corp, taking de facto control with a $2.2 billion bet that bails out its smaller, scandal-hit rival. |
| VW gets ready to move on comeback plan in U.S.: sales chiefWOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen hopes to reach a final settlement with the U.S. authorities over the diesel emissions scandal next month so that it can get moving on a recovery plan which will see the launch of several new crossover and electric vehicles, its sales chief said on Thursday. |
| Oil up 1 percent after swing on mixed data; U.S. crude at Nov highsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices rose 1 percent in volatile trade on Thursday, with U.S. crude hitting six-month highs as investors weighed a forecast for tighter global supplies against signs of another storage build at the hub for U.S. crude futures. |
| Crude Chaos Sparks Stock Schizophrenia, Trannies TrouncedSeriously… Stocks were mixed today -Trannies and Nasdaq tumbled, the S&P ended marginally red and Dow barely held green.. Stocks were saved in the pre-NYMEX ramp from crude…
The path was insanely schizophrenic as algos have gone wild…(after soaring early, then crashing, then melting up)
The Dow has traveled 1500 points since the Payrolls print…and back red for the week
AAPL ugliness…
Yesterday’s buying frenzy in bonds (and string 10Y auction demand) morphed into panic-selling-ish (as a weak 30Y and overall selling) senindg short-end yields positive for the week… |
| Raw Venezuela: Looter Burned Alive, While “Streets Filled With People Killing Animals For Food”The situation in Venezuela is reaching all out chaos, as crippling socialist policies have resulted in a devastating power and food shortage, as well as looming political instability. This is Caracas today…
These are hungry Venezuelans protesting that their children are dying from lack of food and medicine and that they do not have enough water or electricity. As AgainstCronyCapitalism reports, this is a country with more oil than Saudi Arabia, and the government has stolen all th emoney and now they bottleneck peaceful protesters and threaten them with bombs (or haul them to prison and torture them). On the other side, Vice President Aristobulo Isturiz, speaking on state television, said that a separate march will be held to support the extension of President Nicolas Maduro’s economic emergency decree. As SHTFPlan.com’s Mac Slavo details, the point was reached long ago where people were forced to wait in long lines for basic rations that may not even be there, or turn to the black market. Now, |
| Is Glencore Manipulating The Price Of Oil: Swiss Trader Holds Over 30% Of June Brent SupplyWhile oil bulls were delighted by yesterday’s DOE news of an inventory drawdown refuting the prior day’s API news of a major build, what was ignored was the build in Cushing storage (more on that shortly), which according to Genscape hit a utilization just shy of 80%, or more than 70 million barrels, a record high since Genscape began monitoring the hub in 2009. To be sure, the risk of running out of land storage has been one we have previously discussed on various occasions and hinted that one way this is being circumvented is with substantial amounts of oil being stored on tankers at sea, mostly by commodity trading companies who take advantage of the oil contango to generate month to month profits as producers choose to keep their product away from the market until prices rise. As it turns out, not only is this the case, but according to Reuters, one particular energy trader – a name well-known to Zero Hedge readers – Glencore, has built up a massive inventory stake in the Brent market where it now holds an unprecedented 30% position in Brent, which it is holding for offshore storage in its tankers in hopes of pushing the price of Brent, and thus the entire energy complex higher, by limiting supply. As Reuters details, citing trade sources, Glencore has built up one of the largest positions in part of the Brent crude market which acts as a benchmark for global oil prices since the start of the year. For those unfamiliar, the Brent market is based on four North Sea crude oils – Brent, Forties, Oseber … |
| Following Rousseff’s “Coup”, Brazil’s Problems Are Only Just StartingFollowing today’s Brazilian Senate vote, which as reported earlier was expected to vote overwhelmingly to endorse Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment and did just that in a 55-22 vote, Rousseff appealed to the public in a televized broadcast and condemned the move to impeach her as a “coup” and a “farce”, denying she has committed any crimes. She was addressing the nation on TV for the first time since senators voted overnight to suspend her for budgetary violations and put her on trial after being accused of illegally manipulating finances to hide a growing public deficit ahead of her re-election in 2014. Rousseff responded that her government was “undergoing sabotage”. In her TV speech in front of supporters at the presidential palace, Mr Rousseff said that she may have made mistakes but had committed no crimes, adding: “I did not violate budgetary laws.” She said: “What is at stake is respect for the ballot box, the sovereign will of the Brazilian people and the constitution.” Branding the process “fraudulent”, she vowed to fight the charges against her and said she was confident she would be found innocent. Rousseff accused the opposition of leading the impeachment because they had vehemently opposed all the advances she and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, had made for the Brazilian poor and lower middle classes. After her speech she left the presidential palace and shook hands with supporters lining the pathway. In terms of immediate next steps, the following flow chart highlights the key developments over the next 6 months. |
| Why Time Is Chesapeake’s Most Valuable AssetChesapeake Energy keeps whittling away at its looming debt maturities, leading more investors to bet it can survive until natural gas prices make its business viable. |
| How Nissan Can Take Advantage of Mitsubishi’s ScandalTaking a 34% stake in the smaller Japanese car maker could give it upside in electric cars and in Southeast Asia. |
| Jobs, Inflation, Wages: Good for the Economy, Bad for StocksThe Federal Reserve is getting closer to its stated employment and inflation goals. That might be hard for stocks to handle. |
| Amy Hoak’s Home Economics: Are these cats the answer to Chicago’s rat problem?More are turning to the natural rodent predators when other efforts fail. |
| Amy Hoak’s Home Economics: Millennials and retirees drawn to luxury rentals, and developers respondIf there’s a new apartment building going up in your neighborhood, chances are you can’t afford to live there. |
| Futures Movers: Oil ends with gain on bets that output declines will ease global glutOil futures finish the volatile session higher, on expectations that the global glut of crude supplies will ease. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
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