16May2016 Pre-Market Commentary: US Futures Flat, Crude 2% Higher, US Dollar Soft, Indicators Show A Bearish Trend In The Making

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are lower today as French and British shares fall. The French CAC 40 is off 0.59% while the London FTSE 100 is down 0.36%. The German DAX is not trading.

Oil prices rise on Nigeria outages, Goldman forecast

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped over 2 percent on Monday to their highest since November 2015 on growing Nigerian oil output disruptions and after long-time bear Goldman Sachs said the market had ended almost two years of oversupply and flipped to a deficit.

Futures little changed after bruising week

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Monday following a bruising week that left the Dow and the S&P 500 lower for the third straight week.

China needs the private sector to step up

BEIJING (Reuters) – Xia Xiaokang and Bruno Chen, who both run private-sector companies, are the sort of businessmen that Chinese leaders are increasingly concerned about as economic growth slows.

Pfizer to buy Anacor in $5.2 billion deal for access to eczema gel

(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc is buying Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc in a $5.2 billion deal to add an eczema gel to its portfolio, a month after the U.S. drug major scrapped plans to buy Allergan Plc .

HSBC axes 840 IT jobs in Britain in first big wave of planned cuts

LONDON (Reuters) – HSBC , Europe’s largest bank, started laying off 840 information technology workers in Britain on Monday, the first big tranche of redundancies under a restructuring plan that will eliminate 8,000 British jobs by the end of next year.

Gannett raises Tribune offer to about $864 million

(Reuters) – Gannett Co Inc , the publisher of USA Today, raised its all-cash offer to buy Tribune Publishing Co to $15 per share from $12.25, valuing the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times at about $864 million.

Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner faces new challenge: slow sales

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co’s high-tech 787 Dreamliner has had its share of trouble, from early production delays to batteries that smoked and burned, grounding the worldwide fleet for months in 2013.

Hyundai raids Bentley to turbo-charge Genesis luxury drive

BEIJING (Reuters) – After poaching Bentley’s design chief last year, Hyundai Motor Co said on Monday that it has also secured the services of the luxury marquee’s exterior designer.

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi plans U.S. IPO in 2018: source

(Reuters) – Ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, Uber Technologies Inc’s main rival in China, is working toward an initial public offering in the United States that would likely take place in 2018, a person with knowledge of the plan said on Monday.

Apple Jumps After Berkshire Reveals 9.8 Million Share Stake

After three consecutive weeks of seemingly relentless bad news for Apple, moments ago the stock jumped by $2 dollars, rising from $90.5 to over $92.50. There was some confusion as to why the jump and then it was revealed that none other than that “other” billionaire, Warren Buffett, has decided to start building a stake in the world’s biggest cell phone company to the tune of 9.8 million shares or about $1.07 billion as of March 31.

Making some more sense of the transaction, CNBC adds this was not a direct Buffett purchase – who has previously announced he “does not understand tech” – but one made by one of his two lieutenants.

The 9.8 million share position makes Buffett the 56th largest holder of AAPL, still well behind the Swiss National Bank, which as we reported last week was aggressively buying AAPL stock in Q1, adding some 4.1 million shares to its now record 14.5 million share holding in the tech company.

And so with Carl Icahn’s “no brainer” trade in AAPL being unwound in late April, it appears that in addition to the SNB, the other major counterparty who was buying Carl’s shares was none other than folksy uncle Warren.

Considering that the news comes days after it was announced that Buffett is also seeking to get involved in the Yahoo financing, one wonders if Berkshire has changed its bankers in recent days and is now being advised to buy into “growth” and tech companies.

Or maybe, with Buffett also adding to his investment in money-losing IBM, perhaps Buffett’s entire philosophy on investing has been flipped on its head …

Frontrunning: May 16

European Stocks Fall as Chinese Economic Data Disappoint (WSJ)

Oil Climbs to Highest Since November as European Shares Retreat (BBG)

Yen weakens on Japan intervention talk before G7 meets (Reuters)

Wall Street’s Bond Forecasters Splinter as Fed Credibility Wanes (BBG)

Amazon to Expand Private-Label Offerings “From Food to Diapers (WSJ)

Oil prices rise on Nigerian outages, Goldman forecast (Reuters)

‘Avengers’ threaten new insurgency in Nigeria’s oil-producing Delta (Reuters)

Amazon to Expand Private-Label Offerings “From Food to Diapers (WSJ)

A Battle Brews Over Negative Rates on Mortgages (WSJ)

Can Buffett-backed bid unlock Yahoo growth where others failed? (Reuters)

Top Currency Traders Warn White House Race May Echo Brexit Chaos (BBG)

Donald Trump Wouldn’t Have Had the Re …

How Google Fares in a Peak Smartphone Age

Worries about smartphone saturation ignore further growth potential for Google’s platform.

Why Everyone Is Sweet on Crane Maker Terex

The courtship of U.S. crane and port-equipment company Terex may turn out to suit all parties, including Finland’s Konecranes and China’s Zoomlion.

Abercrombie: Pro Forma Results Aren’t Cool

Abercrombie’s pro forma earnings have been significantly higher than its reported earnings for the past three years, and investors shouldn’t buy its adjustments.

May 2016 Empire State Manufacturing Index Now Contracting.

Written by Steven Hansen

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey dropped like a rock into contraction.

April 2016 Import Sea Container Count Continued Collapse Raises Recession Concerns

Written by Steven Hansen

The continued contraction in import counts for April raises economic questions. Even exports were fairly weak.

Economic Report: Empire State index weakens sharply in May

Business conditions in the New York region weakened sharply in May, the New York Fed said Monday

The Wall Street Journal: Gannett raises bid for Tribune Publishing, sending shares higher

Gannett increases its buyout offer by 22% to $15 a share.

Need to Know: Just one of these 6 things could trigger the next market slide

There’s not much in the way of meaty data to chew on this week, but the still-fresh reaction to Friday’s upbeat retail sales report in addition to a dozen quarterly updates from the likes of Wal-Mart and Target should keep investors looking for more clues from the retail sector.