20May2016 Market Close: Week Ends On A High Note

Written by Gary

All major USA exchanges closed up to end the week. Oil ended the week up 4%. Most news today was market friendly.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall Street ends week on high note as tech leads NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street rallied on Friday, led by tech stocks on the back of Applied Materials’ profit forecast, ending a volatile week on a positive note.
	Exclusive: EU regulators to conditionally clear AB Inbev, SABMiller deal – sources BRUSSELS/LONDON (Reuters) – Brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev is set to win conditional EU approval for its $100 billion-plus takeover of SABMiller after agreeing to substantial asset sales, three people familiar with the matter said on Friday.
	Banks identify possible replacements for U.S. Libor NEW YORK (Reuters) – A group of global banks and clearing houses, working with U.S. regulators, said on Friday it has identified two possible replacements for Libor, the benchmark interest rate for $160 trillion worth of credit for everything from home mortgages to corporate loans.
	Exclusive: CIC ends talks with Yum Brands over China business – sources (Reuters) – A consortium that includes sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC) and U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co has ended discussions to buy a stake in Yum Brands Inc’s China unit, according to people familiar with the matter.
	NY Fed’s ‘nowcast’ estimate of second-quarter GDP rises to 1.7 percent WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy is on track to expand at an annualized rate of 1.7 percent in the second quarter, half a percentage point higher than estimated a week earlier, the New York Federal Reserve said on Friday.
	Exclusive: Citigroup declined to support Lending Club – memo NEW YORK (IFR) – Citigroup told US regulators last week it was not willing to support troubled marketplace lender Lending Club after its CEO stepped down following a botched sale of loans.
	U.S. securities regulator takes aim at exchange-traded funds WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator is taking aim at exchange-traded funds, with the agency’s chair on Friday saying that recent events have called for giving the popular funds “enhanced attention.”
	LendingClub taps Jefferies to seek loan funding: sources (Reuters) – LendingClub Corp has hired Jefferies LLC to help it find investors for loan funding, people familiar with the matter said on Friday, as the U.S. online lender seeks to replenish investments after a scandal over the sale of some of its loans.
	Economic data keeps Fed in focus for stocks NEW YORK (Reuters) – Economic data will garner most of the attention next week, with investors placing a heavy weight on a host of reports as they try and determine the likelihood of a rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve at its June meeting.
	Leaking Las Vegas: Lake Mead Plunges To Lowest Level Ever As “The Problem Is Not Going Away” The hopes of an El Nino-driven refill from last summer’s plunging levels of the nation’s largest reservoir have been dashed as AP reports Lake Mead water levels drop to new record lows (since it was filled in the 1930s) leaving Las Vegas facing existential threats unless something is done. Las Vegas and its 2 million residents and 40 million tourists a year get almost all their drinking water from the Lake and at levels below 1075ft, the Interior Department will be forced to declare a “shortage,” which will lead to significant cutbacks for Arizona and Nevada. As one water research scientist warned, “this problem is not going away and it is likely to get worse, perhaps far worse, as climate change unfolds.”
	One Year Later… It has now been one year since The S&P 500 reached record highs – proclaimed by all as proof that the recovery was real and that 2008 was dim and dismal thing of the past that could never happen again… Small Caps (-11.65%) and Trannies (-10.25%) are the worst performers since the S&P peaked on May 21st 2015 closing at an all-time high of 2130.82 Energy stocks are the biggest laggard while utilities lead over the past year… This is the longest period without a new high being reached since the crisis trough, as The Fed balance sheet has stagnated… Leaving the S&P 500 back at its “most expensive” to The Fed Balance Sheet since the end of QE3… But what else has changed…
	This Is “Not” A Liar Presented with no comment… Source: MichaelPRamirez.com
	Amazon’s Cloud Cover Makes It a Bigger Threat The profitability of Amazon’s cloud business allows it to invest even more aggressively in other areas.
	Insurers and the Fed: Look Before You Leap The Federal Reserve’s new capital requirements for big insurers may not be as onerous as many investors feared.
	A New Inflation Riddle for ECB A key measure of inflation expectations isn’t working the way the ECB would like.
	13 May 2016: ECRI’s WLI Growth Index Takes A Breather. ECRI’s WLI Growth Index which forecasts economic growth six months forward contracted marginally but remains in positive territory for the eighth week – after spending the previous 34 consecutive weeks in negative territory. ECRI also released their coincident index this week.
	April 2016 Existing Home Sales Were Relatively Good. Written by Steven Hansen The headlines for existing home sales say “April’s sales increase signals slowly building momentum for the housing market this spring”. Our analysis of the unadjusted data shows that home sales improved relative to last month, but the rolling averages degraded. Sales price rate of growth improved.
	Capitol Report: Man reportedly shot near White House One person was reportedly shot Friday afternoon near the White House after brandishing a weapon.
	The Balance: The 10 most expensive places to raise a family in the U.S. Here are the 10 U.S. cities where it is most expensive for two parents to raise two children.
	Futures Movers: Oil futures settle lower, but gain more than 3% for the week Oil prices post gains for the week as traders focus on supply disruptions, but prices settled lower for Friday’s session.