23May2016 Market Close: Markets End The Day Marginally Lower, Oil Also Slightly Down

Written by Gary

The Federal Reserve FOMC members continue to indicate that a federal funds interest rate hike could be sooner than the markets expect – and the markets closed slightly in the red. No economic releases were scheduled today, so the only other influence on the markets was oil which ended the sessions marginally lower.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Bayer defies critics with $62 billion Monsanto offer FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drugs and crop chemicals group Bayer has offered to buy U.S. seeds company Monsanto for $62 billion in cash, defying some of its own shareholders in a bid to grab the top spot in a fast-consolidating farm supplies industry.
	Fed’s Bullard: rates too low for too long could be risky BEIJING (Reuters) – U.S. interest rates being kept too low for too long could cause financial instability in future and stronger market expectations for a rate rise are “probably good”, St. Louis Federal Reserve President James Bullard said on Monday.
	Wall Street dips with focus on Fed NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street ended lower on Monday as a bounce in Apple failed to offset growing concerns that the U.S. Federal Reserve could raise interest rates sooner than later.
	Battle over Redstone’s media empire sparks hope for change (Reuters) – The legal battle over control of Sumner Redstone’s $40 billion media empire has investors hopeful that change will come to underperforming Viacom Inc .
	Tribune gets $70.5 million investment from billionaire Soon-Shiong (Reuters) – Tribune Publishing Co , the owner of the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune, said billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong invested $70.5 million in the company, becoming its second largest shareholder.
	Ford seeks partnerships as it looks beyond car-making DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co Chairman Bill Ford said on Monday the automaker would look for more partnerships with other companies as it moves to expand beyond manufacturing and selling cars and trucks.
	Novartis executive exodus complicates drugmaker’s rebuilding job ZURICH (Reuters) – With seven departures in the space of five months, Novartis’s top management is in upheaval just as CEO Joe Jimenez tries to tackle a list of challenges that have seen the drug firm’s share price fall 25 percent since July.
	Oil slides on Iran supply, U.S. rigs; Cushing draw cuts loss NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices slid early on Monday as Iran vowed to ramp up output and rig reductions paused in the United States, then crude futures pared losses on data showing a stockpile drawdown at the U.S. delivery hub.
	Investor groups call for new probe of VW scandal FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Three investor groups called on Monday for a new, independent investigation into Volkswagen’s emissions test-rigging scandal, saying the inquiries launched by the German carmaker so far may not be far-reaching or transparent enough.
	SEC – Do Your Job!! Submitted by Tony Sagami via MauldinEconomics.com, It looks like the SEC is finally ready to put a stop to accounting shenanigans. The Securities and Exchange Commission is finally going to do its job and put a stop to the accounting hanky-panky that artificially inflates profits. According to Dow Jones, the SEC is getting ready to step up its scrutiny of companies’ “homegrown earnings measures,” signaling it plans to target firms that “inflate their sales results and employ customized metrics that stray too far from accounting rules.” Pro Forma Earnings vs. GAAP Pro Forma earnings are when you adjust for unusual, non-recurring, one-time expenses. Examples: • Minus or “ex” one-time costs of layoffs • Minus or “ex” one-time costs of an asset write-down • Minus or “ex” one-time costs associated with a takeover • Minus or “ex” one-time costs of currency losses But corporate America’s creative use of Pro Forma accounting rules has made them appear more prosperous than they really are—because the use of “extraordinary items” and “non-cash charges” has turned corporate earnings reports into a bag of lies. So, the SEC is waking up to the misleading picture that pro forma earnings—compared to generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP—generate …
	Inconvenient Truth-er Gore Refuses To Endorse ‘Lying’ Hillary “It’s been unusual,” is the subtle jab that former Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore took at the angst between Hillary and Bernie. As CNN reports, the inconvenient truth-seeker declined to endorse either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, decrying the tone of the 2016 campaign but alluding only to “signals” that he’s received soliciting his support. Gore spoke with NBC’s “Today” on Monday to mark the tenth anniversary of the release of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the climate change documentary that Gore made central to his political advocacy, after he failing to become president in 2000. As CNN details, The conversation included the upcoming election, and Gore — who served as vice president to Clinton’s husband — wouldn’t pick a side. “Has either Democrat sought your endorsement yet?” NBC’s Anne Thompson asked. “I’ve gotten signals that you can interpret that way,” Gore said, but did not expand on who had reached out to him or his preference this primary, in the clip aired on NBC.
	Erdogan Furious After EU Suspends Plans To Extend Visa-Free Travel To Turkey Two weeks ago a high-ranking deputy for Turkey’s ruling AKP party, Burhan Kuzu (also a former adviser to President Erdogan) issued an explicit threat to Europe which was at that time discussing whether or not to grant Turkey visa-free travel within the continent. Specifically, he tweeted that “The European Parliament will discuss the report that will open Europe visa-free for Turkish citizens. If the wrong decision is taken, we will unleash the refugees!.” What followed were ever louder accusations lobbed German Chancellor Angela Merkel by her own government that the woman dubbed by many as the most powerful person in Europe had engaged in a series of appeasing actions to placate the increasingly more despostic Turkish president, just to keep the millions of refugees currently held behind Turkey’s borders in their place, and avoid a repeat of the social crisis that followed when tens of thousands of mid-east refugees would enter Germany every single day leading to a surge in the anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and anti-EU AfD party. Indeed, as we among others speculated, it appeared as if Turkey has unlimited leverage over both Merkel and Europe, and could demand virtually anything.
	Monday Humor? The Hockey-Stick-Hype Of Stock-Market Hope By now it is widely-known that earnings are collapsing (2016 global EPS growth has been slashed from +16% to +8.2% in the last few months), so many – rightly – ask, why have stock prices not careened off the proverbial cliff as “mother’s milk” dries up? The answer is simple… Always-over-optimistic analysts are ‘predicting’ a humor-free 19% growth in global earnings in 2017… A veritable miracle of hockey-stickedness. While this may seem like a ‘risk’ one should be compensated for taking, the story for ‘bullish’ investors get worse. Buyers of global stocks have never, ever, paid more for a dollar of Sales… What could go wrong – The most expensive market ever and the biggest hockey-stick earnings hype ever?
	Why Bayer’s Big Monsanto Bid Has Fallen Flat Bayer has taken its interest in buying Monsanto public with a $62 billion bid. That raises as many questions for the German pharmaceutical and crop sciences company as it answers.
	Tribune’s Deal Rejection: Bad News in Business Section Tribune’s latest move shows its board’s top priority is to block a Gannett deal, not engage with its would-be acquirer.
	Best Buy Doesn’t Live Up to Its Name Best Buy is unlikely to withstand the tough environment hurting many retailers.
	Reviewing The Basics Of The Elliott Wave Principle: The Ending Diagonal by Elliott Wave International [Editor’s Note: We welcome to Econintersect a new syndication partner – Elliott Wave International.] The Wave Principle classifies price action as either motive or corrective. Motive waves move in the direction of the trend and include impulse waves and diagonals. Today, you can listen to a lesson from Jeffrey Kennedy’s Trader’s Classroom in which he teaches you about basics of the ending diagonal and why this pattern is so dynamic. You’ll then see an example in the chart of United States Steel Corporation (X).
	Humans In 1000 Years What will humanity look like in 1000 years? Watch as we cover some cutting-edge innovations happening today. Thanks to the National Geographic Channel for sponsoring this video!
	The Wall Street Journal: Lyft will let people schedule rides 24 hours in advance Lyft Inc. is planning to let users book rides up to 24 hours in advance as a test in San Francisco.
	Deep Dive: 11 smaller-company stocks set to gain from a strong dollar Companies with rapid sales growth focused on the U.S. have an advantage, says Phil van Doorn.
	Earnings Outlook: What to watch for in Costco earnings Despite issues with the credit card transition to Visa from American Express, analysts are bullish about Costco in the long term.