06Jun2016 Market Close: US Averages Close Higher, Crude Finished Higher With A Pull-Back Being Predicted As US Dollar Settles

Fed’s Yellen sees rate hikes ahead, but few hints on when

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Monday gave a largely upbeat assessment of the U.S. economic outlook and said interest rate hikes are coming but, in an omission that stood out to some investors, gave little sense of when.

S&P 500 hits seven-month high after Yellen comments

(Reuters) – The S&P 500 hit a 7-month intraday high on Monday as investors digested comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, who painted a mostly upbeat picture of the economy but gave little sense of when a rate hike may be coming.

Supreme Court rejects Google appeal in class action dispute

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Google Inc’s bid to throw out a class action lawsuit involving claims that the company deceived California advertisers about the placement of Internet ads through its Adwords service.

Wall St. pours money into consumer staples as valuations climb

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Investors looking for stability and dividends have been pouring money into consumer staples stocks of late, ignoring warnings from Wall Street’s analysts about pricey valuations for companies like Clorox and Campbell Soup .

Morgan Stanley seeks approval to offer first U.S.-listed ETFs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Morgan Stanley has asked securities regulators for the right to launch its first U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds, marking the latest example of a massive Wall Street investment manager courting investors’ growing use of those funds.

Best Buy CEO nearly halves stake in company, shares fall

(Reuters) – Best Buy Co Inc’s shares fell as much as 5 percent on Monday after Chief Executive Hubert Joly cut his stake in the electronics retailer by about 44 percent, two weeks after the company gave a disappointing current-quarter profit forecast.

Auction for Warren Buffett charity lunch starts slow

(Reuters) – The annual charity auction for a private lunch with billionaire investor Warren Buffett is underway.

Viacom CEO lawyers urge speedy trial, citing Redstone’s health

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Viacom’s Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, who is suing over his removal from Sumner Redstone’s trust, on Monday said in a court filing that a judge should expedite the matter because the 93-year-old media mogul is in ill health and may soon not be able to provide needed evidence.

U.S. top court rejects Ecuador challenge to Chevron arbitration award

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a $96 million international arbitration award issued in 2011 in favor of energy company Chevron Corp in a dispute over the development of oil fields in Ecuador.

Yellen-nado Sends Stocks Soaring To 2016 Highs

Did it ever really matter what Yellen said?

To clear up any confusion, the market appears to have taken Yellen’s speech as dovish with June and July rate-hike odds tumbling further and September rising to its hghest of the year…

A quick recap since the worst payrolls print in 6 years… Gold still leads and bonds are beating stocks but today’s exuberance is clear…

Cash indices from Thursday’s close are generally green but Nasdaq lost gains…

As S&P pushes to its highest intraday since Nov 2015…

All driven by a squeeze at the open and a squeeze on Yellen…

Now Seen On Chicago License Plates: “BTFD”

Having entered the trader vernacular, it was only a matter of time before a car with a “BTFD” license plate emerged. And inevitably enough, as a reader points out, the following license plate was photographed yesterday on Clark Street in the Lincoln Park area of Chicago.

Considering the plate was spotted on a 1 Series, we can only imagine the “D” wasn’t all that big: perhaps someone needs to advise Ken Griffedn to use this all too appropriate name for his next yacht.

Car notwithstanding, at least the driver (and anyone stuck behind him) will never forget the only rule one needs to trade this market.

BofA Credit Analyst Loses It: “Central Banks Created A Fantasy Land”

For those who have been forced to trade the market, or provide trading recommendations, the past few months have not been kind: we have seen several instances in recent weeks where a trader lost it, where a strategist – one as prominent as SocGen’s Albert Edwards – blew up and admitted “I’m Not Really Sure How Much More Of This I Can Take”, and even a central banker went off the rails saying he and his peers are “magic people.”

Today it is the turn of one of the more prominent (and bearish) sellside high yield analysts, BofA’s Michael Contopoulos, to join the bandwagon of those driven to near insanity by the Fed, something he himself admits in a note titled “cycle not acting its age as central banks create fantasy-land.”

The HY analyst says that while his bearish stance has gotten less pronounced in the last week as “Q1 earnings data was better than it had been in 6 quarters,” he adds that his “bearish stance most definitely still remains both on valuations and our disposition about the trajectory of corporate and economic data. Long term we continue to find it very difficult to see a path for high yield corporates to grow into their balance sheets.”

That’s the fundamentals and they scream sell. On the other hand, Contopoulos adds that fundamentals do not matter when faced with activist central banks who are intent on inflating the biggest debt bubble ever, one which even Goldman warned over the weekend would lead to as much as $2.4 trillion …

Dish: Ergen’s Vision Is Worth More Than the Market Thinks

Recent moves by Dish Network enhance the value of its wireless spectrum for a potential buyer.

Mobile Price Wars: No Sign of Peace in Europe

Given government opposition to mergers and acquisitions, the gap between European and U.S. mobile pricing seems likely to remain wide.

Consumer-Credit Growth Isn’t All Good News

Consumer credit continues to expand at a healthy pace and defaults remain low. It is too easy for banks to become complacent.

Biotech IPOs can be a crapshoot

The plunge in ProNAi Therapeutics’s stock underscores how risky betting on biotech companies that go public to pay for drug trials can be.

The New York Post: Steve Cohen tore down his Hamptons mansion to build another one

Billionaire demolishes mega-mansion that cost $62.5 million ” and he never lived in.

Will Wal-Mart’s digital services be the growth driver it hopes for?

Wal-Mart focused on digital initiatives during its shareholders meeting, but analysts aren’t sure whether they will drive the growth the retailer expects.