28Jul2016 Market Close: US Markets Close Mostly In The Green, Texas Tea Might See A 39 Handle Tomorrow As The US Dollar Settles In The High 96’s

Wall St. mixed as tech titans tee up quarterly reports

(Reuters) – Wall Street was mixed on Thursday as investors fretted about disappointing earnings from Ford and awaited quarterly scorecards from technology heavyweights Alphabet and Amazon.com.

U.S. jobless claims rise; labor market still strong

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week, but the underlying trend continued to point to sustained labor market strength. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 14,000 to a seasonally adjusted 266,000 for the week ended July 23, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims for the prior week were revised to show 1,000 fewer applications received than previously reported.

Facebook shares hit record high as it beats estimates again

(Reuters) – Facebook Inc is growing so fast that analysts can’t keep up.

Judge rejects Sumner Redstone bid to end Viacom CEO lawsuit

(Reuters) – A Massachusetts judge on Thursday rejected Sumner Redstone’s bid to quickly end a case that will likely determine the future of the media mogul’s holdings and set an October trial date, marking a victory for Viacom Inc Chief Executive Philippe Dauman.

Vivendi considers suing Mediaset for defamation: spokeswoman

PARIS (Reuters) – French media giant Vivendi is considering suing Mediaset for defamation after the Italian broadcaster denounced what it sees as an unacceptable u-turn on a deal regarding its pay-TV arm Premium.

Whole Foods slides as price cuts fail to impress

(Reuters) – Whole Foods Market Inc’s shares plunged on Thursday as the company’s efforts to position itself as a competitively priced grocer yielded little results in the third quarter.

Lackluster U.S., China sales drag on Ford Motor profit; shares tumble

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co reported weaker-than-expected profit in the second quarter and declared that the U.S. auto industry’s long recovery was at an end, sending its stock and those of other auto companies tumbling on Thursday.

Oracle to buy NetSuite for $9.3 billion to gain cloud computing clout

(Reuters) – Business software maker Oracle Corp said on Thursday it would buy NetSuite Inc for about $9.3 billion in cash, a deal designed to help Oracle gain market share in the fast-growing cloud computing business.

Despite dieselgate, VW becomes top-selling carmaker as Toyota slips

TOKYO/BERLIN (Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp reported a drop in first-half vehicle sales on Thursday following a series of production stoppages, falling behind Volkswagen which became the world’s top-selling carmaker in the first six months of 2016 despite its emissions scandal.

With All Eyes On Tonight’s BOJ Announcement, A “Minor” Snag Emerges

With all eyes on the BOJ’s decision in several hours, an announcement which is expected to contain some component of government deficit funding attached to it, or helicopter-lite, a “minor” snag has emerged in what Japan has affectionately titled the “emergency, peace of mind realization, overall spending measures” fiscal package…

Best name ever for a stimulus package #Japan

???????????

emergency, peace of mind realization, overall spending measures

via @JDMayger

— Andy Sharp (@sharp_writing) July 28, 2016

… namely that only about a quarter of the total JPY 28 trillion in new stimulus is in the form of actual spending… assuming of course one would call JPY 7 trillion “minor.”

As Bloomberg reports, “about one quarter of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s new 28 trillion yen ($267 billion) economic stimulus includes actual spending, according to a person familiar with the matter.”

The person, who asked not to be named as the discussions are private, didn’t specify the period of time over which the 7 trillion yen would be spent. The money will be part of 13 trillion yen of “fiscal measures,” with the rest of that sum covered by so-called zaito financing that’s used to raise money for projects at state-run companies, according to the person. The remaining 15 trillion yen in Abe’s total package is unclear; he has yet …

Monte Paschi Bailout In Peril As 3 Banks Walk Out: Are More “Pensioner Suicides” Next?

Two days ago we reported that in a last ditch effort to prevent potential contagion within its banking system, one including bank runs and furious ordinary investors and depositors, ahead of Friday’s stress test announcement which Italy’s troubled Monte Paschi is widely expected to fail, Matteo Renzi’s government was racing to organize a private bailout of the insolvent bank. Specifically, as of Monday night, the Italian government was, according to the FT, racing to secure a privately backed bailout of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, including a plan to raise 5 billion of fresh capital so as to avert nationalisation.

There was no assurance this last ditch effort would succeed, especially in light of Monte Paschi’s market cap which has dropped to a paltry 800 million, suggesting that the bailout would be an effective “out of court” bankruptcy, structured as a quasi investment, with fresh money coming in from the new equity owners diluting existing stakeholders over 90%.

There was also no assurance that any new funds would not meet the same fate as the 8 billion in capital already raised over the past two years, money which has since “vaporized” in the seemingly endless hole of Monte Paschi bad debt.

Moments ago, we learned that this “private bailout” process appeared to be on the rock, when Reuters reported that Morgan Stanley and Italian lenders UniCredit and Intesa SanPaolo have walked away from Monte Paschi’s “proposal” to back its pr …

Past Mistakes Still Haunt Lender CIT

Midsize lender CIT is struggling to find the right size and business mix, even as it divests a profitable air leasing business.

Yield Plays: Exxon, Chevron Put to the Test

Shares have jumped but look susceptible as oil’s slide resumes.

Credit Suisse: How it Made Money But Still Lost Ground

The Swiss bank turned in a second-quarter profit, but divisions including Asia stumbled.

Earnings Outlook: What to expect from Tesla earnings

Investors will be waiting to hear more about Elon Musk’s ‘Master Plan.’

Bond Report: Treasury yields little-changed ahead of BOJ meeting

Long-term Treasury prices little-changed Thursday, as investors focused on economic data and braced for the outcome of a Bank of Japan policy meeting