Written by Gary
US indexes opened flat and in the red, but have melted their way into the green, somewhat. The DOW is up16 points, SOY +0.31 Cents and the Spooze is up +0.1%. A sharp rise in oil prices (WTI $40.91) boosted energy shares, while robust jobs data helped financial stocks. US private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists’ expectations.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
![]() | North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 1.08% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.49% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.13%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
![]() | Gains in energy, financial stocks boost Wall Street(Reuters) – Wall Street was higher on Wednesday after a sharp rise in oil prices boosted energy shares, while robust jobs data helped financial stocks. |
![]() | U.S. private sector adds 179,000 jobs in July: ADPNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. private employers added 179,000 jobs in July, above economists’ expectations, a report by a payrolls processor showed on Wednesday. |
![]() | U.S. loan demand for home purchases lowest since February: MBANEW YORK (Reuters) – Weekly applications for U.S. home mortgages fell to their lowest level in five months even as borrowing costs declined, according to data from an industry group released on Wednesday. |
![]() | Massive funding, Apple backing helped Didi outrun Uber in ChinaSAN FRANCISCO/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s $1 billion investment in car-hailing app Didi Chuxing in May helped accelerate Uber’s decision to agree a halt to a costly two-year battle with its rival in China, people close to the companies and analysts said. |
![]() | Fed penalizes Goldman Sachs for use of confidential dataNEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve Board said on Wednesday it had ordered Goldman Sachs Group Inc to pay a $36.3 million civil penalty for the unauthorized use and disclosure of confidential information. |
![]() | Wal-Mart in talks to buy online retailer Jet.com: WSJ(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc is in talks to buy online retailer Jet.com, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. |
![]() | Office Depot to shut another 300 stores; initiates dividend(Reuters) – Office Depot Inc , which scrapped a plan to merge with larger rival Staples Inc in May on antitrust concerns, said it would close about 300 more stores in the next three years to help cut annual costs by $250 million by the end of 2018. |
![]() | ‘I don’t like bonds, I don’t like most stocks’: Bill GrossNEW YORK (Reuters) – Investors should cut risk by placing money in real assets and accept lower returns, given that markets no longer offer double-digit gains in a zero interest-rate environment, said Bill Gross, a portfolio manager at Janus Capital Group Inc . |
![]() | Time Warner takes stake in Hulu, lifts profit forecast(Reuters) – Time Warner Inc disclosed a 10 percent stake in video streaming site Hulu on Wednesday, setting its sights on the web TV market, and it raised its 2016 forecast on expectations of sustained growth in its traditional media business. |
![]() | ISIS Oil Revenues Down By Up To 90%Submitted by Zainab Calcuttawala via OilPrice.com, Recent Iraqi military gains over the Islamic State have dried up oil revenues for the terrorist organization by up to 90 percent, according to a report by Iraqi News on Tuesday. Security sources from the ministry of oil said ISIS had been smuggling at least 50 vehicles full of oil everyday from oilfields in Qayyarah and Najma. The two sites stand south of Mosul—the largest ISIS stronghold and the third largest city in Iraq by population. But new offensives against the terrorist organization have reduced the smuggling rate to five vehicles a day. ISIS’ prices for the smuggled oil, which once stood above $6,000 a vehicle, have now been reduced to $2,000. After ISIS lost control of the Alas and Hamrin oilfields near Tikrit last April, the group’s income declined by an additional $1 million every day. Yesterday, news broke that ISIS fighters may have been responsible for the deaths of five people in an oilfield located in the Kurdish city of Kirkuk, though the organization has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The attackers attempted to take down a gas compression station nearby as well, where they planted bombs after killing four guards. The fifth victim was an engineer working at Bas Hassan, a |
![]() | Oil Algos Panic-Buy WTI To Yesterday’s Highs, Run StopsJust because…. Stops run low.. and high… Now what? |
![]() | How AIG Shut Down Its CriticsSix months ago, American International Group was defending itself from activist investors calling for a three-way split of the company. Now, strong earnings are helping to silence those critics. |
![]() | Big Pharma’s Biogen DilemmaAfter a recent lull, health-care megadeals are once again percolating. But any suitors for Biogen will need to take a risk. |
![]() | HSBC: How It’s Making Good in a Bad Banking WorldThe U.K.-based lender has plenty of money to give to investors, but decent returns are still hard to find. |
![]() | Could Zika virus translate to market weakness? There’s a strong precedentPaired with economic weakness the virus could prompt a correction, analysts say. |
![]() | Verizon is betting on the future of enterprise and the internet of thingsVerizon Communications Inc.’s latest acquisition, of Fleetmatics Group PLC, is a move that aims to position the company to become a future fixture in the internet of things. |
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