07Sep2016 Pre-Market Commentary: US Futures Fractionally Lower Suggesting The Markets Will Open Flat, Crude Prices At The 45 Handle, Short-Term Indicators Neutral, Watch For Sudden Market Movement

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 0.39% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.21% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.06%.

Apple sets stage for iPhone 7, many already waiting for 8

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – The iPhone 7 is expected to make its global debut on Wednesday, but many consumers and investors are already setting their sights on Apple Inc’s 2017 version of the popular gadget, hoping for more significant advances.

World stocks hit one-year highs as Fed hike prospects fade

LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks hit their highest in more than a year and the dollar fell sharply against the yen on Wednesday as expectations of a rise in Federal Reserve interest rates receded after weak U.S. economic data.

Ackman buys into Chipotle, to talk to management; shares jump

BOSTON (Reuters) – Activist investor William Ackman’s hedge fund took a 9.9 percent stake in fast-casual Mexican food chain Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc , buying in after the once high-flying company was battered by food-safety issues.

Steinhoff’s $3.8 billion American dream seen as risky by some

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – As the winner of several big horse races in South Africa, Variety Club’s local dominance was never in doubt.

Ukraine seeks Chinese money to build world’s biggest aircraft

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine hopes to attract $500 million of investment from China to complete an updated version of the world’s biggest aircraft, the Antonov-225 Mriya, the president of manufacturer Antonov said on Wednesday.

Nissan recalls new minivan over idling stop problem

TOKYO (Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co said on Wednesday it was recalling a domestic minivan model and stopped shipments of the recently launched vehicle to fix a problem with its idling stop function.

Britain faces long road to post-Brexit trade deals

LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Theresa May wants to make Britain a global leader in trade after Brexit, but former negotiators say the country faces a long slog despite warm words from some world leaders over forging new relationships.

Oil rises, but doubt over output deal tempers rally

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil rose on Wednesday to pare some of the previous day’s losses, partly thanks to a weaker U.S. dollar, but the limited likelihood of a near-term agreement among the world’s biggest exporters to rein in production kept gains in check.

Enbridge buying Spectra in $28 billion deal

(Reuters) – Canada’s Enbridge Inc said on Tuesday it would buy Spectra Energy Corp of Houston in an all-stock deal valued at about $28 billion (C$37 billion) to create the largest North American energy infrastructure company.

Stocks’ Trading Range Now Beyond Compare

Via Dana Lyons’ Tumblr,

Over the past 40 days, the Dow has traded in its tightest range in at least 100 years.

About 2 months ago, the large cap U.S. stock indices finally managed to break out to new highs following more than a year of trying. After several days of follow through, the averages settled into a trading range. This was not an unexpected development, nor an unhealthy one. However, it would develop into an unusually tight trading range. And after a couple weeks, we began to publish some charts and posts detailing just how historically narrow the trading range had been. Well, we had hoped that each of the posts would be the last in reference to the range. However, we could not envision that some 30 days out, the averages would still be constrained to essentially the same tight range. Therefore, we make no apologies for (hopefully) just one more look at this historic range.

In today’s Chart Of The Day, we note that, unbelievably, the high to low range in the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) over the past 40 days is a mere 2.27%. For context, that is the tightest 40-day range in at least the last 100 years. And in fact, the next tightest range – at 2.53%, occurring from December 1922 to February 1923 – is not really even close.

We say “at least” 100 years because we don’t have reliable daily high-low data on the DJIA prior to 1915. So it’s possible that this record range extends back even further – or perhaps to the DJIA’ …

Assange: New Clinton Revelations Coming As Soon As Next Week, Says Clinton Knew Meaning Of “C”

Submitted by Stefanie MacWilliams of PlanetFreeWill

In an interview on Fox News show Hannity, Julian Assange of Wikileaks has finally given a more definitive timeline to long awaited further “significant” information they will be releasing on Hillary Clinton before the November election.

The information will be released in “batches,” and Assange says he is “confident that the first batch will be released reasonably soon,”. He goes on to state that “teasers” may be available to the public as early as next week.

Cable signed Clinton with clear “C” marking, one of thousands, yet she told FBI she doesn’t know what “C” means. pic.twitter.com/yVkJr7m5NP

— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) September 7, 2016

When asked by Sean Hannity whether or not it was difficult to hack these documents, Assange took the opportunity to go on the offensive, stating that it was “absolutely incredible” for Clinton to lie regarding not knowing that the bracketed (C) stood for a classified document. He repeated emphatically that “She is lying”.

Assange proceeded to hold up a document on air showing which showed Hillary herself sent a document with such a classification marking, stating that it was only one of thousands of examples.

Julian Assange: I just want to say one thing, in the …

St. Jude Sues Short-Seller Muddy Water For “Conspiracy, False Statements And Manipulation”

Two weeks after prominent short seller Carson Block’s Muddy Waters revealed his latest short thesis, i.e., shorting St. Jude Medical, due to alleged cybersecurity vulnerabilities, moments ago the healthcare firm retaliated in a way that is certain to raise many eyebrows: it announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Muddy Waters and MedSec Holdings “for false statements, false advertising, conspiracy and the related manipulation of the public markets.”

“We felt this lawsuit was the best course of action to make sure those looking to profit by trying to frighten patients and caregivers, and by circumventing appropriate and established channels for raising cybersecurity concerns, do not use this avenue to do so again,” said Michael T. Rousseau, president and chief executive officer at St. Jude Medical. “We believe this lawsuit is critical to the entire medical device ecosystem — from our patients who have our life saving devices, to the physicians and caregivers who care for them, to the responsible security researchers who help improve security, to the long-term St. Jude Medical investors who incurred losses due to false accusations as part of a wrongful profit-making scheme.”

Which brings up a long-running debate in the investing, and particularly short-selling community: when a company sues you for coming out with a damaging report, is that confirmation the report was accurate (forcing the company to resort to such a drastic measaure)? Alternatively, if the report was false, as in this case St. Jude claims, why not just use the depressed stock price to buy back the stock at artificially low price and generate an accretive return to shareholders?

In any case, with Muddy Waters’ increasing prominence, this will be a case that will be closely followed.

The full

Frontrunning: September 7

Trump and Clinton look to pass U.S. commander-in-chief test (Reuters)

Undecided GOP-Leaning Voters Provide an Opening for Donald Trump (WSJ)

Stage set for iPhone 7, but many await 8 (Reuters)

Dollar Slides Versus Yen as Prospect of September Fed Hike Dims (BBG)

World stocks hit one-year highs as Fed hike prospects fade (Reuters)

Merkel strikes back, defends migrant policy after election rout (Reuters)

Gasoline Glut Threatens a Crude-Oil Rally Fueled by Car Travel (WSJ)

After insult, U.S. and Clinton call for Duterte to show respect (Reuters)

Work to begin on ‘big wall’ at Calais to block migrants (Telegraph)

Will Trump or Clinton win? The 11 states deciding the race (The Hill)

Oil rises, but doubt over output deal tempers rally (Reuters)

Turkey says ready to help any U.S. initiative to capture Raqqa (

How Enbridge and Spectra Inked a Clean Pipe Deal

A proposed pipeline deal between Canada’s Enbridge and Spectra of the U.S. should succeed because of simplicity, limited overlap and low commodity exposure.

Chinese Dating App Momo Sings New Love Song

The more dating app Momo plugs its users into live streaming, the more love it should attract from investors.

The Single Life Suits Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Investors have applauded Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s narrower focus. Now it must justify its recent rally when it reports fiscal third-quarter results on Wednesday.

Solar eclipse: Sunrun’s languishing stock price masks skills of CEO

Lynn Jurich has won accolades for her business acumen and leadership style.

Antibacterial soap is a lie, just like everything else in your life

The FDA said Friday there is no proof antibacterial soaps work better or are safe.

Market Snapshot: U.S. stock futures waver with Fed beige book, Apple news on deck

U.S. stock futures struggle for direction on Wednesday as investors await clues on the future path of U.S. interest rates.