21Sep2016 Market Close: Global Stocks Climb Higher After Fed's Keep Rates Unchanged, US Dollar Falls, WTI Crude Closes Higher, Investors Remain Wary Of Possible Crude Glut

Written by Gary

Wall Street closed higher (SPY +1.1%) after the Fed’s left interest rates unchanged today, but strongly signaled it could still tighten monetary policy by the end of this year as the labor market improved further. Global stock indexes rose and the dollar fell to its lowest against the yen in nearly a month and Crude prices have settled in the mid 45 handle.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Fed keeps rates steady, signals one hike by end of year WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but strongly signaled it could still tighten monetary policy by the end of this year as the labor market improved further.
	Wall Street rallies as Fed holds fire on rates NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street racked up gains on Wednesday, and the Nasdaq closed at a record high, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged, for now leaving intact the low-rate environment that has helped underpin the bull market.
	U.S. lawmakers grill Mylan CEO over EpiPen steep price increases WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday blasted steep price increases for Mylan’s EpiPen emergency allergy treatment as they grilled the company’s Chief Executive Heather Bresch at a congressional hearing. The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform called Bresch to testify after the company raised the list price for a pair of EpiPens to $600 compared with $100 in 2007, when it acquired the product.
	BOJ overhauls policy focus, sets target for government bond yields TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan made an abrupt shift on Wednesday to targeting interest rates on government bonds to achieve its elusive inflation target, after years of massive money printing failed to jolt the economy out of decades-long stagnation.
	SEC charges fund manager Cooperman with insider trading NEW YORK (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator on Wednesday charged billionaire investor Leon Cooperman with insider trading, making him the highest-profile target in years in Washington’s ongoing crackdown on illegal trading at hedge funds.
	Central Banks tell regulators banks must tighten SWIFT security LONDON (Reuters) – The world’s biggest central banks have told regulators that banks must tighten security around their SWIFT messaging systems following the theft of $81 million from Bangladesh’s central bank in February.
	Caesars bankrupt unit ups offer to junior creditors by $1.2 billion CHICAGO (Reuters) – The bankrupt subsidiary of Caesars Entertainment Corp has offered an additional $1.2 billion to its hold-out creditors in hopes of clearing the way for the casino operator to exit Chapter 11, the company’s lawyer told a court hearing on Wednesday.
	Viacom to look internally and externally for new CEO: source (Reuters) – Viacom Inc ‘s board plans to look both internally and externally for a new chief executive to replace interim CEO Tom Dooley, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Wednesday.
	Harley-Davidson shares pare gains after comment on buyout speculation (Reuters) – Harley-Davidson Inc. shares jumped nearly 7 percent early on Wednesday as speculation resurfaced the company was a buyout target of equity firm Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts.
	Stocks Explode Higher After Fed Cuts US Growth Potential To Lowest On Record So to refresh – deteriorating macro data, depressed long term growth expectations, 3 Fed dissenters, and the response – Buy Everything! Bonds, Stocks, Oil, and Gold all higher… And all major indices just exploded… VIX collapsed to a 12 handle briefly… Rate hike odds for Dec surged… And The Fed cut long term US growth protential to its lowest on record…
	Is Yellen Worried That She Is Causing Asset Bubbles? Here Is What She Said While the most anticipated moment in today’s Yellen presser was her response to Donald Trump that the Fed is political (which as we showed previously, she denied even as her actions confirmed his specticism), another notable moment came when she was asked if she is “worried about bubbles in the economy because of our prolonged low interest rates?” This is her response: Yes. Of course we are worried that bubbles will form in the economy and we routinely monitor asset valuations, while nobody can know for sure what type of valuation represents a bubble, that’s only something one can tell in hindsight, we are monitoring these measures of valuation and commercial real estate valuations are high. Rents have moved up over time, but still valuations are high, relative to rents. And so it is something we’ve discussed. We called this out in our monetary report and in other presentations and we are, in our supervision with banks, and I indicated, we have issued supervisory uidance to Mac sure underwriting is strong on these loans and this is something that we’ve looked at in stress tests, the larger banks to see what would happen to their capital positions and to make sure that they hold sufficient capital. And of course, I think the soundness and state of the banking system has improved substantially, but of course we are focused on such things. Or, a shorter version, No, she isn.’t. And, to celebrate just that, moments later the Nasdaq hit new all time highs.
	Justifying the Fascism of Hillary’s Pay-for-Play Via The Daily Bell Hillary vs. the Hate Machine: How Clinton Became a Vessel for America’s Fury … Decades of right-wing attacks turned a crusader of women’s rights into a major target of hate “The underlying thing about Clinton and her candidacy is it’s not normal. Normal is a male candidate, a male voice, a male tie.” -Rolling Stone This recent article in Rolling Stone makes it clear that Hillary is a flawed candidate but that her flaws are not criminal and that she is far more desirable than Trump as president. In doing so, this article attempts to justify a kind of fascism called “pay-for-play” by minimizing its impact. And it justifies Hillary’s other criminal and sociopathic behavior by virtually ignoring it. Fascism, classically is associated with authoritarian (governmental) control over the private sector. And certainly pay-to-play comes close to that. The government makes it possible for a …
	Big Pharma’s Big Checkbooks Drive Biotech Resurgence Big Pharma’s thirst for growth is a biotech investor’s dream.
	Bank of Japan Makes Yield Curve Maneuvers in the Dark The BOJ’s moves alter the calculus for investorsâ€”there is no longer a willing buyer of bonds, but instead a price setter.
	UniCredit: Italy’s Biggest Bank on High Wire to Redemption Italy’s UniCredit is making headway with plans to shore up its balance sheet but problems at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena could hinder progress.
	21 September 2016 FOMC Meeting Statement: Federal Funds Rate Was Not Changed. Econintersect: The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) – the board of directors of the Federal Reserve again did NOT adjust the federal funds rate. There was dissent as two members believed the federal funds rate should have been increased. The only words in the statement contained some rationale for not raising rates was that: …. near-term risks to the economic outlook appear roughly balanced …
	Currencies: Dollar hits lowest in a month versus yen after BOJ move; Fed stays put on rates The dollar on Wednesday weakens against the yen in gyrating swings following the Bank of Japan’s decision to focus on maintaining a zero-bound level for 10-year Japanese government bonds in its latest attempt to combat stubbornly low inflation.
	MarketWatch and Learn: 10 things debt-settlement companies won’t tell you Thinking about using a debt-settlement company to get out of debt? Here’s what you must know before you do.