12Oct2016 Market Close: Wall Street Closed Flat, Crude Prices Fall Back To The $50 Handle, US Dollar Touched 98 And Analysts Are Very Worried Of A Black Swan Jumping Into The Financial Waters

Fed policymakers closer to rate hike, but inflation doubts remain: minutes

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Several voting Federal Reserve policymakers judged a rate hike would be warranted “relatively soon” if the U.S. economy continued to strengthen but doubts on inflation remained, according to the minutes of the Fed’s September policy meeting released on Wednesday.

Wall Street ends little changed in wake of Fed minutes

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones industrial average indexes ended Wednesday’s session with slight gains as expectations for timing on a rate hike timing were largely unchanged after minutes from the most recent meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve.

U.S. job openings hit eight-month low, labor market still strong

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job openings fell to an eight-month low in August and hiring was little changed, suggesting some easing in labor market conditions amid an aging economic recovery.

Deutsche Bank to pay $9.5 million penalty over research info: SEC

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank will pay a $9.5 million penalty to settle civil charges that it failed to properly safeguard material non-public information generated by its research analysts and of publishing an improper research report, U.S. regulators said Wednesday.

Samsung sends fireproof packaging and gloves for Note 7 returns

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said it was sending fireproof packaging and gloves to customers who bought the Galaxy Note 7 phone on its website, so they could safely return the devices after a recall and reports that some replacement phones went up in flames.

Snapchat opts for Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs to lead IPO: Bloomberg

(Reuters) – Photo-sharing app Snapchat has chosen Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc as lead bankers for its initial public offering, which could happen as soon as March, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Global shares remain lower, dollar up after Fed minutes

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global equity markets remained slightly lower and the dollar a bit higher on Wednesday after minutes from a meeting of Federal Reserve policymakers last month indicated raising U.S. interest rates was warranted if the economy continued to strengthen.

OPEC points to larger 2017 oil surplus despite deal to cut

LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC reported a increase in its oil production in September to the highest in at least eight years and raised its forecast for 2017 non-OPEC supply growth, pointing to a larger surplus next year despite the group’s deal to cut output.

Putin says Rosneft buy of Bashneft gives impetus to privatization

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Russian government’s sale of a controlling stake in mid-sized oil firm Bashneft to the country’s largest oil producer Rosneft should give momentum to Russia’s privatization drive, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

Forget “Deplorables”, Bill Clinton Mocks Trump Fans As “Standard Rednecks”

We suspect that Bill got a firm “talking to” last week after making comments at a rally that Obamacare was “killing the small-business people” and the middle class while describing it generally as the “craziest thing in the world.” But, it seems he may need a quick refresher after taking the opportunity to label all Trump supporters as your “standard redneck.”

We look forward to the mainstream media’s extensive coverage and faux outrage over this clip.

The Flawed Logic Of Inflation

Authored by Michael Lebowitz (or 720Global.com) via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

“To me, a wise and humane policy is occasionally to let inflation rise even when inflation is running above target” – Janet Yellen Chairwoman Federal Reserve

“And, beyond that, would a rise in inflation to 3 percent or even 4 percent be a terrible thing? On the contrary, it would almost surely help the economy” – Paul Krugman Nobel Prize winning economist, Professor and Journalist New York Times

“Events since 2010 have led me to conclude those objections no longer apply. The Federal Reserve should give serious consideration to raising its inflation target?” Greg IP Author and Journalist Wall Street Journal

Why do the Federal Reserve and many economists want more inflation? Based on commonly held perspectives among economists and commentators in the financial media, one would think that inflation was something vital to the proper functioning of our economy. Long forgotten, though only a short time ago, inflation as seen in the 1970s and 1980s, was enemy #1 of the U.S. economy. In this article we discuss the motives and incentives driving the current passion for inflation.

Perspective

The first step toward understanding why the Fed and most of the world’s leading economists desire inflation and abhor deflation begins …

A Clinton Foundation Moment: “Unless The Saudi Sheikh Gave Us $6 Million, This Sounds Crazy To Do”

In what appears an amusing instance of the Clinton Foundation caught (with its pants down) in a glorious pay-to-play moment, in one of today’s leaked Podesta emails from November 2011, Ira Magaziner, who is Vice Chairman and CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative, sent an email to John Podesta and Amitabh Desai, Director of Foreign Policy at the Clinton Foundation, in which he said that “CHAI [Clinton Health Access Initiative] would like to request that President Clinton call Sheik Mohammed to thank him for offering his plane to the conference in Ethiopia and expressing regrets that President Clinton’s schedule does not permit him to attend the conference.”

He appears to be referring to Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-‘Amoudi, a Saudi Arabian and Ethiopian billionaire businessman, whose net worth was estimated at Forbes at $8.3 billion as of 2016.

He is also a prominent donor of the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

To this the response by Desai is a very simple one: “Unless Sheikh Mo has sent us a $6 million check, this sounds crazy to do.”

At this point, Bill Clinton’s former chief advisor and current president of the infamous Teneo Holding Doug Band, chimes in that it probably is a good idea: “If he doesn’t do it Chai will say he didn’t give the money bc of wjc.”

Finally, John Podesta chimes in: “I agree wit …

Putin Slams Russia Hacking Accusation: “Just A Ploy To Divert Attention From The Contents”

After Russia’s foreign minister trolled the US election, describing it as a “pussy galore” moment, when in an interview with CNN’s Christine Ammanpour, he sad “there are so many pussies around your presidential campaign on both sides that I prefer not to comment,” his boss, Vladimir Putin also went on the record to address the allegation by US intelligence services which last Friday officially accused the Kremlin of coordinating the ongoing cyberattacks targeting democrats, and said that the scandal that hacking scandal has not been in Moscow’s interests and both sides in the U.S. election campaign are just using Russia to score points.

The Russian leaders’ statement comes one day after the White House did not reveal how if at all, it would respond to “Russia’s hacking”, but said it would consider a variety of responses to the alleged hacks.

Putin accused the US of “starting this hysteria, saying that this (hacking) is in Russia’s interests. But this has nothing to do with Russia’s interests,” in a speech during a business forum in Moscow.

He added that the accusations were a ploy to divert U.S. voters’ attention at a time when public opinion was being manipulated. “Everyone is talking about ‘who did it’ (the hacking),” said Putin. “But is it that important? The most important thing is what is inside this information.”

Well, yes, but… oh look, Trump talking about grabbing pussy!

So yeah, it worked.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Krem …

These Health Insurance Mergers Aren’t Alike

Two health insurance mergers under regulatory scrutiny seem to be taking different paths.

Oil Deal May Not Cut Production

OPEC data show countries are producing more than the market thought, so cuts won’t have a big impact.

Needing a Boost, Wells Fargo May Be Left Behind on Earnings

An uptick in trading volumes will help big Wall Street banks as they report third-quarter earnings, but Wells Fargo will benefit less.

‘The Amazon effect’ and 3 other things to watch for this holiday shopping season

Retailers are preparing for a few key issues in order to make holiday 2016 a success

Market Extra: Wells Fargo earnings: Here’s what to expect from the embattled lender

Here’s what to look for from Wells Fargo’s third-quarter results on Friday.

Capitol Report: Here’s what Wells Fargo may disclose in its coming earnings and SEC filings

Wells Fargo announces earnings on Friday but the real disclosures should be in its 10Q