04Nov2016 Market Close: US Markets Close Relatively Flat And Down, US Dollar Slips Further, Gold Testing 1300 Resistance, Small Business Employment Down 1.6 Percent

S&P 500 falls for ninth straight session

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended lower on Friday for a ninth straight day, the longest losing streak for the benchmark index in more than 35 years, as investors stayed on edge just ahead of an uncertain U.S. election.

Strong U.S. job growth, rising wages boost Dec rate hike prospects

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers maintained a strong pace of hiring in October and boosted wages for workers, which could effectively seal the case for a December interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve.

Taco Bell to hire 100,000 as part of U.S. expansion

(Reuters) – Taco Bell Corp, a unit of Yum Brands Inc , said it would increase the number of restaurants in the United States to 9,000 and create 100,000 jobs by the end of 2022, as part of its push to reach $15 billion in sales.

Agricultural Bank of China to pay New York state $215 million for anti-money laundering violations

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Agricultural Bank of China Ltd will pay a $215 million penalty for violating New York state’s anti-money laundering law, the state’s financial regulator said on Friday.

Exclusive: Saudis could raise oil output again as sparring with Iran returns – sources

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – Old disputes between Saudi Arabia and rival Iran resurfaced at a meeting of OPEC experts last week, with Riyadh saying it could raise oil output steeply to bring prices down if Tehran refuses to limit its supply, OPEC sources say.

Whole Foods shareholder pushing for changes, sale of company: Bloomberg

(Reuters) – One of Whole Foods Market Inc’s top ten shareholders has met potential activist investors to discuss management changes at and explore a sale of the upscale grocery chain, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.

German prosecutors investigate Facebook over hate postings

BERLIN (Reuters) – German prosecutors are investigating Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives, a spokesman for the Munich prosecutor’s office said on Friday, following a complaint alleging the company broke national laws against hate speech and sedition by failing to remove racist postings.

Fed’s Kaplan says case for rate hike is strengthening

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Robert Kaplan on Friday said he believes there is increasing reason to raise U.S. interest rates, though he declined to say when the next rate hike should take place.

Dutch activists amassing signatures for referendum on EU-Canada trade deal

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Activists in the Netherlands have gathered almost two thirds of the signatures needed to lay the groundwork for a referendum on Europe’s free trade deal with Canada, which they say overly favors the interests of multinational companies.

Apple Is Offering An Anti-Trump App Allowing Voters To Trade Votes Across State Lines

At a time rife with speculation that the presidential vote on Tuesday may be rigged or tampered, we find it troubling – not to mention illegal – that Tim Cook has allowed the Apple store to distribute an app called #NeverTrump created by Trimian, whose mission statement is “Red or Blue, we must all unite to defeat Trump this election. Let’s ensure Hillary wins in swing states, and make sure third-party votes count.”

The app allows potential voters to trade votes, boosting Hillary’s support in swing or battleground states, while 3rd party candidates get more (meaningless) support in blue states.

Vote Trading, also known as vote swapping or vote pairing, is the practice of voting for or against another person’s bill, position on a more general issue, or favored candidate in exchange for the other person’s vote for or against a position, proposal, or candidate that one supports.

As the App explains:

We match Hillary voters in blue states with third-party voters in swing states to help them trade votes. Hillary gets more swing votes and third-party candidates get their votes counted.

Find vote trading matches and get comfortable, before agreeing to the trade

Optionally connect with Facebook or LinkedIn to increase confidence in the trade.

Group Chat across members helps coordinate, evangelize and match

Help others channel their frusration positively. Spread the word and help save America

Below are screenshots from the app:

Martin Armstrong Fears “Significant Rise In Civil Unrest” If Hillary Is Elected

Submitted by Martin Armstrong via ArmstrongEconomics.com,

Wikileaks has also revealed that the Clinton Foundation, which is the closest thing to a Racketeering Organized Crime Family, is being investigated by the IRS.

However, sources also say that the FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation is far more serious than did she have classified info on private emails.

The internal war we have have warned is unfolding with Intelligence and Law Enforcement standing against Obama and the corrupt DOJ under Lynch is really heating up. The FBI realizes that Lynch’s DOJ will protect Hillary at all costs and will never allow her to be criminally charged. They have no choice now but to leak everything they can to show the corruption going on in the Department of Justice (see Daily Mail

FANG Stocks Lose Over $100 Billion In A Week

In the last week the so-called FANG stocks (FB, AMZN, NFLX, GOOGL) have stumbled. As earnings and outlooks disappointed, shareholders have awoken to the new normal low growth world and wiped over $100 bilion in market capitalization of the four horsemen of the Fed’s wealth creation bubble.

FANGs are now down 8 days in a row…

Losing a massive $108 billion in that time…

This is the biggest drop since the February growth scare – which was only saved by massive coordinated global central bank money-printing… which is simply not about to happen this time.

Former Treasury Secretary Summers Calls For End Of Fed Independence

At an event in Davos, Switzerland earlier today, Former U.S. Treasury Secretary, Larry Summers, argued that Central Bank independence from national governments should be scrapped in favor of a coordinated effort between politicians, central bankers and treasury to engineer inflation. Seems reasonable, right?…what could possibly go wrong?

According to Market Watch, Summers argued that Central Bank independence came from “an understanding of the macroeconomic policy problem that is not relevant to current times.” Ironically, he argued that Central Bank “insulation” was required in the 70s/80s when the “White House” and “Congress” could not be trusted to fight inflation.

So does this indicate that Summers’ baseline assumption is that politicians today are more trustworthy than in the 70s/80s? Perhaps Summers is the one that is “insulated” from reality? Is it possible that he’s completely missed the fact that one of our presidential candidates is currently under multiple investigations by the FBI for various allegations of corruption and fraud? Meanwhile, both presidential candidates are polling at among the lowest rates ever experienced for “trustworthiness” while the job approval rating of Congress has never been lower…but sure, we should grant them even more power to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy for political gain…why not?

Central bank independence “comes from an understanding of the macroeconomic policy problem that is not relevant to current times,” Summers said in a speech at the International Monetary Fund.

Central ban …

Politics Still Stars in Brexit Drama

There were two surprises for the pound Thursday. The first was the High Court decision that the government can’t invoke Article 50. The second, arguably more substantive element was a change in tack from the Bank of England.

China Faces Looming Bulge in Currency Pressure

The yuan’s next milestone may usher in a more challenging period.

Can Governments Take Baton From Central Banks?

Central banks like the ECB have been calling seemingly forever for politicians to take action. The issue is becoming urgent.

If you don’t have a Taco Bell nearby, you probably will soon

Taco Bell, which plans to have 9,000 U.S. locations by 2022, said it would create 100,000 new jobs.

The Fed: Fed’s Kaplan: U.S. oil production won’t pick up until price rises above $55 per barrel

The number of rigs drilling for oil won’t increase ‘significantly’ until prices rise above $55 per barrel, said Dallas Fed President Rob Kaplan on Friday

‘Ferris’ found fame 30 years ago — now the movie’s music is getting another shot at it

Thirty years after the 1986 release of “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” nostalgia has given the film’s music a second chance at fame.