22Nov2016 Pre-Market Commentary: WARNING: Wall Street About To Set New Highs Today, Crude Prices Testing $50 Resistance, US Dollar Index Above 101, Gold Remains Weak

Written by Gary

US stock future indexes pointed to a slightly higher open today (SPY +0.2%), suggesting the American indices are poised for another round of record highs. Yesterday was the first time since 1999 that the Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite and Russell 2000 managed to simultaneously break new records.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are higher today with shares in London leading the region. The FTSE 100 is up 0.82% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.68% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.52%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Record highs for Wall Street quartet send other stocks higher LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks on Tuesday rode the slipstream of the first joint all-time high for Wall Street’s four main markets since 1999, while oil prices hit their highest level since October.
	Trump’s pullout of TPP opens way for China TOKYO/SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Asia-Pacific trade deal stands almost no chance of working now that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has pulled the plug on it, proponents of the pact said on Tuesday, opening the way for China to assume the leadership mantle on trade.
	Volkswagen puts conquering Americas at heart of turnaround plan WOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen is putting the Americas at the heart of the turnaround plan for its core VW brand, pinning its hopes on new higher-margin SUVs and electric cars to rebuild its image following the diesel emissions cheating scandal.
	Oil prices rise to highest this month on hopes of OPEC deal LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices rose on Tuesday to their highest this month as a growing consensus emerged in the market that OPEC would overcome internal disputes and scepticism to strike a deal that materially reduces crude output.
	KKR to buy Nissan-backed supplier Calsonic for up to $4.5 billion TOKYO (Reuters) – U.S. buyout firm KKR & Co is buying Nissan Motor-backed auto parts maker Calsonic Kansei Corp for up to 498.3 billion yen ($4.5 billion) in its biggest deal in Japan, seizing on a rare chance there to do a multi-billion dollar purchase.
	Medtronic’s quarterly revenue misses; shares skid (Reuters) – Medtronic Plc , the world’s largest standalone medical device maker, reported quarterly revenue below expectations, hurt by slowing growth in its diabetes and heart product divisions.
	Dr Pepper Snapple to buy antioxidant drinks maker Bai for $1.7 billion (Reuters) – Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc said on Tuesday it would buy antioxidant beverages maker Bai Brands LLC for $1.7 billion, in cash, in the latest example of a soft-drinks maker investing in products that are perceived to be healthier.
	Dollar Tree’s profit beats estimates as merchandise costs fall (Reuters) – Dollar Tree Inc , the biggest U.S. dollar-store chain after its acquisition of Family Dollar in 2015, reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, helped by lower merchandise costs and freight expenses.
	Tata board was divided over $12-billion Corus deal: ousted chairman NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Ratan Tata’s decision to acquire steelmaker Corus for more than $12 billion, when a year earlier it was available at half the price, went against the reservations of some board members and senior executives, Cyrus Mistry said on Tuesday.
	German Bund Yields Diverge and Head Lower Again Amidst Market Jubilation Are the Germans being penalized for losing their leadership status, in light of the Le Pen surge in recent polls or are yields dropping again as a sign of risk off? With markets ripping to new record highs, this is a curious divergence and worthy of inspection. U.S. 10yr has soared from 1.75% to 2.30% since Election Day. Content originally generated at iBankCoin.
	Trump Won’t Pursue Charges Against Hillary: “She’s Been Through Enough” After Trump stunned the nation during the second presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, in which he quipped that under a Trump presidency “she would be in jail”, and suggested that he would demand a special prosecutor probe into Clinton’s email server and the Clinton foundation, moments ago MSNBC’s Morning Joe reported, citing a source, that president-elect Donald Trump will not pursue any investigations into his former political rival Hillary Clinton “for her use of a private email server and the Clinton foundation.” Trump reportedly feels that Clinton has “been through enough.” Source tells @Morning_Joe @realDonaldTrump won’t pursue investigations into @HillaryClinton for private email server use/Clinton Foundation. — Morning Joe (@Morning_Joe) November 22, 2016 Trump had routinely attacked Clinton on the campaign trail over her use of a private server as secretary of State and for foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation while she was in the Obama administration. The report, first announced by Mika Brzezinski, comes just a week after a 60 Minutes interview where Trump indicated that he may not launch a full investigation into the Democratic nominee. “I’m gonna think about it,” he said at the time to Leslie Stahl. “I don’t wanna hurt them. They’re good people,” he continued of the Clintons. …
	Frontrunning: November 22 Record highs for Wall Street quartet send other stocks higher (Reuters) Oil prices rise to highest this month on hopes of OPEC deal (Reuters) OPEC Likely to Reach Output Consensus, Delegate Says (WSJ) Trump’s Targets in First 100 Days: Trade, Regulation, Corruption (BBG) Trump Poised to Push Nafta Changes, Pressure Mexico on Trade (WSJ) China Touts Its Own Trade Pact as U.S.-Backed One Withers (WSJ) Trump to kill trade deal on day one (Reuters) Overtime Pay Rule to Go Into Effect, but May Not Last (WSJ) Republican mavericks gain leverage (Reuters) Steven A. Cohen Makes Move Into Index Funds (WSJ) Bitter lessons of Japan’s 2011 tsunami put to use with latest quake (Reuters) Court says Republican gerrymandering in Wisconsin was unconstitutional (
	Stocks, Bonds, Pension Funds “Will Be Wiped Out…” David McWilliams interviewed Jim Rickards at Kilkenomics for TV3’s Agenda and the short ten minute interview is a must watch. McWilliams Rickards interview here (from 34:16) Key points covered are We are already in global currency wars End of the dollar as the benchmark global reserve currency coming Higher inflationary – “all the currencies will fall against hard assets” Massive financial crisis coming – complexity theory, behavioral economics shows this “Allowing system to get larger and larger and we do not understand risk” “In 1998, Wall Street bailed out a hedge fund; in 2008, the central banks bailed out Wall Street; in the next financial crisis which could be tomorrow or could be in 2018, who is going to bail out the central banks?”
	The Darker Side of the Dollar’s Rise Expectations of better growth after Donald Trump’s election victory are also tightening financial conditions.
	Urban Outfitters Rally Has Gone Too Far As one of the S&P 500’s top performers this year, Urban Outfitters has gotten ahead of itself.
	Trump’s Art of the Deal With China Investors will want to know what President-elect Trump sees as a winning negotiating strategy with China.
	Mortgage Debt’s Share Of Total Debt Keeps Declining from the St Louis Fed Mortgage debt remains the largest share of debt for many households, but its share has been on the decline, according to the latest issue of the Quarterly Debt Monitor.
	The Economic Effects Of Canceling Scheduled Changes To Overtime Regulations from the Congressional Budget Office Canceling scheduled changes to overtime regulations before enactment would lower employers’ payroll and compliance costs and increase profits. The cancellation would also lower employees’ pay but increase real family income.
	Need to Know: Not one, but two, big Black Swans lurk for stocks’ record run Few are willing to get in the way of this stock rally right now. But if you’re going to take a guess on what could stop it, here are a few ideas from Credit Suisse’s list of black swans.
	Howard Gold’s No-Nonsense Investing: 3 places to find shelter from the growing bond storm If this is indeed the beginning of a major new trend, the single most important decision investors have to make now is what to do about their bond holdings.
	Outside the Box: No matter what Trump decides on the fiduciary rule, the standard will only gain strength Investors’ expectations for the fiduciary standard are here to stay no matter — and those investors will increasingly demand their advisers apply to their non-retirement accounts too.