28Nov2016 Market Close: Stocks And The Dollar Lower, While Gold And Oil Surged; Markets Awaiting OPEC Results Coming Wednesday

Written by Gary

U.S. stocks fell modestly on Monday, weighed down by declines in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors, as some investors booked profits on the heels of a record-setting week. Oil rose 2% in anticipation of OPEC action on Wednesday, while the U.S. dollar eased, U.S. treasuries saw falling yields, and gold rose more than 1%.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall St. retreats as financials, discretionary stocks drag NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell modestly on Monday, weighed down by declines in the financial and consumer discretionary sectors, as some investors booked profits on the heels of a record-setting week.
	Trump faces dilemma as U.S. oil reels from record biofuels targets NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Obama administration signed its final plan for renewable fuel use in the United States last week, leaving an oil industry reeling from the most aggressive biofuel targets yet as President-elect Donald Trump takes over.
	U.S. Treasury presses on with rule opposing serial tax inversions WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Despite Republican plans to scale back federal regulation next year, the U.S. Treasury is moving to finalize a controversial rule intended to make it harder for American companies to avoid U.S. taxes by redomiciling abroad.
	U.S. airlines launch flights to Cuba despite doubts from Trump (Reuters) – U.S. airlines are proceeding with plans to launch new flights to Cuba this week despite doubts that President-elect Donald Trump has raised about the future of ties between the countries.
	OPEC experts end meeting, no agreement on detail VIENNA (Reuters) – OPEC experts ended their meeting on Monday without agreeing on concrete details of a planned reduction in oil output by individual countries that will be presented to an OPEC ministerial gathering on Nov. 30, an OPEC source told Reuters.
	Viacom CEO looks to improve culture, affiliate relations, amid CBS talk (Reuters) – The top priorities of Viacom Inc’s acting president and chief executive are improving key relations with affiliates as well as the struggling media company’s internal culture, Bob Bakish told Reuters at the end of his first week on the job.
	Early U.S. Cyber Monday sales point to 9 percent rise; fewer deals (Reuters) – U.S. shoppers snapped up Cyber Monday deals on what is usually the single biggest day for internet shopping, after stellar online sales over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
	Time Inc rejects bid from billionaire Bronfman Jr.: NY Post (Reuters) – Time Inc , the publisher of Time, People and Fortune magazines, has rejected a takeover bid from billionaire investor Edgar Bronfman Jr., the New York Post reported on Monday.
	WTO rules against tax break for Boeing 777X jet (Reuters) – The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled on Monday a tax break from Washington state to help Boeing develop its new 777X jetliner was a prohibited subsidy, in a setback for the U.S. planemaker as it eyes victory in a parallel case against Airbus.
	Trumpsgiving Hangover? Gold Gains Most In A Month As Banks, Small Caps, Dollar Stumble End of the beginning… or beginning of the end? Weakness started overnight when USDJPY began to tumble… Stocks. Closed. Red!!!! (and Small Caps were clubbed like a baby seal) But let’s not get too excited… VIX ended back above 13… as S&P scrambled to hold 2,200 and Dow 19,100 into the close… Seemingly signalling the Trumpflation party is over (or maybe just month-end rebalancing) Small Caps down most in a month after 15 straight days up Regional Banks down most in a month after 11 up days in last 13 USDJPY biggest drop in a month USD Index biggest drop in a month
	Ron Paul Tells Trump: “To Really ‘Make America Great Again’, End The Fed!” Authored by Ron Paul via The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity, Former Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher recently gave a speech identifying the Federal Reserve’s easy money/low interest rate policies as a source of the public anger that propelled Donald Trump into the White House. Mr. Fisher is certainly correct that the Fed’s policies have “skewered” the middle class. However, the problem is not specific Fed policies, but the very system of fiat currency managed by a secretive central bank. Federal Reserve-generated increases in money supply cause economic inequality. This is because, when the Fed acts to increase the money supply, well-to-do investors and other crony capitalists are the first recipients of the new money. These economic elites enjoy an increase in purchasing power before the Fed’s inflationary policies lead to mass price increases. This gives them a boost in their standard of living. By the time the increased money supply trickles down to middle- and working-class Americans, the economy is already beset by inflation. So most average Americans see their standard of living decline as a result of Fed-engendered money supply increases. Some Fed defenders claim that inflation doesn’t negatively affect anyone’s standard of living because price increases are matched by wage increases. This claim ignores the fact that the effects of the Fed’s actions depend on how individuals react to the Fed’s actions. Historically, an increase in money supply does not just cause a general rise in prices. It also causes money to flow into specific sectors, creating a bubble that provides investors and workers in those …
	“Buy High, Sell Low”? Bullish Sentiment Soars Most In 6 Years As Stocks Spike The greatest streak of stock market gains in almost 28 years may have some wondering if it is sustainable, but, according to AAII, this objective spike in valuations following Donald Trump’s victory has sparked overwhelming bullishness among investors. 15 straight days of gains in Small Caps (only bettered by 1988’s streak) has sent AAII bullishness soaring to its highest since January 2015 (following the end of QE3) with the biggest 3-week spike since September 2010. There is no fear… And equity market breadth is certainly not supportive…
	Ohio State Attack Suspect Is Abdul Ali Artan, 20-Year-Old Somali Refugee; Terrorism Investigated Update: courtesy of NBC’s Tom Winter, we have the alleged Somali refugee suspect’s name, which is Abdul Razak Ali Artan. NBC News: Suspect in Ohio State attack is Abdul Razak Ali Artan multiple law enforcement sources tell Pete Williams and @anblanx — Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) November 28, 2016 * * * Following today’s attack at Ohio State University, CBS is reporting that the sole suspect is an OSU student who was a Somali refugee. His name has not been released. UPDATE: A 20-year-old Somali man is the suspect in the Ohio State University attack https://t.co/G7ANHT8lbn pic.twitter.com/kdOzF7aWiV — CBS News (@CBSNews) November 28, 2016 There were conflicting report about the suspect’s age with NBC adding that according to law enforcement officials, he was an 18-year-old Ohio State student, although it agrees that the unnamed suspect was a Somali refugee who was a legal permanent resident of the United States. Conflict News adds that a terror motive is currently being investigated by authorities. BREAKING: Ohio attacker reportedly a Somali refugee and a student at OSU. Terror motive being investigated by authorities – @AmichaiStein1 — Conflict News (@Conflicts)
	A Double-Digit Return Is Hiding in Plain Sight at Under Armour The yawning gap between Under Armour’s voting and nonvoting shares offers an opportunity for investors.
	Mom’s Big Oil Bet Bites the Dust The demise of two hugely popular ETNs shows the peculiarities and risks of such investments.
	The Biggest Loser in Pay TV Price War DirecTV Now, which AT&T will unveil Monday afternoon, is already pressuring shares of cable companies.
	December 2016 Economic Forecast: Outlook Marginally Improves Written by Steven Hansen Econintersect’s Economic Index improved but still with the economic outlook for weak growth. The index remains near the lowest value since the end of the Great Recession. This month there are no recession warning flags. Six month employment growth forecast indicates minor improvement in the rate of growth.
	October 2016 Leading Index Review: Most Indicators Soft Written by Steven Hansen This post is a review of all major leading indicators follows – and only one leading index is particularily strong.
	‘CUBA’ fund soars after Fidel Castro’s death Shares of a mutual fund with the ticker symbol “CUBA” soar, in the wake of Fidel Castro’s death over the weekend.
	Market Snapshot: Dow, S&P 500 end 4-day win streak as stocks pull back U.S. stocks close lower on Monday as investors find few reasons to keep pushing shares higher following an extended rally that took major indexes to a string of records and lifted major indexes for three straight weeks.
	The Fed: Bernanke tells Fed officials to clam up Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says U.S. central bankers should not talk publicly about what they think the Fed policy committee, as a whole, is going to do.