Written by Gary
US stock market closed lower (SPY -0.1%), crude and the US dollar take a breather for the weekend. Indexes traded sideways much of the afternoon session on increasing and choppy volume, but the BTFDers at the bell made little difference. Short-term indicators are neutral with a bearish slant.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Sumner Redstone to step down from Viacom board(Reuters) – Controlling shareholder Sumner Redstone will step down from the Viacom board of directors after the company’s annual meeting in February, according to a company filing on Friday. |
| Wall Street falls as Oracle weighsNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Friday, weighed by a more than 4-percent drop in Oracle shares, while recently-battered stocks in the real estate and utilities sectors posted the largest gains. |
| U.S. housing starts tumble from nine-year high; permits suggest strengthWASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in November, tumbling from a nine-year high as construction activity declined broadly, the latest sign of slower economic growth in the fourth quarter. |
| Facebook underreported iPhone traffic for some publishers(Reuters) – Facebook Inc said it had underreported the number of views on iPhone of content published by some publishers using its Instant Articles platform between Sept. 20 and Nov. 30. |
| Wells Fargo says account openings fall in November(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co reported another decline in monthly consumer account openings, indicating that the bank is having trouble rebuilding its reputation after a sales scandal. |
| With bylaw tweaks, Apple grants activist one of three wishesBOSTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc’s board relaxed some rules for director nominations by outside investors but stopped short of broader changes sought by an activist shareholder. |
| Orange CEO under fire at Tapie affair trial of IMF’s LagardePARIS (Reuters) – French telecoms boss Stephane Richard was sharply criticized by one of the judges and by a witness during the negligence trial of IMF chief Christine Lagarde in Paris this week. |
| Pushed by investor Ackman, Chipotle adds four new directors(Reuters) – Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc , under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman, named four new board members on Friday, paving the way for a reunion of sorts between its chief executive and a former top executive at McDonald’s, which once owned the burrito chain. |
| Fidelity gives BlackRock an early leg up in robo advice brawlBOSTON (Reuters) – Fidelity Investments unintentionally boosted BlackRock Inc’s prospects as a robo adviser with a small investment in a start-up company that BlackRock bought last year for an estimated $150 million. |
| “Dash-For-Trash” At Its Most Extreme Since DotCom Peak…The Trump rally’s animal spirits might be jumping the shark. The massive outperformance of the ‘riskiest’ high-volatility stocks over ‘stodgy’ low-volatility in the last few weeks…
In fact, as BofAML’s Michael Hartnett notes, there has been an exodus from low-volatility funds…
As everyone and their pet rabbit embraces the “Trump Trade”…
But…The usually high correlation between the two ‘classes’ of stocks has collapsed to zero…
This is the biggest plunge since the peak of the panic-buying extreme risky names during the DotCom boom – right before it all fell apart. |
| If Trump Wants to Root Out Pentagon Corruption, He Could Start With Nuclear WeaponsVia The Daily Bell
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| What a Michael Kors Bag at Macy’s Says About Christmas SalesRetailers are getting savvier about adjusting their prices based on short-term demand, the latest data from Heard on the Street’s retail experiment shows. |
| Adobe’s Big Cloud to FillSoftware maker Adobe has moved most of its business to the cloud while also accelerating growth. |
| Surging Dollar Upends China’s Huge Bond MarketIf the Fed follows through with more rate increases, China’s bond markets should keep feeling the pain. |
| Trivago brings depressing year for IPOs to a closeThe last expected IPO of the year was trading above its issue price Friday, but that came after a lower than expected issue price. |
| The Tell: Should investors worry about a rising dollar?The negative impact of a rapidly strengthening dollar won’t be to the same degree as a year ago, when the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in a decade, according to analysts |
| The must-see photos of 2016The best photos of 2016, showing the top business stories including Brexit, the presidential election and more. |
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
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