21Dec2016 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Lower With Investor Profit Taking During The Last Few Minutes, Crude Prices Slip, Trump Rally Sliding

Wall Street slips, dragged by healthcare and real estate

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks fell on Wednesday, with healthcare and real estate shares losing ground a day after the Nasdaq Composite and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit record highs.

U.S. existing home sales rise to near 10-year high

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. home resales unexpectedly rose in November, reaching their highest level in nearly 10 years, likely as buyers rushed into the market to lock in mortgage rates in anticipation of further increases in borrowing costs.

Viacom unit head overseeing MTV, Comedy Central to leave

SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Longtime Viacom Inc executive Doug Herzog, who oversees the networks Comedy Central and MTV, is leaving the company next month, according to a memo to employees sent Wednesday from chief executive Bob Bakish.

Nokia sues Apple for infringing technology patents

HELSINKI/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Nokia Corp said on Wednesday it had filed a number of lawsuits against Apple Inc for violating 32 technology patents.

Trump weighs ‘half-blind’ trust option for businesses: Politico

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is considering the use of discretionary trusts to avoid conflicts of interest for Trump family members or administration officials, Politico reported on Wednesday.

DuPont hit with $2 million verdict over Teflon-making chemical

(Reuters) – A U.S. jury in Ohio on Wednesday ordered DuPont to pay $2 million to a man who said he developed testicular cancer from exposure to a toxic chemical leaked from one of the company’s plants, according to the plaintiff’s lawyer Robert Bilott.

Actelion re-enters talks with J&J, sidelining Sanofi

ZURICH/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Swiss biotech company Actelion has turned back to prospective bidder Johnson & Johnson for exclusive talks about a “strategic transaction”, in an about-turn that appears to sideline rival suitor Sanofi .

Hyundai’s top U.S. executive resigns

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Hyundai Motor Co’s top U.S. executive Dave Zuchowski has resigned effective immediately and has been replaced on an interim basis by the company’s general counsel, a company spokesman said Wednesday.

FINRA fines Wells Fargo, others $14 million for records’ changeable format

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it fined several Wells Fargo & Co businesses, RBC Capital Markets, LPL Financial and others a combined $14.4 million on Wednesday for record-keeping problems that may have allowed company and customer documents to be altered.

“Almost 20,000” Dow Disappoints For 7th Day In A Row Despite VIXtermination

7th day in a row of hope for Dow 20k…

It’s a real cliffhanger…

Before we start – 2 WTF Charts of the day…

This is the stock is best in The Dow this year…

And this is the stock that is most responsible for The Dow’s post-Trump surge…

That’s the market you’re buying ladies and gentlemen!

So, despite a massive monkey-hammering of VIX to a 10 handle at the opening, Dow 20,000 remains elusive…NOTE: Very odd action in VIX and The Dow today – super noisy. Dow’s narrowest trading day since 2013.

Future show that overnight was quiet – pumped i …

The Wierdest Thing About 2016 Is…

Via ConvergEx’s Nicholas Colas,

What is the weirdest thing about 2016?

“Trump wins US Election”? “UK Leaves EU”? “Cubs Win World Series”? How about this one: “The VIX Peaks in February”?

For the first time since the start of the modern VIX in 1990, the “Fear Gauge” peaked in that month. October (no surprise) is the most common month for a peak reading (5/26 years, or 19% of the time) followed by August (4/26 year, or 15%) and January (also 4/26 years). Troughs for the VIX come most often in December (7/26 past years) and July (6/26 years). And while it hasn’t done so just yet, the VIX seems set to repeat the typical seasonal pattern and trough this month. The lowest close of 2016 thus far has been 11.34 (August 19); today’s 11.7 close was the low tide mark for December. That tells us that the Santa Claus rally may still have some legs, and the VIX will decline as stocks rise. As for what sectors to play, we’d take a look at rate sensitive names (Utilities and Telecoms) for a trade into year end. They’re unloved at the moment, but Santa’s good cheer may change that.

It is almost time for all those “Year in review” shows on TV. Expect to see and hear a lot about how 2016 was a truly watershed year, with the June Br …

44 Years Ago, The Dow Crossed 1,000 For The First Time – Here’s What Happened Next

With all eyes desperately urging The Dow to cross 20,000 and prove that everything in the world of Trumplandia is awesome, we thought some reflection on another major milestone in the omnipresent Stock Index would be worthwhile…

As The New York Times reported 44 years ago… The Dow Jones industrial average closed above the 1,000 mark yesterday for the first time in history.

It finished at 1,003.16 for a gain of 6.09 points in what many Wall Streeters consider the equivalent of the initial breaking of the four-minute mile.

“This thing has an obvious psychological effect,” declared one brokerage-house partner. “It’s a hell of a news item. As for the perminence of it — well, I just don’t know.”

The Dow finally put it all together, the peace rally, the re-election of President Nixon, the surging economy, booming corporate profits and lessening fears about inflation and taxes and controls and other uncertainties of 1973.

With such kingpin issues leading the forward surge, the market fed on its own momentum. The Dow forged past 1,000 at 1:30 P.M. and it kept gaining almost consistently until the final bell.

At 3:29 P.M., red light bars flashed on above and below each of the time clocks surrounding the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. This was the traditional visual signal to show that one minute of training time remained. At the same moment, a bell began clanging on the speaker’s rostrum – the auditory warning.

Traders, brokers and clerks on the floor – aware that history …

The Obama ‘Recovery’: Number Of Millennials Living At Home With Mom Reaches 75-Year High

Millennials finally get to claim a trophy for an achievement they actually earned (no participation medals here)…that’s right, Millennials have officially set a 75-year record for highest percentage of young adults living at home with mom. At just under 40%, Millennials are barely shy of the all-time record of 40.9% set in 1940, after the end of the Great Depression. For once, we have every confidence that our young snowflakes will excel in crushing this longstanding record. Per the Wall Street Journal:

Almost 40% of young Americans were living with their parents, siblings or other relatives in 2015, the largest percentage since 1940, according to an analysis of census data by real estate tracker Trulia.

Despite a rebounding economy and recent job growth, the share of those between the ages of 18 and 34 doubling up with parents or other family members has been rising since 2005. Back then, before the start of the last recession, roughly one out of three were living with family.

The trend runs counter to that of previous economic cycles, when after a recession-related spike, the number of younger Americans living with relatives declined as the economy improved.

We must admit that we’re somewhat confused by the following data, from the

Auto Suppliers May Be the Real Winners as Cars Electrify

The biggest winners of the postrecession car boom haven’t been car companies but their suppliers. This is one feature of the automotive landscape the emergence of electric vehicles seems unlikely to disrupt. Suppliers with the right technology are worth their big stock-market premium.

The Highly Charged Way to Play Electric Cars

Utilities have received little attention compared with companies like Tesla in the electric vehicle revolution. It presents them with both an opportunity and a burden.

Biogen Faces No Easy Opportunities

The biotech’s risks run deeper than the outcome of its Alzheimer’s trial.

Personal Finance Daily: Why millennials are smart for living at home and the secrets to finishing your to-do list

Wednesday’s personal finance stories

Market Extra: As Dow 20,000 nears, stock-market pundit says don’t play it safe in cash

Has Wall Street hit peak stock-market elation? Exuberance has the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the brink of breaching a milestone of 20,000—a level it has never hit before.

Bond Report: Treasury yields inch lower as investors lose appetite for risky assets

Treasury yields tick lower Wednesday as investors await housing and inflation data due ahead of the Christmas holiday.