29Dec2016 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Lower, Crude Prices And The US Dollar Remain Weak

Written by Gary

US stock markets closed lower (SPY -0.1%) in the second biggest loss since the election. The Dow opened just a short hop away from 20,000 but then lost 111 points, falling to 19,833, while the S&P 500 fell 18 to 2,249 and afternoon trading left the commodities mostly unchanged from the morning session.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall St. edges lower as bank shares fall NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street closed slightly lower on Thursday as bank shares declined in quiet holiday trading as traders looked to position for the new year.
	U.S. goods trade deficit widens; labor market near full strength WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A drop in U.S. exports last month pushed the country’s trade deficit in goods higher while the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week in a positive sign for the labor market.
	Trump tax reforms could depend on little-known ‘scoring’ panel WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President-elect Donald Trump’s goal of overhauling the U.S. tax code in 2017 will depend partly on the work of an obscure congressional committee tasked with estimating how much future economic growth will result from tax cuts.
	Amazon looks to the sky to store products (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has filed for a patent to use airships to store products and serve as a base for delivery-drones.
	Exclusive: J&J discussing breaking up Actelion in an acquisition – sources (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson is negotiating a deal to acquire Swiss biotechnology company Actelion Ltd that would separate its commercialized portfolio from its research and development assets, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
	U.S. crude oil stocks rise, while products draw down: EIA (Reuters) – U.S. crude oil stocks unexpectedly rose last week, while gasoline and distillate product inventories dropped, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Thursday.
	Honda to recall about 650,000 Odyssey minivans in U.S. DETROIT (Reuters) – Honda Motor Co said on Thursday it will recall nearly 650,000 Odyssey minivans in the United States covering 2011 to 2016 model years because second-row seats may not lock in the event of a crash.
	Peabody extends debt deadline amid creditor support WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Peabody Energy Corp said on Thursday it extended a deadline for creditors to join financing deals aimed at bringing the largest U.S. coal miner out of bankruptcy amid growing creditor support for its plan of reorganization.
	U.S. refiners face severe labor shortage for deferred maintenance (Reuters) – After years of running flat out, U.S. Gulf Coast refiners are lining up repairs to plants in 2017 – but facing a severe labor shortage that could delay work, drive up costs and raise accident risks.
	Bonds & Bullion Bounce But Banks Bruised As Dollar Dumps Interesting day… Bonds & Bullion now outpacing stocks post-Fed… (and bank stocks are down 1.6% post-fed) Once again the opening ramp but it was lackluster as hopes for Dow 20,000 are dashed for now as pension rebalancing (and front-running tax-selling) accelerates…WTF was that idiotic panic buying atthe close in Small Caps!?? On the week, Trannies are worst… VIX briefly tagged 13.5 today with The Dow now 200 points from Dow 20k… Utilities are now the only sector green post-Xmas with financials underperforming… Financials biggest 2-day drop in 3 months
	Michael Moore Urges Civil Disobedience At Trump’s Inauguration, Warns “It’s Going To Be A Lot Worse” Filmmaker Michael Moore is calling for mass demonstrations and disruptions to the Jan. 20 inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com The outspoken liberal filmmaker suggested on Facebook his “5 Things You Can Do Right Now About Donald J. Trump,” outlining a plan for sustained resistance to Trump’s agenda. It’s been seven weeks since Hillary beat Trump by nearly 3 million votes but lost the presidency to him. So if your head is still spinning from that mindf**, or you can’t quite believe a malignant narcissist will now sit in the Oval Office, or if you are simply still working your way through the 17 stages of grief, then I am here to say to you, “There’s no crying in TrumpLand — Let’s get to work!” All hands on deck! Brush your yourself off and let’s get busy because: a) All hope is not lost; b) There are more of us than there are of them; and c) The roadside is littered with the ended careers of self-absorbed, narcissistic politicians whose arrogance led them to do things that caused their early resignation or impeachment. Don’t think that can’t happen here. I do not say these things because I am filled with optimism. In fact, I think the first thing we all have to do in order to move on is to admit out loud what we already think privately: As bad as we know it’s going to be, it’s actually going to be worse. A lot worse. Now cheer up and read on… THE FIVE THINGS EACH OF US MUST DO …*
	Inside Another Record-Setting Streak For The S&P 500 Via Dana Lyons’ Tumblr, The S&P 500 has now tied a record with 9 consecutive days trading within the range set 10 days ago; what are the ramifications of the streak and its resolution? Last Monday, we noted that for the first time in the history of the S&P 500, the index put together 3 consecutive Inside Days. That is, for 3 straight days, the high-low range was inside the range of the preceding day. We have no record of that ever occurring since the inception of the index in 1950. As noted in that post, “the idea behind the supposed usefulness of such events is that it signifies a contraction in prices and indecision among investors. Trading textbooks would say that whichever way prices eventually break out of such a contraction (i.e., up or down), it is likely to determine the direction of the subsequent trend.” While no signal works 100% of the time, a study into price behavior following historical Double Inside Days in the S&P 500 did provide evidence for the theory that the direction of the initial breakout is a good indicator of the direction of the subsequent trend. Well, since the S&P 500 initially broke the Triple Inside Days by putting in a higher high on December 20, the suggestion was that more upside was to follow. That hasn’t panned out – yet. The index closed today roughly 1% below its “breakout” close. So, it has work to do if it is going to perform according to the textbooks. While that unprecedented inside streak came to an end, there is another inside streak that also reached an all-time record today. As mentioned, December 20′s high was higher than December 19′s h …
	Obama Mocked By Russian Embassy: “Everyone Will Be Glad To See The Last Of This Hapless Administration” The following tweet, just sent out by the traditionally outspoken Russian Embassy in the UK, hardly needs commentary. President Obama expels 35 ???????? diplomats in Cold War deja vu. As everybody, incl ???????? people, will be glad to see the last of this hapless Adm. pic.twitter.com/mleqA16H8D — Russian Embassy, UK (@RussianEmbassy) December 29, 2016
	The Best and Worst U.S. Calls of 2016 From central banks to accounting scandals, from mergers to shadow financing, Heard on the Street columnists aim to provide useful advice for readers. Here’s where we got it right—and wrong.
	The Best and Worst Europe Calls of 2016 From central banks to accounting scandals, from mergers to shadow financing, Heard on the Street columnists aim to provide useful advice for readers. Here’s where we got it right—and wrong.
	The Best and Worst Asia Calls of 2016 From central banks to accounting scandals, from mergers to shadow financing, Heard on the Street columnists aim to provide useful advice for readers. Here’s where we got it right—and wrong.
	Children Born To Parents In The Bottom Fifth Of The Income Distribution Have A 7.5 Percent Chance Of Reaching The Top Fifth from the St Louis Fed — this post authored by Raj Chetty The American dream is a complicated concept, but I’d like to distill it down to a simple statistic that we are able to measure with data: the probability that a child born to parents in the bottom fifth of the income distribution makes the leap all the way to the top fifth of the income distribution.
	Capitol Report: The SEC’s fraud-busting investing tips for 2017 The Securities and Exchange Commission wants to help investing rookies—and veterans—make better decisions and avoid scams as a new year rolls in.
	These common mistakes could double or even triple the cost of your divorce Matrimonial attorneys say 30% more couples file divorce papers after the holidays.
	Market Snapshot: U.S. stocks close fractionally lower U.S. stocks closed fractionally lower on Thursday as investors remained reluctant to make big bets in a thinly-traded session ahead of long holiday weekend