03Feb2017 Market Close: Wall Street Moves Higher As Trump Rally Stays Alive, For Now, In Light Of The Market’s Heightened Risk Profile

Trump issues orders to review banking law and retirement advice rule

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday ordered a review of banking regulations introduced after the 2008 financial crisis, including a review of a rule on retirement advice.

U.S. business leaders express concerns to Trump about travel ban

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Chief executives of major U.S. companies huddled with President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday and some of them expressed concern about a travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries traveling to the United States.

Wall Street gains as financials surge

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks climbed on Friday, with the S&P 500 closing just short of a record high, boosted by gains in financial shares as President Donald Trump moved ahead with deregulation action and by a strong payrolls report.

Wall Street stands with two Fed-hike outlook for 2017: Reuters poll

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street’s top banks expect just two rate hikes from the Federal Reserve this year and see only modest risk to the U.S. central bank being pressed into a more aggressive pace of monetary policy tightening, a Reuters poll showed on Friday.

Lockheed, Pentagon announce $8.5 billion F-35 order

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Department of Defense and Lockheed Martin Corp announced on Friday an agreement worth about $8.5 billion for 90 F-35 jets, the lowest price to date for the Pentagon’s most expensive program.

U.S. job growth accelerates in January, but wages lag

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job growth surged more than expected in January as construction firms and retailers ramped up hiring, but wages barely rose, handing the Trump administration both a head start and a challenge as it seeks to boost the economy.

Canada’s Hudson’s Bay makes takeover approach for Macy’s: sources

(Reuters) – Hudson’s Bay Co has made a takeover approach for retail chain Macy’s Inc, according to people familiar with the matter, in a deal that would push the Canadian department store operator deeper into the U.S. market.

FCC closes ‘sponsored data’ inquiries

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said on Friday it was closing inquiries into sponsored data programs and TV services offered by AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc , Comcast Corp , T-Mobile USA Inc undertaken during the Obama administration without taking any action.

Exclusive: Boeing’s space taxis to use more than 600 3D-printed parts

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co has hired a small company to make about 600 3D-printed parts for its Starliner space taxis, meaning key components in the United States manned space program are being built with additive manufacturing.

Central Bankers ‘Inconvenient Truth’: Policies Boosted Wealth-Inequality, Failed To Generate “Growth”

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

Rather than be seen to be further enriching the rich, I think central banks will start closing the “free money for financiers” spigots.

Take a quick glance at these charts of the Federal Reserve balance sheet and bank credit in the U.S. Notice what happened to bank credit after the Fed “tapered” and stopped expanding its balance sheet?

Bank credit exploded higher:

Now look at corporate profits:

Once the Fed ended its $3.7 trillion “experiment” of vastly expanding its money-creation and bond-buying in early 2014, what happened to bank credit? Bank credit had expanded by a bit over $1 trillion in the early years of the Fed’s quantitative easing, but it really took off after QE3 ended, soaring roughly $2 trillion.

This was the policy goal all along: the Fed would do the heavy lifting to keep credit and the financial markets from imploding, and eventually private-sector credit would expand enough to fuel a self-sustaining recovery.

While measures of employment and production have lofted higher, productivity, profits and wages for the bottom 95% have all stagnated. Is it coincidental than corporate profits began weakening once the Fed’s QE3 ended? Perhaps.

How about the stagnation of household median income during the Fed’s expansion and the rise …

Nordstrom Folds To “Grab Your Wallet” Protesters: Dumps Ivanka Trump’s Clothing Line

Despite Macy’s, Saks, and Zappos still carrying Ivanka Trump’s fashion lines, it appears Nordstrom has folded to the liberal intelligentisia’s “Grab Your Wallet” protests, demanding a boycott of retailers carrying Trump merchandise, as the department store stated today that it will no longer sell Ivanka Trump’s eponymous clothing and accessories.

As ABC reports, a spokesperson for the retailer, which has nearly 350 stores under various banners across North America, said

“We’ve got thousands of brands — more than 2,000 offered on the site alone,”

“Reviewing their merit and making edits is part of the regular rhythm of our business. Each year we cut about 10 percent and refresh our assortment with about the same amount. In this case, based on the brand’s performance we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.”

The decision to no longer carry the line follows a grassroots campaign spearheaded by foes of Donald Trump called “Grab Your Wallet,” which called for a boycott of retailers that carried Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump merchandise.

Meanwhile, Over In Zimbabwe…

Submitted by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

On April 12, 2009, the government of Zimbabwe officially abandoned its currency.

You probably remember the stories; starting in the early 2000s, the Zimbabwe central bank began printing massive quantities of money in order for the government to make ends meet.

This resulted in one of the worst episodes of hyperinflation in modern history.

Zimbabwe’s rate of inflation in 2001 was more than 100%. Prices basically doubled.

But that was nothing.

By 2003, inflation was nearly 600%. By 2006, more than 1,200%. The following year, more than 66,000%.

At its peak in 2009, Zimbabwe’s inflation was estimated at 89.7 sextillion percent, which looks like this:

89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%

Eventually the government finally capitulated and chose to abandon its currency altogether.

And for the next several years, Zimbabwe had no official currency.

People transacted in dollars, euros, South African rand, Chinese renminbi… any foreign currency they could get their hands on.

But a few months ago the government of Zimbabwe decided to give it another try.

They created a new type of currency they’re calling a “bond note”, which is basically Zimbabwe dollar version 2.0.

It’s been barely two months since …

U.S. to World: Banking Deregulation Race Back On

Trump administration plans to roll back regulation may put American banks first, but poses a threat to the hard-won health of the world’s banking system.

Sale at Macy’s? Not Worth the Trip

Macy’s may have found a suitor at a time when its future alone looks bleak. But an all-out merger with Canada’s Hudson’s Bay would be difficult financially and won’t likely solve the department-store chains’ core problems.

Don’t Get Fooled on Wages

The January jobs report suggests the Federal Reserve may be able to wait longer before raising rates again. Investors should be careful about latching onto that idea, though.

Trump Today: Trump Today: President ‘very happy’ over jobs report as he meets with CEOs

President Donald Trump called the U.S. jobs report for January ‘big league’ on Friday, and heard ideas from executives on taxes, regulations and more.

Market Extra: Stock rally masks heightened risk in late leg of cycle

The post-election rally in U.S. equities has not done investors any favors as it is masking a sudden rise in the market’s heightened risk profile, according to analysts

Text of Trump’s order on financial regulation

The following is the text of the executive order signed by President Donald Trump, that is meant to be a first step toward limiting the power of the Dodd-Frank bank reform law.