09Feb2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Fractionally Higher, Apparently Moving The Markets Sideways Once Again, Going Nowhere, Crude Prices Trending Upwards

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 0.64% while Germany’s DAX is up 0.34% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.13%.

Stock futures rise with earnings in focus

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Thursday as investors assessed a raft of quarterly earnings reports.

Twitter reports slowest quarterly revenue growth, shares slump

(Reuters) – Investors hammered Twitter Inc on Thursday after the social network reported its slowest quarterly revenue growth since going public in 2013, struggling to attract advertisers amid intense competition from Snap Inc’s Snapchat and Facebook Inc .

Coca-Cola’s quarterly revenue beats on higher North America demand

(Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue, helped by higher sales of its sodas in North America, its biggest market.

U.S. court blocks Anthem-Cigna merger, dealing blow to consolidation

(Reuters) – A federal judge on Wednesday ruled against U.S. health insurer Anthem Inc’s proposed $54 billion merger with smaller rival Cigna Corp , derailing an unprecedented effort to consolidate the country’s health insurance industry.

Exclusive: Lockheed says U.S. may take ‘fresh look’ at its India F-16 plan

NEW DELHI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. defence firm Lockheed Martin wants to push ahead with plans to move production of its F-16 combat jets to India, but understands President Donald Trump’s administration may want to take a “fresh look” at the proposal.

Singapore Airlines places $14 billion wide-body Boeing order

SINGAPORE/PARIS (Reuters) – Singapore Airlines (SIA) announced a provisional order worth $13.8 billion at list prices to buy 39 Boeing wide-body planes on Thursday as it battles Gulf carriers, dealing a blow to Airbus in the key market for big twinjets.

Yum Brands same-store sales miss as fewer dine at Pizza Hut

(Reuters) – Yum Brands Inc , the owner of KFC and Taco Bell, reported a lower-than-expected rise in quarterly sales at established restaurants worldwide as fewer diners ate at its Pizza Hut chain.

Goldman hedge fund folding London operations, shifting staff to U.S.: sources

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs Investment Partners (GSIP), which opened in 2008 with one of the biggest launches in hedge fund history, is folding its London operations into the United States and shifting staff members to New York, four sources told Reuters.

VW turns on ex-chairman over emissions allegations

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen signalled it could take legal action against former chairman Ferdinand Piech after a media report said he had informed top directors about potential cheating of diesel emission tests six months before the scandal became public.

Grexit Fears Loom As Greek Yield Curve Crushed To Brexit Extremes

Slowly but surely the “whatever-it-takes”-protected markets are waking up to the latest round of Grexit fear as Troika disagreements are once again pitting ongoing greater depression economics against drachmatization for the desperate Greeks. The Greek yield curve has inverted dramatically,

with 2Y yields topping 10% as risk is worse since Brexit…

Bailout #4? Or unilateral haircuts for the ECB?

9/11 Mastermind’s Letter To Obama: Here’s Why We Attacked America

Submitted by Carey Wedler via TheAntiMedia.org,

When Barack Obama was still in office, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, one of the perpetrators of the 9/11 terror attacks, penned a letter to him. Though a judge recently ruled that letter could be sent to the White House before the outgoing president left office, the contents were to be withheld from the public until a month later – until after President Trump had assumed power.

This week, the Miami Herald obtained and published the contents of the 18-page letter, originally written in 2015 and titled “LETTER FROM THE CAPTIVE MUJAHID KHALID SHAIKH MOHAMMAD TO THE HEAD OF THE SNAKE, BARACK OBAMA, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, THE COUNTRY OF OPPRESSION AND TYRANNY.” It contains the Kuwait-born Pakistani terrorist’s insights into why 9/11 occurred, as well as surprisingly accurate assessments of American politics.

One of the main reasons for 9/11, according to Mohammed, is one terrorists have referenced before: American foreign policy. His explanation is rooted both in history and in current affairs.

“The American people were misled by the Johnson administration and the Pentagon into waging a war in Vietnam that cost 58,000 U.S. lives and millions of Vietnamese lives and ultimately led to a humiliating defeat,” he writes, correctly referencing Johnson’s

Trump Slams “Disheartening” Gorsuch Story, Accuses Sen. Blumenthal Of Lying

With the allegedly confirmed statement from Trump’s Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, who reportedly told Senator Richard Blumenthal that he found Trump’s judge commentary “disheartening”and “demoralizing”, dominating the overnight news cycle, in his first tweet of the day, President Trump contradicted a spokesman for his Supreme Court nominee, in a tweet blasting Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who told reporters last night that Judge Neil Gorsuch called Trump’s tweets attacking federal judges “demoralizing.”

“Sen.Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie),now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?” the president tweeted Thursday morning.

Sen.Richard Blumenthal, who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had (major lie),now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told him?

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2017

As reported overnight, Blumenthal said Wednesday that Gorsuch allegedly called Trump’s tweets attacking federal judges “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” In a later statement, Blumenthal urged Gorsuch to make his concerns public.

“Behind closed doors, Judge Gorsuch expressed disappointment with President Trump’s attacks on the judiciary, but a Supreme Court Justice must prove that he has the courage and independence to stand up to a President in public,” Blumenthal said. “I asked Judge Gorsuch to make that statement publicly, and he declined.”

Later, a spokesman for Gorsuch confirmed to CNN that the judge used the terms “disheartening” and “demoralizing” to describe Trump’s tweets during his m …

Luxury Companies, Cash Rich, Ready to Splurge

Whatever happens to demand for luxury goods this year, one thing is sure: Corporate cash will pile up.

This Number Points to Danger for Chinese Banks

Circular stresses in Chinese banks are showing up in a little noticed but important regulatory banking ratio.

Even Donald Trump Can’t Save Twitter

If Twitter can’t materially benefit from a phenomenon like Trump, it probably won’t from anything else either.

04 February 2017 Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Improves

The market expectations for weekly initial unemployment claims (from Bloomberg / Econoday) were 245 K to 250 K (consensus 250,000), and the Department of Labor reported 234,000 new claims. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 248,000 (reported last week as 248,000) to 244,250. The rolling averages generally have been equal to or under 300,000 since August 2014.

Capitol Report: Income share for the bottom 50% of Americans is ‘collapsing,’ new Piketty research finds

A new research paper from economists including Thomas Piketty finds that the bottom 50% share of income in the United States is “collapsing.”

In One Chart: U.S. enjoying its longest-lasting streak of jobs growth

The U.S. is currently in the longest consistent job growth streak ever reported.

Market Extra: Nordstrom recovers from Trump’s ‘Terrible!’ tweet in just 4 minutes

The reaction by Nordstrom’s stock to President Trump’s critical tweet could leave companies less worried about drawing the president’s ire.