14Feb2017 Market Close: Wall Street Sets New Historic Records As The Trump Steam Roller Plows Forward, Yellen Says It Is Unwise To Wait Too Long For A Rate Increase

Fed on course to raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting: Yellen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve will likely need to raise interest rates at an upcoming meeting, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said on Tuesday, although she flagged considerable uncertainty over economic policy under the Trump administration.

Apple and banks propel Wall Street to record high

(Reuters) – Major U.S. stock indexes hit record highs on Tuesday, led by bank stocks after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said it would be unwise to wait too long to raise interest rates.

Exclusive: Retail CEOs to meet Trump in bid to kill U.S. border tax

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump will meet on Wednesday with the chief executives of eight large retailers, including Target Corp , Best Buy Co Inc and J.C. Penney Company Inc , to discuss tax reform and infrastructure improvements, according to people with knowledge of the meeting.

Apple hits intraday record high for first time since 2015

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc shares hit an intraday record high on Tuesday for the first time in almost two years as investors raised bets that a 10th anniversary iPhone will boost lackluster sales.

Exclusive: Yellen brushes off warning, says Fed has authority on global talks

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in response to a warning from a U.S. congressman to halt global regulatory talks in the early stages of Donald Trump’s presidency, said in a letter the Fed has the authority and responsibility to consult with its foreign counterparts and does so to benefit the United States.

U.S. investors brace for mounting political risks as they decode Trump

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Barry James built up his $4 billion mutual fund largely by studying balance sheets, earnings and market share. In the last few weeks, however, he has realized that he must look at a new force in the market: U.S. President Donald Trump.

Aetna, Humana walk away from $34 billion deal after court ruling

(Reuters) – Health insurers Aetna Inc and Humana Inc walked away from their $34 billion merger deal on Tuesday, after a U.S. judge ruled in January the combination would stifle competition in the private Medicare Advantage program for retirees.

Deutsche Bank fails to dismiss U.S. currency rigging lawsuit

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has rejected Deutsche Bank AG’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit claiming it delayed foreign exchange trades to get a “last look” at how prices were moving, enabling the German bank to extract more profit at customers’ expense.

Health insurer Anthem says Cigna cannot terminate merger agreement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Health insurer Anthem Inc said on Tuesday that Cigna Corp could not unilaterally terminate an agreement between the two companies to merge.

America’s Outmoded “Factory Model” Educational System Needs To Be Radically Reinvented

Submitted by Charles Hugh-Smith via OfTwoMinds blog,

It’s obvious that we desperately need a new decentralized, individualized and far more productive system of education.

I have long held that America’s educational system is an outmoded “factory model” designed to produce interchangeable industrial and service workers en masse for an industrial economy of factories and a 1960s-era service sector that needed millions of employees with basic-skills: Is Our Education System Based on a Factory Metaphor? (November 15, 2005)

Our “factory model” funnels hundreds or thousands of students into set courses within large mechanistic plants, regardless of their individual attributes, strengths and weaknesses. Like an assembly line of manufactured items, some students are “rejects” who couldn’t make the “quality control” grade, and they’re thrown on the scrap pile.

what if a kid has no aptitude in math but is a near-wizard in metal-working? Do we scrap him because he didn’t meet some factory-defined narrow standards for “knowledge worker”?

What about all the jobs which aren’t in biotech and technology? What if we required basic understanding of making meals with real food rather than the processed contents of a box? What if we required kids to know how to fill out a Schedule C form (small business) for a tax return, or change the oil in their car, or install shelving, or fill out a loan application and understand credit, adjustable rate mortgages and deductibles in insurance policies? Aren’t these …

Munich Report Sees End of US Military Power, Rise of EU Army

Via The Daily Bell

Why Europe Is Warning of Pax Americana’s End … Last year, the global security establishment was mildly worried about a growing U.S. disengagement overseas. This year, the worry has given way to a realization that the “liberal world order” — another name for Pax Americana — may be finished, and that new security arrangements are needed. That’s the conclusion that can be drawn from this year’s edition of the Munich Security Report, an agenda-setting document put out annually by the organizers of the Munich Security Conference, the world’s most prestigious geopolitical gathering. – The Economist

The Munich Security Conference is meeting later this week. High on it list will be the lack of clarity be the US over its military vision.

The 2017 conference will grapple with this lack of vision, understanding that Donald Trump and members of his team are co …

The Entire World Is “Overbought”

After an initial delay, global stock markets have joined the Trump-flation euphoria in recent weeks. In fact, despite the dismal decline in global earnings, global stocks are now within inches of April 2015’s record highs, and are now the most overbought since July 2014.

Everything is awsome in the world again…

When global stocks reached this level previously, they plunged over 20% in the next 6 months.

When global stocks were this overbought in 2014, they plunged over 10% in 5 weeks.

Oh, just one more thing…

Trade accordingly.

Time to Log Out of Bank of the Internet

BofI Holding has fought a mostly successful battle with short sellers, but risks loom.

Credit Suisse’s Universally Bad Idea

Credit Suisse’s results show its plans to spin off Swiss Universal Bank is a wasted effort.

Toshiba’s Problems Go Beyond Nuclear Accounting Mess

The iconic Japanese conglomerate Toshiba failed to release quarterly results on time. Investors are right to be losing faith.

Trump Today: Trump Today: ‘Real story’ is illegal leaks, president says after Flynn resigns

President Donald Trump began his day by saying on Twitter that the ‘real story’ is illegal leaks, a day after his national security adviser resigned. He also spoke with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May and discussed the next steps for his travel ban with Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Market Extra: Trump’s stock-market rally is annihilating bears

It may be time for stock-market bears to give up the ghost.

Trump has been a major theme of U.S. companies’ quarterly conference calls

Fourth-quarter conference calls have fielded many questions about what the policies of President Trump and his administration mean for U.S. companies.