17Feb2017 Market Close: US Markets Close In The Green Surprising The Bearish Analysts, Monday Markets Will Be Closed For Presidents Day Holiday

Written by Gary

Wall Street squeaked out new highs for the DOW and the NASDAQ climbed to its fourth record-high close of the week, but the SP 500 was only cents away (SPY +0.2%). The S&P 500 also rose as gains in Kraft Heinz helped offset selling in energy stocks.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	S&P 500 ends week on high note, helped by Kraft Heinz NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq climbed to its fourth record-high close of the week on Friday and the S&P 500 also rose as gains in Kraft Heinz helped offset selling in energy stocks.
	Kraft Heinz bids $143 billion for Unilever in global brand grab LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. food company Kraft Heinz Co made a surprise $143 billion offer for Unilever in a bid to build a global consumer goods giant, although it was flatly rejected on Friday by the maker of Lipton tea and Dove soap.
	Trump pledges to protect U.S. jobs during visit to Boeing plant NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (Reuters) – President Donald Trump promised to boost U.S. manufacturing and punish companies for moving jobs overseas during a visit on Friday to a South Carolina Boeing Co plant to celebrate the unveiling of its latest Dreamliner jet.
	Snap IPO expected to price March 1 after market closes (Reuters) – The initial public offering of Snap Inc, owner of the popular messaging app Snapchat, is expected to price March 1 after the market closes, Fidelity Investments told brokerage clients on Friday.
	Exclusive: SoftBank willing to cede control of Sprint to entice T-Mobile – sources NEW YORK (Reuters) – Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp is prepared to give up control of Sprint Corp to Deutsche Telekom AG’s T-Mobile US Inc to clinch a merger of the two U.S. wireless carriers, according to people familiar with the matter.
	Exclusive: GM plans to build, test thousands of self-driving Bolts in 2018 – sources DETROIT (Reuters) – General Motors Co plans to deploy thousands of self-driving electric cars in test fleets in partnership with ride-sharing affiliate Lyft Inc, beginning in 2018, two sources familiar with the automaker’s plans said this week.
	S&P downgrade warning sends Toshiba shares falling TOKYO (Reuters) – S&P Global Inc said in a report on Friday it could cut its rating of Toshiba Corp credit by several notches should the Japanese firm receive financial support that includes debt restructuring, sending Toshiba stock down 9 percent.
	Samsung chief Lee arrested as South Korean corruption probe deepens SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Group chief Jay Y. Lee was arrested on Friday over his alleged role in a corruption scandal rocking the highest levels of power in South Korea, dealing a fresh blow to the technology giant and standard-bearer for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.
	U.S. shale oil braces for the unfamiliar in 2017: inflation (Reuters) – U.S. shale producers are facing their first production cost increase in five years in 2017 as industry activity picks up and energy service providers hike fees to take a bigger share of the profits generated by higher oil prices.
	Dow, VIX, Gold All Up As Yet Another Ratio Screams “Record High” This market reminds us of this…”none shall fall” Gold remains 2017’s biggest gainer, oil is down, bonds flat and the panic bid this week dragged The Dow higher… After 6 straight intraday ramps in the S&P 500, the last two days – since Catalyst stopped its forced covering – have seen the character of the market shift notably… On the week, Nasdaq was the big winner, followed by The Dow (as GS, JPM offset UNH)…NOTE the panic buying into the close… Just look at the panic in VIX crushing to spike The Dow green… This is easy…
	EPA Foe Pruitt Confirmed To Lead Agency The Senate voted to confirm Scott Pruitt, an outspoken critic of Obama-era climate rules, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency – the very agency he has clashed with in the past – ushering in what are likely to be dramatic changes to the agency. In a 52-46 vote that passed largely along party lines, the Republican-controlled Senate on Friday cleared Pruitt’s nomination to be EPA chief over objections of Democrats who argued he would undermine the agency’s core mission of safeguarding the air and water. All Republicans except Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) voted for Pruitt, while all Democrats except Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) voted against him. The confirmation vote passed despite pleas from Democrats to delay the vote due to ongoing litigation regarding emails that a liberal group had requested from the office of Pruitt, who is currently Oklahoma’s attorney general until he is sworn in as the EPA administrator. Pruitt is expected to quickly begin work to fulfill President Donald Trump’s vow to eliminate a water pollution rule and the Clean Power Plan that forces states to slash greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation. Trump is poised to sign directives setting those changes in motion soon after Pruitt is confirmed. As Bloomberg reports, Pruitt built his political career fighting federal regulations he said stripped power away from states, often confronting the very agency he will now head. As Oklahoma’s attorney general, Pruitt led or joined more than a dozen lawsuits challenging EPA rules governing power plant pollution, carbon dioxide emissions and wetlands. < …
	Uber’s Former Chief Policy Adviser Fined $90,000 For Illegally Lobbying Chicago’s Rahm Emmanuel The idea of playing by the rules is a tough concept to grasp for some politicians, particularly those with ties to the ever-corrupt city of Chicago. So when David Plouffe, Obama’s former campaign manager and then Chief Policy Advisor for Uber, sent an email to Chicago’s Mayor Rahm Emmanuel seeking assistance in fighting rules that would block Uber from picking up passengers at Chicago’s airports, he probably thought his illegal lobbying efforts would go unnoticed. That said, Chicago’s ethics board had a slightly different opinion on the issue and has decided to slap Plouffe with a $90,000 fine and levied another $2,000 fine on Uber. Apparently Plouffe wasn’t registered with the city as a lobbyist for Uber, a requirement he was undoubtedly familiar with, when he sent the following email to Mayor Rahm Emmanuel: “Assume both of us thought the airport issue was settled and we would never have to discuss again, but unfortunately two significant new hurdles were introduced. Coming to you because of their severity that would prevent us from operating. We were all set to announce Monday we were beginning pickups.” According to Bloomberg, Uber didn’t contest the judgement but it did object to the size of the fine. The San Francisco-based company argued that it was a one-time violation, so Plouffe should have been fined $1,000. Instead, the ethics board foun …
	Kraft Heinz Needs a Deal, But Can It Really Afford Unilever? Even at the lowball price Kraft Heinz has offered, buying soap-to-soup giant Unilever would stretch its balance sheet to its limits. But the U.S. food group needs a deal.
	Allianz: Bumper Buyback Shows Insurer’s Strength People often complain their insurers don’t pay out what they should: Investors in Allianz can have no such gripes.
	Who Are Snap’s Real Friends? Snap is asking a lot of its investors in its coming IPO, and that may lead them to push back.
	Outside the Box: Populist leaders aren’t likely to make your income great again Nationalism and protectionism may reduce, not improve, living standards, writes Satyajit Das.
	Personal Finance Daily: The least healthy city in America and a tequila for billionaires Friday’s top personal finance stories
	Market Extra: How Trump’s stock-market ranks in his first 30 days in office Much has been made of the stock market’s recent record-setting performance since President Donald Trump won the ace for the White House back in November.