03Mar2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Flat Ahead Of Yellen's Speech, WTI Crude Steady In The High 52's And The US Dollar Falling

Written by Gary

Wall Street stock future indexes pointed to a flat open (SPY -0.1%) this morning ahead of Yellen’s speech. The bitcoin hit a new record high, passing the value of an ounce of gold.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are mixed. The CAC 40 is higher by 0.62%, while the DAX is leading the FTSE 100 lower. They are down 0.32% and 0.21% respectively.

Wall Street set for mixed open ahead of Yellen’s speech

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Futures dip ahead of Yellen’s speech (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures were down for the second straight day since January on Friday, ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s speech, which is expected to give further clarity on the possibility of an interest rate hike later this month.
	Murdoch’s Fox seeks EU okay for $14.4 billion Sky takeover bid BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox has asked EU antitrust regulators to approve its $14.4 billion takeover bid for European pay-TV company Sky, a filing on the European Commission showed on Friday.
	Samsung chief’s ‘trial of the century’ to start next week SEOUL (Reuters) – Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee will go on trial for bribery and embezzlement on Thursday, a court said, amid a corruption scandal that has rocked South Korea and led to the impeachment of the president.
	Investors see Snap’s IPO as ‘too big to fail’ NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Institutional investors anxious not to be left out of this year’s marquee initial public offering helped Snap Inc pull off the biggest U.S.-listed technology share sale this week since Chinese e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba Group Holding Inc smashed records in 2014.
	Caterpillar shares flat day after U.S. authorities raid offices (Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc’s shares were flat in premarket trading on Friday, suggesting investors had put aside the company’s tax risk as old news, a day after federal law enforcement officials searched three of its facilities.
	Fed and ECB go their separate ways FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Two of the world’s biggest central banks are likely to find themselves with a bigger policy gap by the end of the coming fortnight
	Snap’s shares pop after year’s biggest IPO NEW YORK (Reuters) – Snap Inc’s shares ended up 44 percent on their first day of trading as investors flocked to buy into the hottest technology stock offering in three years, overcoming doubts about the loss-making messaging app company’s slowing user growth.
	Infiniti hints at F1-inspired high-performance car BEIJING (Reuters) – Infiniti, Nissan Motor Co’s premium brand, will display a concept car at next week’s Geneva motor show that will hint at a new “Formula One-inspired” high-performance model based on its Q60 coupe.
	Nestle, Coca-Cola to end tea joint venture: Nestle ZURICH (Reuters) – Nestle and The Coca-Cola Company have agreed to dissolve their tea joint venture Beverage Partners Worldwide (BPW) as of the start of 2018, Nestle announced on Friday.
	Mexican Congressman Climbs US-Mexico Border Fence To Illustrate Its “Absurdity”, Confirms Need For Wall Yesterday it was the US new interior secretary arriving to work on a horse, today it is a Mexican congressman, who stole the spotlight in this morning’s bizarro news, after he went to great lengths, and well, heights, to illustrate why in his opinion that President Trump’s controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall is “unnecessary” and “totally absurd.” First reported by ABC, Braulio Guerra, a congressman from the state of Queretaro, tweeted photos and a video of himself perched atop a 30-foot tall fence that separates the Mexican border city of Tijuana from the U.S. “I was able to scale it, climb it, and sit myself right here,” Guerra said in the video. “It would be simple for me to jump into the United States, which shows that it is unnecessary and totally absurd to build a wall.” he adds, “It’s easy, and it shows how unnecessary this project, this political rhetoric from Donald Trump, is.” Sencillo subir al #Muro pero son muchos los peligros para nuestra gente. Derechos Humanos, principios y dignidad son innegociables #México???????? pic.twitter.com/9PExn3RlnV — Braulio Guerra (@BraulioPRI) March 2, 2017 “You can climb it with great ease, one climbs in an instant,” Guerra says in the video. …
	Peso Surges, Dollar Tumbles After Wilbur Ross Comments The Mexican Peso surged back below 20/$ this morning after new Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross comments on the potential for peso recovery in a “sensible” NAFTA deal. Along with comments on Germany and Euro weakness, Ross also sent the USD index markedly lower (after 5 straight days higher). Ross said… “The peso has fallen a lot mainly because of the fear of what will happen with Nafta. I believe that if we and the Mexicans make a very sensible trade agreement, the Mexican peso will recover quite a lot,” And the peso ripped… Ross also mentioned Germany’s trade advantages due to a weak Euro which extended Euro strength… and pushed the dollar index lower… Notably the border adjustment tax remains an open question; Ross notes that there is a need to do something to balance budget, reconciliation may be only way to get things through Congress.
	Silver On Sale – 4% Fall On Massive $2 Billion of Futures Selling Silver On Sale – 4% Fall On Massive $2 Billion of Futures Selling Silver fell a very sharp 85 cents from $18.40 per ounce to as low as $17.65 per ounce yesterday for a 4.25% price fall soon after the London bullion markets closed yesterday despite no market news or corresponding sharp moves in other markets. Silver had surged 15% in the first two months and had seen ten consecutive weeks of gradual gains. It had made convincing closes above the psychological $18 an ounce level and the 200 day moving average (DMA) at 18.155 and made 3-month highs only yesterday. Silver Prices (LBMA) 03 Mar: USD 17.66, GBP 14.44 & EUR 16.76 per ounce 02 Mar: USD 18.33, GBP 14.93 & EUR 17.42 per ounce 01 Mar …
	“I’m Sorry We Had To Experience This Today”: Caterpillar CEO Apologizes Over Shock Raid The market was caught offguard by yesterday’s dramatic raid of three Caterpillar offices, including its Peoria Headquarters, which reportedly included agents from the IRS, FDIC and Commerce Department, and sent the stock tumbling by the most in over half a year. The raid took place just one week after former CAT CEO Doug Oberhelman met with Donald Trump, which prompted the president to say that he “loves” Caterpillar. While the catalyst behind the raid still remains unclear, we reminded readers yesterday that this was not the first time CAT has gotten in trouble with the authorities: back in 2014 CAT and PWC got in trouble before Congress for evading taxes using offshore locations when this infamous line came up: “What the heck, we’ll all be retired when this audit comes up on audit.” And while we await more details, overnight the WSJ reported that Caterpillar’s new CEO apologized to the firm’s employees and pledged to continue cooperating with federal authorities following the raid. “We were surprised by today’s actions primarily because we have been so cooperative with the authorities in this investigation,” CEO Jim Umpleby said in an internal memo to employees, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. “We will co …
	Macau Casinos Face Impending Shuffling of Decks Casino operators in the world’s biggest gambling hub will have to renew their concessions in the next few years.
	Big Losers From Investment Banking’s Shrinking Pie The banks still reshaping their books and strategies are falling behind.
	Will the Switch Turn on Nvidia? The chip maker’s gaming business has surged, but could be too leveraged to Nintendo’s risky new console.
	Rail Week Ending 25 February 2017: February Month Movements Up 4.2% From One Year Ago Week 8 of 2017 shows same week total rail traffic (from same week one year ago) insignificantly improved according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR) traffic data.
	BookWatch: What Navy SEAL Team 6 can teach us about how to succeed at work SEALs go against most default approaches to leadership, training and execution to excel under stress and adversity.
	FA Center: Professional advice can bust an investor’s savings. Here’s how much It can cost investors more than most of the worst investment mistakes they can possibly make.
	Metals Stocks: Gold heads for first weekly drop in five ahead of Fed’s Yellen speech Gold futures fell Friday as the dollar firmed, with the yellow metal on track to shed about 2% this week, the first weekly decline out of the last five.