Written by Gary
US major indexes fractionally down (SPY -0.01%), low volume and headed South. Crude prices remain in the 48 handle and the US dollar has slipped fractionally off the session highs.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are mixed. The IPC is higher by 0.25%, while the Bovespa is leading the S&P 500 lower. They are down 0.33% and 0.03% respectively. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| After Snap IPO, U.S. regulator Stein questions voting rightsWASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) – One of two current members of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission raised questions on Thursday about Snap Inc and other companies that offer shareholders unequal voting rights, saying the agency should “focus on how some innovations may prove detrimental to investors.” |
| Oil prices slide more, U.S. crude below $50NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices slid nearly 3 percent on Thursday, extending the previous session’s dive that brought prices to the lowest levels this year, as record U.S. crude inventories fed doubts about whether OPEC-led supply cuts would reduce a global glut. |
| U.S. weekly jobless claims rise; layoffs fall in FebruaryWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits last week rebounded from a near 44-year low, but the labor market continues to tighten amid a sharp drop in job cuts in February. |
| Wall Street fights to hold on to gains as oil slips again(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were little changed on Thursday as gains in bank stocks were countered by the second day of losses in energy shares, a day before the crucial monthly jobs report that would bolster already sky-high odds of a rate hike next week. |
| Top investors to back Deutsche Bank despite uncertain futureFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Bank’s top three investors, who together own almost 20 percent of its stock, are likely to back its latest capital hike, people familiar with the matter said, although smaller shareholders are skeptical about its turnaround plan. |
| AIG CEO Hancock to resign, successor unclear(Reuters) – American International Group Inc said on Thursday Chief Executive Peter Hancock will step down, a decision he made after a string of poor financial performance frustrated shareholders and the insurer’s board of directors. |
| Bayer, Monsanto start $2.5 billion asset sale to get merger clearance: sourcesFRANKFURT (Reuters) – German drug and crop chemical maker Bayer and U.S. seeds company Monsanto are launching asset sales worth roughly $2.5 billion as they seek regulatory clearance for their $66 billion merger, people close to the matter said. |
| Bill Gross says investors should not be ‘allured’ by ‘Trump bull market’NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bond investor Bill Gross warned on Thursday that investors should not be tempted into buying high-flying equities and corporate bonds, given the possibility that U.S. President Donald Trump might fail to enact policies that fuel economic growth. |
| Mexico’s new antitrust rules batter shares in Slim’s America MovilMEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Shares in Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim’s telecoms company America Movil slumped on Thursday after regulators cranked up antitrust measures, forcing it to reorganize and separate some infrastructure into a new unit. |
| Mediocre 30Y Auction Tails Due To Lack Of Short SqueezeAfter yesterday’s blockbuster auction, today’s sale of $12 billion 30Y paper appeared precarious, because unlike the physical shortage of 10Y in the repo yesterday, there was no problem with finding ultra long-dated paper in the repo market today, something we warned about earlier today.
And two hours after we said that the auction may tail, it did just that, printing at 3.170%, the highest yield since September of 2014, and also a modest 0.1bp tail above the 3.169% When Issued, a far cry from yesterday’s 10Y auction stopping through by 2.0 bps. The internals were mediocre at best, with the Bid to Cover posting a modest increase to 2.337 from last month’s 2.239, while Indirects declined to 61.0%, the lowest since November, Directs – like yesterday – increased from 4.9% to 13.1%, leaving 25.8% to Dealers, the lowest such award since July thanks to the jump in Direct demand.
Overall, the weaker auction was not quite as bad as Tuesday’s 3Y issuance, but was far worse than yesterdays sterling 10Y. And with that another week of TSY issuance comes to a close. |
| Russia’s Largest Bank Confirms Hiring Podesta Group To Lobby For Ending SanctionsRussia’s largest bank, Sberbank, has confirmed that it hired the consultancy of Tony Podesta, the elder brother of John Podesta who chaired Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, for lobbying its interests in the United States and proactively seeking the removal of various Obama-era sanctions, the press service of the Russian institution told TASS on Thursday. “The New York office of Sberbank CIB indeed hired Podesta Group. Engagement of external consultants is part of standard business practices for us,” Sberbank said.
Previously, The Daily Caller reported that Tony Podesta was proactively lobbying for cancellation of a range of anti-Russian sanctions against the banking sector. In particular, he represented interests of Sberbank and was paid $170,000 for his efforts over a six-month period last year to seek to end one of the Obama administration’s economic sanctions against that country. Podesta, founder and chairman of the Podesta Group, is listed as a key lobbyist on behalf of Sberbank, according to Senate lobbying |
| The Last Time Bonds Were This ‘Cheap’ To Stocks, Yields CrashedWith practically every valuation measure indicating stocks are “fully” valued, “over” valued, or “in a freaking bubble,” the last respite of the desperate asset-gatherer has been “well, relative to bonds, stocks are still cheap.” That is no longer the case… The yield advantage of owning 10Y Treasuries over the S&P 500 is now over 60bps (10Y yield at 2.57% and S&P divi at 1.97%)…
The last time this set of circumstances occurred was in September 2014 – after the taper tantrum sell-off in bonds and was followed by a collapse in the 10Y yield from 2.60% (right where we are now) to 1.60% in the next 5 months (and began with the 10% collapse in stocks at the end of QE3 that Bullard managed to save).
Will Yellen catalyze the event next week? |
| How To Drain The Deep SwampVia Raul Ilargi Meijer of The Automatic Earth blog, Obviously, like hopefully many people, I’ve been following the WikiLeaks CIA revelations, and closely. It’s too early for too many conclusions, if only because WikiLeaks has announced much more will flow from that same pipeline. But one thing is already clear: the CIA is -still- a club that sees enemies behind every tree, and behind every TV set too. Which is not as obvious a world view as it may seem; it’s just something we’ve become used to. Moreover, as we see time and again, organizations like the CIA and NATO have no qualms about ‘creating’ enemies if they are in short supply. The flavor du jour has now been, for years, Russia, but don’t be surprised if another one is cultivated alongside it. ISIS, China, North Korea, plenty of options, and plenty of media more than willing to aid the cultivation process. It’s a well-oiled machine geared towards making something out of nothing, a machine very adept at making you believe anything it wants you to. In this way, our friends can become our enemies, and our enemies our friends. What gets lost in translation is that this way in reality we become our own worst enemies. While the upper and most secretive layers of society, filled with folk of questionable psychological constitution -sociopaths and psychopaths-, get to chase their dreams of wealth and power, those who try to live normal decent lives are, for that very purpose, increasingly subjected to poverty, misery and fear. As our economies decline further, this will only get worse. Who needs your -conscious- vote or voice if these can be easily manipulated? Or do you not think you’re being manipulated? How many of you, American or European, think Russia is an actual threat to you? … |
| The Wild Card of Health-Care ReformWall Street shouldn’t ignore President Donald Trump’s interest in lowering drug prices. |
| As ECB Tweaks Tone, Markets Should ListenThe ECB takes a baby step, but not a giant leap. Still, the tide is starting to turn on monetary policy. |
| Commodity Rally Stumbles Back Into RealityLast year’s rally had strong fundamental underpinning, but investors have been ignoring growing warning signs from Chinese demand and U.S. supply. |
| Paul Brandus: Trump finally builds a wall — though it’s not along the Mexican borderCongratulations to President Trump. He finally got his wall built — a wall of opposition to his healthcare plan, says Paul Brandus. |
| Marathon Oil is a bright spot in oil stocks after Permian Basin buyMarathon Oil buys a slice of West Texas’ oil promise, and Wall Street rewards it. |
| ETF Focus: Here comes MarketWatch’s March ETF MadnessWelcome to MarketWatch’s March ETF Madness, a no-holds-barred fight to the death that pits single-country exchange-traded fund against single-country exchange-traded fund in a weekly bout of price moves that promises to be as exhilarating as any athletic contest. |
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