10Mar2017 Market Update: Wall Street Slides Backwards To Flat Status, US Oil Rig Count Rises By 8 For 8th Straight Weekly Increase, Fed Certain To Raise Rates Next Week, Crude Prices And US Dollar Slide Aggressively

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.05%, while the IPC is leading the Bovespa lower. They are down 0.20% and 0.03% respectively.

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Strong U.S. job growth, rising wages set stage for Fed rate hike

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. employers hired workers at a robust pace in February, beating expectations, and wages grinded higher, which could give the Federal Reserve the green light to raise interest rates next week despite slowing economic growth.

Volkswagen pleads guilty in U.S. court in diesel emissions scandal

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty on Friday to three felony counts as part of a $4.3 billion settlement reached with the Justice Department in January over the automaker’s massive diesel emissions scandal.

Wall Street trims gains as jobs data paves Fed path to hike rates

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were off session highs on Friday after a solid jobs report virtually sealed the deal for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates next week, and potentially set the course for an aggressive tightening path this year.

Japan bats away U.S. complaint on autos

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan rejected U.S. demands for more access to Japan’s car market on Friday, casting doubt over whether it can avoid friction over autos and agriculture imports at high level bilateral talks on economic relations next month.

Exclusive: Japan to vet bidders in Toshiba chip sale for national security risks – sources

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese government, fretting over the future of Toshiba Corp’s flagship memory chips unit, is prepared to block a sale to bidders it deems a risk to national security, sources said, a stance that gives U.S. suitors a major advantage.

EU capitalizing on free-trade interest amid gloom over Trump policies

MANILA (Reuters) – The European Union is seeing increased impetus around the world to move forward with Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with the bloc, which will make the most of uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. trade policy, the EU’s trade envoy said on Friday.

Southwest Airlines cuts outlook for key revenue measure

(Reuters) – Southwest Airlines Co cut its forecast for a key revenue measure on Friday, citing “unexpected softness” in demand for last-minute flight bookings in the second half of February.

Tesla’s Musk offers to fix South Australia’s power crisis in 100 days

MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Tesla Inc boss Elon Musk on Friday offered to save Australia’s most renewable-energy dependent state from blackouts by installing $25 million worth of battery storage within 100 days, and offering it for free if he missed the target.

Ford names tech executive Lynn Vojvodich to board

(Reuters) – U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co said on Friday it had elected former Salesforce.com Inc executive Lynn Vojvodich to its board of directors.

Dollar Tumbles To Session Lows On Mnuchin Devaluation, Trade Deficit Warning

First, the dollar dropped following comments from commerce secretary Wilbur Ross, who said that he expected to start renegotiating NAFTA within two weeks and that Japan will be high on the list for trade agreements.

Now, in a second salvo against the strong dollar on the same day, Bloomberg reports that during his first appearance at next week’s G-20 meeting in Baden-Baden, Germany, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin plans to drive home the message that the U.S. won’t tolerate countries that engage in currency devaluation to gain an edge in trade, a statement which would clearly refute Mnuchin’s recent praise for a stronger dollar, and provides further evidence that the Trump administration’s preliminary focus will be on getting the dollar weaker, not stronger, which may in turn impact the Fed’s decision-making, especially if indeed Yellen hopes to hike rates three (or more) times in 2017.

The message, which will borrow from the G-20 consensus view hammered out with the previous U.S. administration, will be Mnuchin’s focus as he has few political staffers to develop detailed positions on key points such as global trade rules and their collision with President Donald Trump’s “America First” stance.

Mnuchin will also say that the American trade deficit is a sign other major economies aren’t doing their part to support global demand, making the world’s economic growth unbalanced. While this is a long-standing U.S. grievance, Bloomberg notes that counterparts are on the lookout for signs that this position is hardening in the context of a stronger dollar, especially toward Germany, which last year ran a trade surplus of more than 8 percent of its gross domestic product.

More from Bloomberg:

Specific language on countering trade barriers that may als …

Union Pacific Train Carrying Ethanol Derails In Iowa, Bursts Into Flames

27 fuel tank cars carrying ethanol burst into flames on Friday morning after a freight train derailed in northwestern Iowa, authorities said. The flames from the train could be seen from at least eight miles away.

The derailment occurred around 1 a.m., near Graettinger, about 160 miles northwest of Des Moines, the Palo Alto County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

KTIV News 4 Sioux City IA: News, Weather and Sports

It said two crew members escaped unharmed. Nearby residents were asked to evacuate the area and no injuries have been reported. Raquel Espinoza, a spokeswoman for Union Pacific, confirmed that the train is operated by that railroad company, but she declined to say more, referring questions to the National Transportation Safety Board.

Palo Alto County emergency management director Mark Hunefeld said at least 27 of 101 cars derailed, including the burning tanks. Eight cars were still burning as of 7 a.m., the sheriff’s office said. Railroad personnel were able to unhitch 74 loaded tankers and move them from the site. Sasha Forsen, spokeswoman for Green Plains Inc. in Omaha, Nebraska, confirmed that the tanks had been filled with ethanol at the company’s plant in Superior, Iowa. She declined to say where the shipment was heading.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said agency investigators would be at the derailment site to determine the cause of the accident Friday afternoon.

Strong Jobs Market Is a Risk to Growth

The job market keeps steaming ahead, but the economy is still just poking along. The reason behind this disconnect is a risk if growth in the gross domestic product picks up.

How Microsoft Is Watching Its Bill

The software giant looks to efficiency as a way to moderate huge gains in capital expenditure.

How to Pick Winners in Hotel Merger Wave

Hotel groups may find themselves besieged, but they are bulking up to go toe-to-toe with online travel agents.

Market Extra: How Trump’s stock market ranks in his first 50 days in office

President Donald Trump is half way to marking his first 100 days in office, and as it turns out the so-called Trump rally is stacking up pretty well compared with past presidents during their midpoint to 100.

Capitol Report: Trump’s biggest job creator lives 93 million miles from Earth

The U.S. jobs market literally benefits from more sunshine than snowflurries, and February was one of those months