10Mar2017 Market : Wall Street Sea-saws Modestly Back Into The Green, Crude Prices An The US Dollar Index Are The Big Losers

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

DETROIT/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG pleaded guilty on Friday to fraud, obstruction of justice and falsifying statements as part of a $4.3 billion settlement reached with the U.S. Justice Department in January over the automaker’s diesel emissions scandal.

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.

Wall Street ends up after jobs report; but down for week

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks rose on Friday after a solid jobs report pointed to strength in the domestic economy and supported expectations the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next week.

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.

Wanda’s $1 billion deal to buy Hollywood’s Dick Clark scrapped

(Reuters) – Eldridge Industries, the U.S. owner of Dick Clark Productions Inc, said on Friday that one of its affiliates terminated an agreement to sell off the TV production company to Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group.

Caterpillar says compliant with tax laws after IRS claim

(Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc said on Friday it was compliant with tax laws, a week after federal law enforcement officials raided three of the company’s buildings in connection with a probe into the heavy machinery manufacturer’s offshore tax practices.

Corzine emphasizes PwC role prior to MF Global collapse

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Former New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine on Friday resisted accepting blame for the October 2011 collapse of his brokerage MF Global Holdings Ltd, repeatedly stressing his reliance on judgments by the auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP [PWC.UL].

Mattel reworks China strategy amid elusive growth

(Reuters) – Mattel Inc is doubling down to corner a bigger share of China’s fragmented yet lucrative toy market, but the success of its efforts hinges on its ability to navigate strict regulation and adapt to local preferences.

U.S. extends leniency program for companies that disclose bribery

MIAMI (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department will extend a program that offers companies leniency if they voluntarily tell authorities when employees may have paid bribes, a senior official said on Friday.

“The Fed Is Holding A Hand Grenade In The USA Bunker”

Authored by Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

Can you see those swans coming in for a landing on Pond USA? They’re not exactly black swans, because you knew they were out there circling, but they’re dark enough against the twilight’s last gleaming to give you the heebie jeebies.

Troubles and portents of more trouble are stacking up as we approach the Ides of March zone of financial turmoil. You must surely surmise that a debt ceiling impact, a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, and the election of a Dutch anti-EU leader all scheduled for that one day are a good start on the greater unravel to follow. Glowering in the spotlight at center stage will be President Donald Trump, designated bag-holder of the Deep State and its myrmidons. And what’s in that bag he’s holding? Just a couple of shit sandwiches and a hair shirt for his journey down the lonely road to exile. But getting rid of Trump would only leave the Deep State with a bigger problem: itself. That is, an economy and a society that can’t be governed by any means.

I think many professional observers-of-the-scene are missing something in this unspooling story: the Deep State is actually becoming more impotent and ineffectual, not omnipotent. Case in point: RussiaGate — come on, let’s finally call it that — the popular idea that Russia hacked the 2016 presidential election. It’s popular because it’s such a convenient excuse for the failure of a corrupt, exhausted, and brain-dead Democratic establishment. But all the exertions of the Deep State to put over this story since last summer were negated this week by two events.

First, there was former NSA Director James Clapper’s appearance on NBC’s Sunday Meet the Press show with Chuck Todd featuring t …

Jeff Sessions Asks All Remaining Obama-Appointed U.S. Attorneys To Resign

In a move that will likely provoke further media, and pundit, fury despite it being a routine act that is concurrent with every change in administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions has asked all remaining Obama-appointed U.S. Attorneys for their resignation.

Sarah Isgur Flores, Director of Public Affairs at the Department of Justice, released the following statement:

“As was the case in prior transitions, many of the United States Attorneys nominated by the previous administration already have left the Department of Justice. The Attorney General has now asked the remaining 46 presidentially appointed U.S. Attorneys to tender their resignations in order to ensure a uniform transition. Until the new U.S. Attorneys are confirmed, the dedicated career prosecutors in our U.S. Attorney’s Offices will continue the great work of the Department in investigating, prosecuting, and deterring the most violent offenders.”

Today’s decision, long-overdue accoring to many, comes less than two months after then President-elect Trump said on January 18 he would allow U.S. attorneys appointed by President Barack Obama to remain in their roles for the time being. Before the announcement, officials in several U.S. attorneys’ offices told The Huffington Post they had received no guidance from the incoming administration on whether they were expected to resign when Trump became president.

“Currently serving U.S. Attorneys and U.S. Marshals were informed today that they are able to stay in place after January 20th while the process for identifying and confirming successors is further determined,” Wyn Hornbuckle, a DOJ spokesman, said in a statement. The Executive Office for Un …

American Men Are Giving Up On Jobs

Via MauldinEconomics.com,

I’ve written about this before, but there are 10 million American males between the age of 24 and 64 who have literally dropped out of the workforce. It means that they have given up on finding a job or are simply not looking.

But, focusing on just one subset among those who are 24-64, we see that white working-class males’ labor force participation rate has dropped to 59%.

The Economist has created something called a Forgotten Men Index, which shows the gap between white working-class men in particular and all men in general.

I bring this data up because white working-class men have become the focus of much current political discussion. The participation numbers are similar or worse for other racial categories except for Asians.

Among the 10 million men not in the workforce—men who are not even looking for a job—57% of the Caucasian population between 21 and 55 collect disability benefits, which means they can get Medicaid benefits and cheap narcotics.

Opioid addiction has become rampant in 50-something men.

This Isn’t New

For the first time in the last 250 years of history, we are watching the probable longevity rates within a demographic segment of the population fall. That specific demographic is working men in their 50s, and the main causes of ea …

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.

Personal Finance Daily: How to turn bad days into a tax break and why you may want to brew your coffee at home

Friday’s top personal finance stories

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.

Trump Today: Trump Today: President says Obamacare ‘meant to explode’ this year as he meets lawmakers

President Donald Trump met with the leaders of congressional committees that are dealing with repealing and replacing Obamacare, spoke by phone with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and held discussions with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.