11Apr2017 Market Update: Wall Street Extended Losses For The Worst Day In Three Weeks, Geopolitical Tensions Are Driving Investors To Safe-haven Assets

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are lower today with shares in U.S. off the most. The S&P 500 is down 0.61% while Brazil’s Bovespa is off 0.37% and Mexico’s IPC is lower by 0.09%.

29%

U.S. job openings rise to seven-month high in February

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job openings rose to a seven-month high in February while the pace of hiring slipped, pointing to a growing skills mismatch and a further tightening of labor market conditions.

Wall Street extends losses as geopolitical risks mount

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks extended losses on Tuesday, setting up for their worst day in three weeks in a broad decline as mounting geopolitical tensions drove investors to safe-haven assets.

Apple may ditch Dialog, analyst says, hitting chipmaker’s shares

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Dialog Semiconductor risks losing a crucial supply deal with Apple Inc , according to a financial analyst who cut his rating on the stock on Tuesday, sending the Anglo-German chipmaker’s shares down by as much as one-third.

United shares fall after backlash over dragged passenger

(Reuters) – United Continental Holdings Inc shares fell nearly 4 percent on Tuesday after a worldwide backlash erupted against the carrier over a passenger who was dragged off one of its U.S. flights.

Exclusive: OPEC figures show oil output cuts exceed pledge in March – sources

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – OPEC states cut oil output in March by more than they pledged under supply curbs, according to figures the exporter group uses to monitor its supply, extending a record of higher-than-expected adherence to its first production cut in eight years.

Telecoms, cable group Altice starts IPO process for U.S. arm

NEW YORK/PARIS (Reuters) – Altice USA, the cable operator that Netherlands-based Altice NV put together by acquiring Cablevision and Suddenlink Communications, on Tuesday filed for an initial public offering that seeks to raise $1 billon to $2 billion, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Trump promises again to revamp Wall Street reform rules

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump told a group of chief executives on Tuesday that his administration was reducing regulations and revamping the Wall Street reform law known as Dodd-Frank, which might be eliminated and replaced with “something else.”

Toshiba files results unapproved by auditor; warns of ‘going concern’ risk

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toshiba Corp filed twice-delayed business results on Tuesday without an endorsement from its auditor and warned its very survival was in doubt, deepening a prolonged crisis at the Japanese conglomerate.

Bombardier board approves proposal to cut chairman’s pay

(Reuters) – Bombardier Inc said its board of directors approved a proposal to slash Executive Chairman Pierre Beaudoin’s pay by $1.4 million, bringing his 2016 compensation to $3.8 million, equal to his remuneration for 2015.

Art Cashin And “The Myth Of The Good Friday Market Crash”

For those looking toward the end of the week, today is “pro-forma” Wednesday, because this is a four day week as U.S. equity markets are closed for Good Friday. And, as Art Cashin writes in his overnight note, as “every year, the Good Friday close produces lots of erroneous theories about why we close. So, once again, we offer the explanation we wrote a few years back”

The Myth Of The Crash That Caused The Stock Market To Close On Good Friday – In the over five decades that I’ve been in Wall Street, each Easter season sees the re-blooming of an old – and erroneous – myth.

That myth contends that the NYSE opened on a Good Friday and the terrible Black Friday crash occurred. Thus, chastened and shaken, the Governors vowed never to open on a Good Friday again. It never happened.

Thanks to the nice folks in the NYSE archives we were able to establish a few facts. Records clearly show the NYSE closed on Good Friday as far back as 1864. Before 1864 records on the subject are a bit harder to find but there is high likelihood that the Exchange closed on Good Friday all the way back to 1793. (It was founded on May 17th, 1792 so Good Friday would have already passed that year.)

There was a famous and terrible Black Friday crash in Wall Street but it was primarily in the gold market. It came about when the “corner” on gold that Jay Gould and Jim Fisk had constructed (with some help from President Grant’s brother-in-law), collapsed. That occurred on September 24th, 1869, a little late in the year for Good Friday. You will also note from the search of the records that the NYSE was closing on Good Friday at least five years earlier and probably, much, much longer.

Lastly, for some unexplained reason, the NYSE stayed open on three Good Fridays. On April 8, …

Joe Scarborough Giddy Over Souring Russian-US Relations, Says Russia is Helpless to Protect Syria

I want you to watch the clip below to see what we’re dealing with in the media. This is a former Congressman, well connected amongst the elite in our country, who is rumored to be texting buddies with Jared Kushner, giddy over the specter of souring Russian-US relations.

“A week ago, you have little Devin Nunes going back and forth, going, ‘What do I say, what do I say about Russia, what do I say about Russia?’ and Sean Spicer getting killed,” he added.

“Now, the Russians snub Tillerson — I mean, if I’m Donald Trump, I’m thinking these are good days.”

This is all a joke for neocon Joe — him and his stupid haircut — especially since it’s not his fat face having to fight the wars to come. After bathing in his wanton stupidity for celebrating poor relations with the only other global nuclear superpower, Joe then reveled in the idea that Putin was humiliated by the Syrian ordeal. If I’m Putin and I read this, I order someone to kick Scarborough down a flight of stairs, shrouded by sarin gas, tomorrow.

“Russian foreign policy since Christmas 1991 has been all about resentment, resentment of losing the cold war. So you go into Crimea, you go into Georgia, you go into these places that you’re not going to face a show of force. Imagine how humiliating it is for Vladimir Putin that (laughter) his troops are in Syira and have the United States say we don’t care if you’re in Syria or not, you can’t do anything about it. In fact, we’re going to tell you, we’re going to strike your client state and you’re going to do nothing about it. If you want to get your people out of …

Gold Spikes To $1275, Above Key Technical Level – Highest Since Election

With Trump threatening North Korea, Putin on the tape over Syria, China threatening ‘red lines’, and French poll data sparking panic across the pond, it seems safe-haven buying is suddenly de rigeur as Gold tops $1275 for the first time since the election, breaking above its 200-day moving average…

With Gold now up 10% YTD…

It seems bullion (and bonds) beat banks again.

As Markets Fret Over France, Less Obvious Risks Lurk

Investors are rightly worried about unexpected results from French elections. But the bigger worry is the factor underpinning global growth: China.

WhyBanks Could Regain Momentum

Expectations have been lowered for major banks’ first-quarter earnings, but 2017 should still be good year for the sector.

If Everyone Is So Confident, Why Aren’t They Borrowing?

Economists are struggling to explain a sudden slowdown in bank lending.

February 2017 JOLTS Job Openings Rate Continues to Show Little Year-over-Year Growth

Written by Steven Hansen

The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) can be used as a predictor of future jobs growth, and the predictive elements show that the year-over-year growth rate of unadjusted private non-farm job openings again were again insignificantly changed from last month.

Market Extra: Wall Street’s ‘fear gauge’ touches highest level since just after Trump election win

A popular measure of Wall Street fear touched its highest level since just after President Donald Trump’s surprise November election five months ago.

London Markets: Gold miners, Burberry help lift FTSE 100, as inflation stays aloft

U.K. stocks swing higher, closing at an almost two-week high as gold miners gain on worries over Syria and North Korea, while investors assess downbeat retail sales data and an update on British inflation.

Market Extra: United gets skewered on social media as overbooking backlash mounts

United Continental Holdings is still drawing a blistering social-media backlash about 48 hours after it had a passenger forcibly dragged off a flight on Sunday.