19Apr2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Fractionally Higher After A Gloomy Session Yesterday, Both The US Dollar And Crude Prices Steady, But Lower

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are mixed today. The CAC 40 is up 0.30% while the DAX gains 0.10%. The FTSE 100 is off 0.39%.

Futures rise as earnings take center stage

(Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday, giving investors a reprieve a day after Wall Street lost its footing following weak results from some corporate heavyweights.

Trump ‘absolutely not’ trying to talk down dollar: Mnuchin

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is “absolutely not” trying to talk down the strength of the dollar, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin was quoted as saying in the Financial Times on Wednesday.

Barkindo says OPEC, non-OPEC committed to restore market stability

ABU DHABI (Reuters) – OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said on Wednesday that all oil producers taking part in a supply-cut pact are committed to bringing global inventories down to the industry’s five year average and restoring stability to the market.

Morgan Stanley’s quarterly profit surges on trading gains

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley reported a 74 percent jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping analysts’ estimates, as revenue from bond trading nearly doubled following interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

Boom in index funds and ETFs lifts BlackRock profit

NEW YORK (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc , the world’s biggest asset manager, on Wednesday reported a 31 percent rise in quarterly profit as investors continued to plow money into its index-tracking funds.

Abbott sales, profit propped up by St. Jude acquisition

(Reuters) – Diversified healthcare company Abbott Laboratories reported higher-than-expected quarterly sales and profit on Wednesday, driven by its $25 billion acquisition of St. Jude Medical.

Imagination likely to see Apple royalties slashed, then end: UBS

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Apple Inc is likely to pay graphics chip designer Imagination Technologies just one third of its current royalty rate as the smartphone giant wind downs their supply deal over the next two years, UBS estimated on Wednesday.

Exclusive: China gathers state-led consortium for Aramco IPO – sources

HONG KONG/RIYADH/DUBAI (Reuters) – China is creating a consortium, including state-owned oil giants and banks and its sovereign wealth fund, that will act as a cornerstone investor in the initial public offering of Saudi Aramco, people with knowledge of the discussions told Reuters.

China says trademarks registered equally as Ivanka Trump gets more approved

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday the government equally handles applications to register trademarks, following a report that the company of the daughter of U.S. President Donald Trump has had new trademarks approved in China.

Silver Production Has “Huge Decline” In 2nd Largest Producer Peru

Silver Production Has “Huge Decline” In 2nd Largest Producer Peru

– Silver production sees “huge decline” in Peru
– Production -12% in one month in 2nd largest producer
– Silver decline is due to ‘exhaustion of reserves’ in Peru
– GFMS recognise that ‘Peak Silver’ was reached in 2015
– Global silver market had large net supply deficit in 2016
– Silver rallied 13.5% in Q1 in 2017
– Base metal production accounts for 56% of silver mining
– Base metal demand under threat from global economy
– Own financial insurance of silver coins and bars

44% Of Americans Won’t Pay Any Federal Income Tax

Authored by Catey Hill via Moneyish.com,

Yesterday, April 18th was the deadline for filing your taxes

Many Americans discovered they don’t owe the government a dime.

More than four in 10 American households (44.3%) — or upwards of 76 million — didn’t pay any income tax to the federal government last year, according to data for 2016 from the Tax Policy Center. This year that number is expected to be roughly the same, at 43.9%.

Most of these people aren’t paying income taxes because they either don’t have any income that is taxable (many fall below the poverty line), or because they get enough tax breaks and don’t owe the government money. Common tax breaks include the child tax credit, the earned income tax credit (EITC), and the exclusion of some or all Social Security income, explains Roberton Williams of the Tax Policy Center.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that this group is completely tax exempt: “Roughly 2/3 of those paying no federal income tax work and pay federal payroll taxes that support Social Security and Medicare; about 60% of the rest are elderly and thus retired and not working; and most of the rest have very low incomes,” says Williams.

Frontrunning: April 19

As Trump warned N. Korea, ‘armada’ headed to Australia (Reuters)

Threat of Carrier Heading to Koreas Wasn’t All It Seemed (WSJ)

Markets Start to Ponder the $13 Trillion Asset Gorilla in the Room (BBG)

Investors’ Nightmare Scenario Takes Shape in French Election (WSJ)

Venezuelan opposition to hold ‘mother of all marches’ against Maduro (Reuters)

U.S. says Iran complies with nuke deal but orders review on lifting sanctions (Reuters)

Ryan’s Best Hope to Avoid a Shutdown: Making Friends With Pelosi (BBG)

Pence says working with allies to put pressure on North Korea (Reuters)

Fox News Is Preparing to Cut Ties With Bill O’Reilly (WSJ)

China gathers state-led consortium for Aramco IPO (Reuters)

Le Pen Tries to Steer Far-Right Party Into Mainstream (

China Eases Capital Controls As Dollar Weakens

In discussing the key overnight news in an otherwise quiet session, JPM writes that “the most important headline was prob. the one concerning China loosening some currency outflow curbs” so focusing on that, Reuters, and SCMP before it, reports that after months of draconian and ever tightening capital control, China’s central bank has relaxed some of the curbs on cross-border capital outflows it put in place just months ago to shore up the yuan currency.

Specifically, as of last week, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is no longer demanding that banks match outflows with equal inflows, the sources said. The South China Morning Post first reported the relaxation of the capital controls earlier on Wednesday.

There was no immediate comment from the People’s Bank of China when contacted by Reuters. The State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) did not have an immediate response to Reuters’ questions on the SCMP report. While expectations of further yuan depreciation have eased in recent months, opening a window for authorities to relax recent measures, Beijing is not likely to let go totally, said Raymond Yeung, chief Greater China economist at ANZ in Hong Kong. In addition to checking exchange rate expectations, the authorities were also using capital controls to control where Chinese money flows, limiting investments in foreign sectors deemed undesirable, he noted.

“The current macro environment obviously favors an easing of the (rules on) fund flows, but that doesn’t mean that it is going to have solved the structural issue of the mismatch between the corporate desire to go out versus the central government’s centrally-driven approach when they talk about offshore investment,” Yeung said.

This first easing of capital flught measures comes as “China’s leaders and financial markets feel more confident that pressure on the yuan and the …

Goldman’s Mighty Traders Strike Out

A weak quarter could put pressure on Goldman Sachs to cut costs further.

‘Hire American’ Plans Could Hobble India’s Outsourcers

Plans to reform the U.S. visa system are bad news for the likes of Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services.

On the Right Track, CSX Is Now One Pricey Bet

Investors are optimistic about CSX’s new CEO Hunter Harrison, but he faces a high bar following the stock’s sharp rally.

As Republicans look to neuter CFPB, mortgage complaints for the most vulnerable hold steady

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken tens of thousands of consumer complaints about mortgages in its short history, a reminder that mortgage servicing problems endure – and Americans want some place to register complaints.

Rex Nutting: Donald Trump has just double-crossed the American working class

By coddling China in order to box in North Korea, Donald Trump has gone back on his promise to put American economic interests first, writes Rex Nutting.

Metals Stocks: Gold slides as dollar recovers, but geopolitics keep a floor under metals

Gold prices stumbled Wednesday as the dollar clawed its way up from the three-week low reached Tuesday.