24Apr2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Sharply Higher, WTI Crude Falling Again, US Dollar In The High 98's, DOW Up Triple Digits

Written by Gary

US stock index futures rose sharply this morning (SPY +1.2%), tracking European and Asian stocks, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election. Crude prices recovered some lost ground (WTI 49.76).

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are sharply higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 4.61% while Germany’s DAX is up 3.11% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 1.95%.

Wall Street expected to open higher on French election relief; Dow set for triple-digit gains

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Futures rally as French worries ease; earnings in focus (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures rose sharply on Monday, tracking European and Asian stocks, as investors breathed a sigh of relief after Centrist candidate and market favorite Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French election.
	Tesla’s big Model 3 bet rides on risky assembly line strategy (Reuters) – Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk took many risks with the technology in his company’s cars on the way to surpassing Ford Motor Co’s market value. Now Musk is pushing boundaries in the factory that makes them.
	NASH: The next untapped pharma market gives investors many options (Reuters) – Large drugmakers with piles of cash are on the hunt for promising medicines being developed by small companies to treat NASH, a progressive fatty liver disease poised to become the leading cause of liver transplants by 2020.
	U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief expects basic NAFTA deal by mid-2018 MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – The United States, Mexico and Canada are likely to reach a basic accord over reworking the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) by the middle of next year, the head of the biggest U.S. business lobby group said on Sunday.
	China policymakers bullish on economy, cite strong first-quarter GDP, stable yuan SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Policymakers in China are pushing a bullish message on the world’s second-biggest economy after a solid first quarter, pointing to a slow down in capital outflows and a stable yuan after a selloff last year stoked fears of instability.
	China clamps down on excess steel as Japan decries Trump ‘protectionism’ MANILA/BEIJING (Reuters) – Twenty-nine Chinese steel firms have had their licenses revoked as Beijing kept up its campaign to tackle overcapacity in the sector and days after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would open a probe into cheap steel exports from China and elsewhere.
	Congress returns as Trump pressures Democrats ahead of funding deadline WASHINGTON (Reuters) – With a deadline looming this week to avert a U.S. government shutdown, Congress returns to work on Monday as President Donald Trump leans on Democrats to include funding for his promised border wall with Mexico in spending legislation.
	Oil recovers some ground, rise in U.S. drilling caps gains LONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices recovered some lost ground on Monday after big losses last week, driven by expectations that OPEC will extend output cuts till the end of 2017, although a rise in U.S. drilling capped gains.
	CEO to go after LafargeHolcim admits paying Syrian groups ZURICH (Reuters) – LafargeHolcim Chief Executive Eric Olsen will leave the company in July after the world’s largest cement maker admitted on Monday it had paid armed groups to keep a factory operating in war-ravaged Syria.
	Chinese Stocks, Bonds, Commodities Shun Global Euphoria Amid Government Leverage Crackdown Despite another liquidity injection and the rest of the world in ‘euphoric risk-on’ mode over the French election results, Chinese stock, bond, and commodity markets tumbled overnight… On Friday, we asked “Is China Trying To (Slowly) Burst Another Stock Market Bubble?” as Chinese monetary conditions were tightening dramatically… And, as Bloomberg reports, it seems the catalyst is further crackdowns on shadow-banking. China’s banking regulator, which said late Friday it will focus on guarding against financial risks, has ordered local units to assess cross-guaranteed loans, according to a Caixin report. Having gone 86 trading days without a loss of more than 1% on a closing basis, the longest stretch since the market’s infancy in 1992… Breaking below its 200-day moving-average. &n …
	An “Increasingly Worried” Chinese President Tells Trump To “Exercise Restraint” Over N.Korea France, and the European “populist wave”, may be fixed for now, but geopolitical concerns remain as was made clear last night when during a phone call late on Sunday between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, the North Korean neighbor called for all sides to “exercise restraint” as Japan conducted exercises with a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group headed for Korean waters. China, which has repeatedly called for the de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, is “increasingly worried” the situation could spin out of control, leading to war and a chaotic collapse of North Korea, something we cautioned over two months ago. Xi told Trump on the phone that China resolutely opposed any actions that ran counter to U.N. Security Council resolutions, the Chinese foreign ministry said quoted by Reuters. China “hopes that all relevant sides exercise restraint, and avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the peninsula”, the ministry said in a statement, paraphrasing Xi. The nuclear issue could only be resolved quickly with all relevant countries pulling in the same direction, and China was willing to work with all parties, including the United States, to ensure peace, Xi said. A potential risk catalyst is just hours away: North Korea prepares to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army on Tuesday. It has marked similar events in the past with nuclear tests or missile launches. That said, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the call between the two presidents was the latest manifestation of their close communication, which was good for both of their countries and the world. On Sunday, Trump also spoke by telephone with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, w …
	Executive Order From Trump Will Change The US Commodity Sector Last week, a request from the Uranium Producers of America (‘UPA’) grabbed the headlines, as the organization was asking the US Department of Energy (DOE) to suspend the sale of (physical) uranium on the spot market. The UPA correctly described the status of the US based Uranium producers as ‘fragile’, and it’s pretty clear the DOE has been a huge ‘help’ in destroying America’s domestic uranium market. UPA says ‘ the uranium market is oversupplied in the short term, and the DOE material continues to overwhelm the market with large quantities of price insensitive supply’, and this statement is absolutely correct. The DOE has been selling yellowcake no matter what price it was receiving for it, but by doing so, the collateral damage in the sector was (and is) huge. Whether the DOE receives $25 per pound of uranium or $35 won’t make or break the government’s budget, but would make a huge difference for the domestic producers. Just to give you an example, in the second half of 2016, the DOE has dumped 3.4 million pounds of uranium on the open market, whilst the total uncommitted utility demand for the same period was just 0.3 million pounds. Indeed, the DOE is dumping 11 times more uranium on the market than strictly necessary to fill a demand. The idea of selling ‘excess’ uranium has historically grown and was re-confirmed in 2015 by the Secretary of Energy under the Obama regime. According to En …
	Frontrunning: April 24 French election relief sends Europe soaring (Reuters) Gloves off as Le Pen and Macron pitch for final battle (Reuters) French Runoff Creates Fresh Political Divisions (WSJ) U.S. Government Shutdown May Hinge on Trump’s Demand for Mexico Wall (BBG) Congress returns as Trump pressures Democrats ahead of funding deadline (Reuters) The Rich Are Living Longer and Taking More From Taxpayers (BBG) Mattis Pays Surprise Visit to Kabul (WSJ) Bomb attack hits U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan (Reuters) The Electric Car Revolution Now Faces Its Biggest Test (BBG) States Seek to Blunt Insurers’ Costs in Bid to Shore Up Health Exchanges (WSJ) Top Iron Ore Forecaster Says Prices Will Sink Back Below $50 (BBG) Billionaire Doctor’s $11,000 Cancer Test Has Few Takers So …
	French Election Results Let Markets Breathe—For Now With political risk receding, Europe will look more attractive for investors than it has for some time. How much markets rally in response will be a measure not just of how scared investors were about France, but could reveal what deeper worries remain on the horizon.
	The Economy’s Confidence Game High levels of consumer and business confidence don’t jibe with a slow-growing U.S. economy. That can’t last.
	A Chinese Property Stock Surge That Is Set to Crumble The 40%-plus rise in China Evergrande stock over the past month has been built on a share buyback program it can’t afford.
	What Is The Informal Labor Market? from the St Louis Fed — this post authored by Paulina Restrepo-Echavarria, Economist, and Maria A. Arias, Senior Research Associate Although often associated with developing countries, illicit activities or undocumented workers, the informal labor market is much broader than many would imagine. In fact, people from all walks of life participate in a wide array of legitimate business ventures that are part of the informal economy. So, how big is the U.S.’s informal labor market, and who participates in it?
	Changes In Labor Force Participation from the Atlanta Fed — this post authored by John Robertson In the aftermath of the Great Recession, labor force attachment declined. However, that pattern has been reversing itself lately. In particular, the labor force participation rate (LFPR) of the prime-age (25 to 54 years old) population, the core segment of the workforce, has been moving higher since late 2015.
	BookWatch: 5 ways to protect yourself from outrageous hospital bills Everything done to you or for you in the hospital will be billed at exorbitant rates, warns Elisabeth Rosenthal.
	How do you achieve the American Dream if your family had generations of poverty? This woman grew up on food stamps and wants to give her child a better life.
	Jeff Reeves’s Strength in Numbers: Earnings reports will make or break these 5 popular stocks Apple, Facebook, McDonald’s are among stocks to watch closely in coming weeks, writes Jeff Reeves.