25Apr2017 Market Close: Nasdaq Pushes Above 6,000; Dow Broke 21k Before Pulling Back; Dollar And Gold Slide While Oil Advances

Written by Gary

The Nasdaq Composite hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of corporate America. The Dow pushed above 21,000 for the first time since the first three days of the year when it registered it’s only three closes above that level. End of day it pulled back to close at 20,996.12.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Nasdaq breaches 6,000 as earnings power Wall Street higher NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Nasdaq Composite stock index hit a record high on Tuesday, while the Dow and S&P 500 brushed against recent peaks as strong earnings underscored the health of Corporate America.
	McDonald’s profit beats as turnaround gains steam, shares at record high (Reuters) – McDonald’s Corp reported a better-than-expected rise in quarterly profit and U.S. same-restaurant sales on lower costs, all-day breakfast, $1 drinks and promotions on its popular Big Macs, signaling the company’s plan to keep customers coming back to its restaurants has gained traction.
	Wells Fargo board gets black eye in shareholder vote PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla./BOSTON (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co shareholders showed displeasure with the scandal-hit bank’s board on Tuesday, offering scant support for a dozen directors, including Chairman Stephen Sanger, in a vote capping a contentious annual meeting.
	3M raises 2017 profit forecast; first-quarter results top estimates (Reuters) – 3M Co , which makes Scotch tape and Post-it notes, raised its 2017 profit forecast and reported better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by growth across its major businesses.
	Citi meeting protest prompts apology on pipeline finance steps NEW YORK (Reuters) – A brief, noisy protest by drum-beating young adults at Citigroup’s annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday evolved into an orderly exchange between an older tribal woman and the bank’s two top executives, who conceded it had approved investments in a North Dakota pipeline too quickly.
	U.S. Supreme Court may limit where companies can be sued WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared poised to clamp down on where corporations can be sued, a potential setback for plaintiffs’ lawyers who strive to bring cases in courts and locales they consider friendly.
	Not an inside job: How two analysts became SEC whistleblowers WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Four years ago, two analysts who liked to swap notes on numbers they thought looked odd took a fateful step and tipped off U.S. regulators about a company that one of them had watched for months.
	Toshiba to drop its auditor: Nikkei (Reuters) – Toshiba Corp has decided to drop its auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Aarata, which declined to approve the company’s full-year financial statement, the Nikkei financial daily reported.
	Coca-Cola to cut 1,200 jobs, boosts savings target (Reuters) – Coca-Cola Co said on Tuesday it would cut about 1,200 jobs as the beverage maker expands its savings target amid falling demand for fizzy drinks globally.
	Trade War Sparks Stock Surge Amid Biggest Short Squeeze Since Trump’s Election This… Stocks continue to soar…but once again it was the overnight gap open – Trannies were red on the day but Nasdaq record highs above 6,000; Dow over 21,000, Small Caps record high Nasdaq broke above 6,000 to new record highs.. because fundamentals… Despite further collapse (to 10-week lows) in ‘soft’ survey data… Amid the biggest short-squeeze since the election…
	Seven Years Of College Down The Drain Authored by Nicholas Colas via Convergex.com, Last week’s Beige Book highlighted labor shortages for both skilled and unskilled workers, but perhaps employers are asking too much from certain applicants. That’s the upshot from a report conducted by the Rockefeller Foundation and Edelman Intelligence, which surveyed C-suite executives, human resource officers, and individuals aged 18 to 26 about the entry-level job market. While the majority of employers (69%) screen entry-level job candidates for a bachelor’s degree, almost half (49%) of college graduates didn’t believe they had to attend college to acquire the skills needed for their job. In fact, most college graduates (86%) said they are learning skills outside of their college degree. Now this isn’t to undercut the credibility or value of a college degree, but only a little over one-third of millennials actually have one. Therefore, employers need to update their screening techniques to focus on an applicants’ fit within the company culture rather than depending heavily on a bachelor’s degree to help hire and retain millennials. Note from Nick: How many of your coworkers have a college degree? If the answer is “Most” or “all”, you might assume that most American adults have one. At that would be… Wrong. Today Jessica reviews the actual role of the 4-year degree …
	About Caterpillar’s “Tremendous Earnings Growth”, There Is Just One Thing… With CAT and MCD accounting for over 100 of the 250+ Dow points today, one would think that, as CNBC has repeatedly stated today, these two companies are posting “tremendous earnings growth.” And, in a way they are… a non-GAAP way. Because while CAT reported adjusted EPS of $1.28, up exactly 100% from a year ago – almost as if it was goalseeked – something far less appetizing emerges when looking at CAT’s actual, GAAP EPS, which happen to be exactly one quarter of the non-GAAP number, or $0.32, a 30% drop from a year ago. And another quick look at these “one-time restructuring costs”, which not only plague every single CAT earnings release, but were enough to eliminate more than 100% of the company’s stated organic growth in the past year. Finally, for those who – like CAT management – claim that the company’s adjustments are non-recurring and one-time, here is the chart that will show that when it comes to “one-time charges” for CAT recurring earnings are more rare than actual addbacks, highlighting just one fact: LTM Non-GAAP EPS: $4.05 LTM GAAP EPS: $(0.27) In other words, CAT’s entire per share “profit” in the last 12 months was due to adding back some $4.32 in very much recurring restructuring charges.
	Snipers Protect Workers In New Orleans As They Remove Confederate Statue Via TheAntiMedia.org, Sometimes the headline says it all. On Monday, the Washington Post ran an article titled “New Orleans removes a tribute to ‘the lost cause of the Confederacy’ — with snipers standing by.” The piece opens: “On the same day that some southern states were honoring their rebel heritage, masked workers in New Orleans dismantled a monument to that past – chunk by chunk, under darkness and the protection of police snipers.” The monument, an obelisk that honors the Battle of Liberty Place – fought years after the Civil War by members of the Crescent City White League – is the first of four statues linked to the Confederacy scheduled to be torn down. Saying the Liberty Place monument honored “white supremacists” and that his government was on the “right side of history,” Mayor Mitch Landrieu
	Corporate Feud Exposes Big Profits on Drug Sales A dispute between the largest pharmacy benefit manager and a health insurance giant has shown how profitable some relationships have become—giving more ammunition to critics of the health-care system.
	Get Ready for Another Grim Quarter for Twitter The social-media site is expected to suffer declines in revenue, user engagement and advertising.
	Nasdaq 6000: Betting on Big Tech Getting Bigger Nasdaq’s record run doesn’t feed the appetite for richly valued tech startups.
	April 2017 Chemical Activity Barometer Suggests Continued Growth Through 2017 from the American Chemistry Council The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) marked the second quarter by posting a robust 5.6 percent year-over-year gain, suggesting continued growth through year-end 2017.
	Final April 2017 Michigan Consumer Sentiment Slips but Remains Strong by Jill Mislinski, Advisor Perspectives/dshort.com The latest Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index was released this morning based on data collected through April 13. The headline number of 120.3 was a decrease from the final reading of 124.9 for March, a downward revision from 125.6. Today’s number was below the Investing.com consensus of 122.5.
	Market Extra: Nasdaq 6,000 has been a 17-year journey in the making for stock-market investors The Nasdaq Composite Index on Tuesday hits a major milestone: surpassing Nasdaq 6,000, amid a broad-market rally.
	Ivanka Trump was booed for saying her father is a champion of women’s issues — was that justified or just plain rude? At a conference in Berlin, the First Daughter received an icy reception.
	Everyone loves these stocks — that’s why you should avoid them The most widely held shares carry risks of their own, writes Michael Brush.