28Apr2017 Market Close: Wall Street Closed Mostly Down On News The U.S. Economy Grew At Its Weakest Pace In Three Years, WTI Crude Settles In The Low 49 Handle

Wall Street slightly lower as weak GDP data weighs

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were slightly lower in early afternoon trading on Friday after data showed the economy grew at its weakest pace in three years in the first quarter.

In first 100 days, a reversal of fortune for Trump favorites on Wall Street

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A funny thing happened on Wall Street in Donald Trump’s first 100 days in the White House: Shares of companies that got closest to the president lagged the market’s march higher.

U.S. first quarter growth weakest in three years as consumer spending falters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. economy grew at its weakest pace in three years in the first quarter as consumer spending almost stalled, but a surge in business investment and wage growth suggested activity would regain momentum as the year progresses.

U.S. Congress passes short-term bill to avert government shutdown

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican-led Congress averted a U.S. government shutdown on Friday, giving lawmakers another week to work out federal spending through Sept. 30, with tricky issues like defense spending still unresolved.

U.S. gasoline demand falls for second straight month: EIA

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the second straight monthly decline, according to data released on Friday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration that suggested the market may have trouble repeating last year’s record volumes.

Weekahead: Hot earnings to keep fire under growth-stock rally

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Don’t look for the outperformance of growth stocks to fade any time soon, as long as corporate earnings continue to improve and hopes remain for stronger economic growth.

U.S. airlines overhaul overbooking after United fiasco

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The backlash against the rough removal of a United Airlines passenger to make room on a crowded flight has opened a divide in the U.S. industry over how to manage flight overbooking, with some renouncing the practice and others offering richer incentives to give up seats.

U.S. appeals court blocks Anthem bid to merge with rival Cigna

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Friday blocked health insurer Anthem Inc’s bid to merge with Cigna , upholding a lower court’s decision that the $54 billion deal should not be allowed because it would lead to higher prices for healthcare.

Apple, Tesla ask California to change its proposed policies on self-driving car testing

(Reuters) – Apple Inc has asked the state of California to make changes in its proposed policies on self-driving cars, the latest sign the technology giant is pursuing driverless car technology.

Are Fed Officials Throwing Main Street Under The Bus?

Via Birch Gold Group,

Earlier this month, Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker was forced to resign after admitting that he leaked confidential information to the financial press. And Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer just gave a closed-door meeting to high level industry insiders.

Are Fed officials brokering info under the table? If so, what does that mean for Americans?

Accidentally On Purpose

Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker is now at the center of a major legal probe after he disclosed confidential information about the regional bank’s asset acquisition plans to Medley Global Advisors in 2012 – supposedly, he wants us to believe, by “accident”.

In a report published by Medley, several confidential pieces of the regional bank’s plans were accurately predicted, with Lacker cited as a source.

Upon these revelations, Lacker claimed he must have confirmed the confidential information by accident during an interview with the firm.

MarketWatch reports:

“I deeply regret the role that I may have played in confirming…confidential information,” Lacker said in a statement.

Lacker said the Medley analyst “introduced into the conversation an important non-pu …

Don’t Show President Trump This Chart

It’s been (almost) 100 days and stocks are higher, hype is at its peak, hope remains higher-ish… there’s just one problem, real economic data is collapsing…

As today’s Q1 GDP proved, relying on ‘hope’ and ‘soft’ data to lift a ‘real’ economy is simply a false narrative…

How will that translate into Making America Great Again?

Space Mining: The Final Frontier For Oil Countries

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

The centuries-long human fascination with space may go beyond making sci-fi movies and into a brave new world of asteroid mining within just a couple of decades.

While scientists and engineers have been studying the costs and technology necessary to launch space mining probes and missions, an analyst reckons that private companies could begin launching satellites prospecting asteroids within five years, and actual mining for water and rare metals on asteroids could begin within eight years.

In this new quest for resources, the Middle East oil-exporting countries, which have long been considered the swing crude oil suppliers on Earth, could play a role in mining for water and platinum group metals on asteroids in space, according to Tom James, Senior Quality Assurance (QA) Partner at energy consultant Navitas Resources.

“Water is the new oil of space…Middle East investment in space is growing as it works to shift from an oil-based to a knowledge-based economy,” James told Bloomberg in an interview published earlier this week.

The Middle East “is an emerging new space power fuelling the future of commercial space and exploration”, James

Female Circumcision is Not the Only Genital Mutilation That Needs to be Stopped

Via The Daily Bell

Female circumcision, more accurately termed genital mutilation, is a barbaric assault carried out on young girls for religious and cultural reasons. Although generally considered an African and Islamic practice, the process of removing some or all of the clitoris is unfortunately carried out across the world, and not strictly confined to specific religions. An estimated half a million girls living in the United States have been subjected to the brutal practice, or are at risk of being victimized.

A high profile case is unfolding in Michigan where a female doctor has been accused of mutilating the genitals of two young girls, and this has sparked a call for awareness of the problem, and reform to prevent it from continuing.

Economy Needs Consumers to Shop Again

First-quarter slowdowns have become such a regular feature of the U.S. economy that investors will be tempted to brush off this last one. They shouldn’t.

What’s Keeping GM Going Strong Probably Won’t Last

Most multinationals performed better outside the U.S. in the first quarter. Not so the Detroit car makers, which barely made any money outside North America. Their home bias will eventually become a problem.

Put a Kitten in Your Tank: Big Oil Gets Less Bold

Exxon Mobil and Chevron quarterly results show a shifting emphasis that will affect big oil’s results in future commodity cycles.

Project Syndicate: Trade policies to help the Rust Belt overlook this key factor

Trump-style trade protection doesn’t help if Detroit is competing with Blue Springs, Miss., home of a Toyota factory.

BookWatch: The new way data crunchers could save baseball owners millions of dollars

This is how some teams see the next generation of Moneyball.

Outside the Box: Investing 40% of Social Security’s $2.9 trillion surplus in stocks swaps one risk for another

Betting on a 6.2% return after inflation probably isn’t realistic either.