Written by Gary
The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were trading at record levels in early afternoon trading (SPY +0.6%) as a rise in oil prices boosted energy stocks and investors shrugged off the impact of a global cyber attack.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
North and South American markets are higher today with shares in U.S. leading the region. The S&P 500 is up 0.49% while Brazil’s Bovespa is up 0.45% and Mexico’s IPC is up 0.41%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
U.S. companies push hard for lower tax rate on offshore profitsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – Major U.S. multinationals are pushing the Trump administration to deepen the tax break it has already tentatively proposed on $2.6 trillion in corporate profits being held offshore, a key piece in Washington’s intricate tax reform puzzle. | |
S&P 500, Nasdaq Composite hit records as oil climbs(Reuters) – The Nasdaq Composite and the S&P 500 were trading at record levels in early afternoon trading on Monday as a rise in oil prices boosted energy stocks and investors shrugged off the impact of a global cyber attack. | |
U.S. home builder confidence improves in May(Reuters) – A private gauge of U.S. home builder sentiment unexpectedly rose in May to its second strongest level since the housing bust nearly a decade ago, as the existing supply of homes remained tight. | |
Cyber attack’s spread slows; security stocks gainLONDON/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The global WannaCry “ransomware” cyber attack spread more slowly on Monday with no major infections reported, as attention shifted to investment and government policy implications of lax cyber security. | |
Thermo Fisher to buy Patheon for $5.2 billion to expand biopharma services(Reuters) – Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc said on Monday it would buy Patheon NV , a Dutch manufacturer of drugs for clinical trials, for $5.2 billion as it seeks to complement its offerings in production and services for the biopharma industry. | |
China’s new Silk Road promises trade and riches, with President Xi at helmBEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese President Xi Jinping and 29 other heads of state on Monday reaffirmed their commitment to build an open economy and ensure free and inclusive trade, under the ambitious Belt and Road initiative led by Beijing. | |
AB InBev to pump $2 billion into U.S. businessBRUSSELS (Reuters) – Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world’s largest brewer, plans to invest $2 billion in the United States, where its flagship Budweiser lager has suffered from declining volumes and a falling market share over the past three years. | |
AIG lures industry veteran Duperreault as CEO with sweet packageNEW YORK (Reuters) – American International Group Inc on Monday named an insurance industry veteran as its new chief executive officer, luring him from the firm he started with a lucrative financial package that includes buying a big piece of his company. | |
Snap surges after Wall Street heavyweights reveal stakesSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Snap Inc jumped 8 percent on Monday and was on track for its third strongest day since the social media company’s initial public offering, boosted by filings showing several institutional investors had owned its shares. | |
State Department Accuses Assad Of Covering Up Mass Killings In SyriaJust over a month after the US launched a cruise missile attack at Syria, US relations with Syria are deteriorating rapidly once more after the State Department accused the Syrian government of carrying out mass killings of thousands of prisoners and burning the bodies in a large crematorium outside the capital. According to Reuters, Stuart Jones, the acting assistant secretary of near eastern affairs, told reporters on Monday that the State Department believes that about 50 detainees a day are being hanged at Saydnaya military prison, about 45 minutes from Damascus. Many of the bodies, it said, are then being burned in the prison’s crematorium in order to hide evidence of mass murder. “We now believe that the Syrian regime has installed a crematorium in the Saydnaya Prison Complex which could dispose of detainees remains with little evidence,” Stuart Jones said. “Credible sources have believed that many of the bodies have been disposed in mass graves.” It was not immediately clear what he considers credible sources. He added that “although the regimes’ many atrocities are well-documented, we believe that the building of a crematorium is an effort to cover up the extent of mass murders taking place in Saydnaya prison.” Jones added that the regime will put up to 70 prisoners in a cell designed to hold five people before they are killed. The State Department released the additional information in order to put pressure on Russia, which has provided Assad with crucial support. “Russia holds tremendous influence over Bashar al-Assad,” State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Monday. “The killing and devastation has gone on for far too long in Syria.” The department released commercial satellite photographs showing what it said is a building in the prison complex that has been modified to support the crematorium. That said, the dep … | |
Will Next Market Crash Be Like 2008 Or 1973? History Predicts An Amazing Run In Gold & Gold StocksGold investors are worried about record high valuations in the S&P 500, despite the fact that gold stocks have shown a negative correlation to the general equities since 2011. The reason for this fear? 2008. The market crash of 2008 did not just hurt the S&P, it hurt real estate and gold equities. The sell off was brutal. So was 2008 an isolated incident or does a crash in general equities always spell doom for gold and gold stocks? We examined five previous bear markets starting in 1973 in the S&P and looked at the performance of gold and gold stocks. The End Of Bretton Woods & The Oil Crisis: January 1973 – October 1974 | |
How Hedge Funds Play The OPEC Deal ExtensionSubmitted by Jim Hyerczyk via OilPrice.com, We’ve had a good two-way crude oil market since the first of the year which has helped hold crude oil in a relatively narrow range as aggressive traders continue to play the long side, in anticipation of a balance between supply and demand. This year began with an oversupplied crude oil market, but with a bullish tone set by OPEC when they decided to start reducing output in an effort to trim supply and stabilize prices. On paper, the idea seemed bullish. What they didn’t expect, however, was the surge in U.S. production that skewed their forecasts and timetables for global supply and demand to reach a balance. For nearly six months, traders have been pelted with stories nearly every day telling them about OPEC supply cuts and increased U.S. production. The stories seem to have neutralized the markets to a point where crude oil prices have become range bound. In order for a market to become range bound, some major market player has to be selling enough crude oil to stop a rally and some major market player has to be buying enough crude oil to stop the decline. However, inside the trading range we’ve seen several pockets of volatility and these moves can only be blamed on the speculators and namely, the hedge funds. If you’ve traded speculative markets, I’m sure you’ve noticed that markets come down faster than they go up. Essentially, this is because speculative buyers tend to be very ca … | |
Some Of The Funds Losing Billions In Puerto Rico’s Historic BankruptcyIn the aftermath of Puerto Rico’s historic bankruptcy, a clearer picture of losses accrued by U.S. mutual funds on their holdings of Puerto Rican debt is beginning to emerge: the WSJ has calculated the red ink at as much as $5.4 billion over the last five years on total holdings of $14.6 billion. Wall Street’s paper of record lists the funds who have piled up losses, both realized and unrealized, on the trade. These include: Franklin Resources, Oppenheimer, Vanguard, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Western, Lord, Abbett, AllianceBernstein and Dreyfus. Of these, Franklin and Oppenheimer are the biggest losers, according to Morningstar data cited by the Journal. Oppenheimer has lost as much as $2.1 billion, and Franklin as much as $1.6 billion. That’s compared with AUMs of $230 billion and $741 billion, respectively. Meanwhile, six other fund families managed by Vanguard, Goldman, Western Asset, Lord Abbett, AllianceBernstein Holding and Dreyfus have racked up between $100 million and $200 million in losses each. Of course, in the grand scheme of the funds’ AUMs, the losses so far are negligible, so before retail investors assume that Meredith Whitney’s prediction is finally coming true, resulting in another muni fund panic, it is worth recalling that all these funds have at least $100 billion each in muni-bond assets under management. Furthermore, these investors are likely in better shape than some of their hedge fund colleagues as the damage done to mutual funds, and by extension the retirees and middle-class savers to which they cater, will be an important factor in the court-mandated restructuring of the island’s debt, which begins Wednesday with a hearing in San Juan. As a reminder, earlier this month, the island’s governing body petitioned for – and its federal oversight board approved – its … | |
Profit Growth Will Come From OverseasThis year is shaping up to be a very good one for American companies. Just not at home. | |
Fear Not the Fear of Complacency in MarketsHigh stock prices and low volatility have created a fear of complacency. That fear in itself is a healthy one, however. | |
Billionaire’s Offer for Christian Dior Needs a New LookLuxury tycoon Bernard Arnault wants to simplify his holdings of Dior and LVMH. But his proposal is looking shabby. | |
May 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Index Returns To Negative TerritoryWritten by Steven Hansen The Empire State Manufacturing Survey again declined and now is in negative territory. Important internals likewise declined and also returned to negative territory. | |
Market Snapshot: Stock market sets fresh records as oil ralliesThe S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite hit fresh intraday records on Monday as a jump in oil prices to a two-week high lifted Wall Street sentiment. | |
Tim Mullaney: In spite of Trump, it’s morning in America againTim Mullaney sees great signs of hope as the economy ploughs ahead and American citizens take back their democracy. | |
Economic Report: Home builder sentiment strengthens as industry looks past WashingtonA gauge of industry sentiment finds home builders are growing more confident in the housing market and demand. |
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