08Jun2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Braces For Three News Worthy Events That Could Spook US Markets, WTI Crude Continues To Fall, US Dollar Volatile And Rising

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.34% while the CAC 40 gains 0.08%. The FTSE 100 is off 0.21%.

Jobless claims fall; labor market slack shrinking

WASHINGTON, June 8 (Reuters) – – The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell last week, unwinding half of the prior period’s jump and suggesting the labor market was tightening despite a recent slowdown in job growth.

ECB keeps money taps open but drops reference to rate cuts

TALLINN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank kept its money taps wide open on Thursday but dropped a reference to possible interest rate cuts, an unexpectedly hawkish move as euro zone growth accelerates.

Europe steady as UK election, ECB grab attention

LONDON (Reuters) – European stocks inched higher and the euro and the pound barely budged, as markets readied for a triple-dose of excitement – an ECB meeting, a British election and testimony by the ex-FBI chief fired by Donald Trump last month.

Small is lucrative for Wachtell, corporate America’s legal defense force

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Every Tuesday, partners and associates at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz gather for a communal lunch in the dining room of the law firm’s Manhattan offices.

Boeing barrels ahead on 787 and 777 cost reductions

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Boeing Co is streamlining its aircraft production systems at its largest factory, trying to cut costs to compete with rival Airbus and chip away at the near-$30 billion deficit created by its 787 Dreamliner.

U.S. business group urges trade fixes ahead of China’s party congress

BEIJING (Reuters) – A U.S. business lobby in China said on Thursday that Washington should use leverage afforded by China’s desire to avoid trade frictions with the United States ahead of its Communist Party Congress this fall in order to fix market access discrepancies.

Nissan to make automatic emergency braking standard in one million U.S. cars

(Reuters) – Nissan Motor Co Ltd said on Thursday it will make automatic emergency braking (AEB) standard on an estimated one million vehicles sold in the United States for model year 2018.

Oil falls for second day as concern grows over supply

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil fell for a second day on Thursday to hit one-month lows after an unexpected surge in U.S. inventories and the return of more Nigerian crude aggravated investor concerns about an already oversupplied market.

Forestar says D.R. Horton’s offer could be superior to Starwood bid

(Reuters) – Forestar Group Inc said on Thursday U.S. homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc’s offer to buy a majority of the real estate developer could be superior to Starwood Capital Group’s bid to buy Forestar.

Mario Draghi Explains The ECB’s Dovish-Hawk Statement – Live Feed

What Mario taketh (removed lower rate guidance), he also giveth (keeps “well past” QE language) as Citi notes The ECB came in just about exactly where the market expected it to be leaving EURUSD slightly lower. The question is now whether the ECB have something left in the locker for Draghi’s press conference? If it stays like this, Citi expects EUR to go lower.

The ECB dropped the easing bias, and reiterated that rates are to stay at present or lower levels past QE horizon, sees QE running until end of December or beyond if needed… and EUR is leaking…

What will Mario say? (Live Feed starts at 0830ET)

Even If Everything James Comey Is Claiming Is True, There Is Still No Evidence That Trump Is Guilty Of Any Crime

Authored by Michael Snyder via The American Dream blog,

Democrats are hoping that the testimony that former FBI Director James Comey will deliver on Thursday will be enough to take Donald Trump down for good. Comey released a written preview of his testimony on Wednesday, and it was obviously intended to draw even more attention to what is already being described as “the most highly-anticipated Congressional hearing in decades”. CNN is breathlessly declaring that “James Comey just went nuclear on Donald Trump”, and Texas Democratic Representative Al Green is already planning to draft articles of impeachment even though the testimony hasn’t even happened yet. Unfortunately for those that would like to see Trump go, even if every single thing that James Comey is claiming is true (and that is a very big “if”), there is still no evidence that Trump is guilty of any crime.

There are many other things that we could discuss, but the core of this case is going to …

Frontrunning: June 8

U.K. Election Remains Tight as Voters Head to the Polls (WSJ)

Trump Will Be Watching Comey Just Like the Rest of Us (BBG)

What we know about U.S. probes of Russian meddling in 2016 election (Reuters)

ECB Drops Reference to Future Interest-Rate Cut (WSJ)

Euro zone growth revised up to highest rate in two years (Reuters)

Italy ruling party says deal on new electoral law ‘dead’, markets rally (Reuters)

U.K. Housing Weakens Further as Market Emits ‘Ominous’ Signals (BBG)

UK arrests three as footage of London Bridge attack appears online (Reuters)

China’s Top Property-Bubble Prophet Says Prices Set to Soar (BBG)

BOJ Is Said to Mull How to Communicate Eventual Stimulus Exit (BBG)

Iran minister calls Trump’s condolences for attacks ‘repugnant’ (Reuters …

ECB Removes Reference To Taking Rates “Lower”, Keeps “Well Past” Language

Super Thursday is officially off to the races with the ECB’s monetary policy announcement issued moments ago, which while keeping all three rates unchanged as consensus expected, has dropped the reference to “or lower” in the rate guidance, referring to the following sentence from the April 27 statement: “The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present or lower levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases.”

Full statement below:

At today’s meeting, which was held in Tallinn, the Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00%, 0.25% and -0.40% respectively. The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases.

Regarding non-standard monetary policy measures, the Governing Council confirms that the net asset purchases, at the current monthly pace of 60 billion, are intended to run until the end of December 2017, or beyond, if necessary, and in any case until the Governing Council sees a sustained adjustment in the path of inflation consistent with its inflation aim. The net purchases will be made alongside reinvestments of the principal payments from maturing securities purchased under the asset purchase programme. If the outlook becomes less favourable, or if financial …

Citigroup Shares: Big, Cheap and a Good Value

Citigroup, the last truly cheap major bank in the U.S., is approaching two key turning points that should help its shares close in on a better valuation.

Perpetual Doesn’t Mean Forever in China

Chinese companies are issuing more perpetual securities—partly because the bondlike instruments get treated like equity

Elon Musk: The Man, the Myth, the Risk

Tesla is one of the hottest stocks on the planet, thanks to investor belief in Elon Musk. Paradoxically, that might be the biggest risk investors face.

03 June 2017 Initial Unemployment Claims Rolling Average Again Marginally Worsens

The market expectations for weekly initial unemployment claims (from Bloomberg / Econoday) were 235 K to 245 K (consensus 241,000), and the Department of Labor reported 245,000 new claims. The more important (because of the volatility in the weekly reported claims and seasonality errors in adjusting the data) 4 week moving average moved from 239,750 (reported last week as 238,000) to 242,000. The rolling averages generally have been equal to or under 300,000 since August 2014.

Europe Markets: European stocks search for firm footing after ECB decision, as U.K. votes

Stocks across Europe swayed Thursday, with investors assessing the European Central Bank’s policy decision while they waited for results from the U.K.’s general election.

Economic Report: U.S. jobless claims drop 10,000 to 245,000

The number of Americans who sought unemployment benefits fell in early June and remained near the lowest level in decades. Initial jobless claims dropped by 10,000 to 245,000.

Metals Stocks: Gold drops in back-to-back sessions as ECB’s position change lifts dollar

Gold prices fall in back-to-back sessions Thursday as even a flurry of potentially market-moving news around the globe wasn’t yet enough to lure investors to the haven metal absent a big shock out of those events.