14Jun2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street Expected To Open Higher, DOW To Set More Record Highs, Fed’s Expected To Make Raise Interest Rates Today, US Dollar Waterfalls Unexpectedely

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

European markets are broadly higher today with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX is up 1.06% while France’s CAC 40 is up 0.67% and London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.48%.

Uber director David Bonderman resigns from board following comment about women

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc director David Bonderman said on Tuesday that he has resigned from the company’s board following a remark he made during an Uber staff meeting that was widely seen as offensive to women.

Uber CEO takes leave of absence amid sweeping changes after scandals

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick told employees on Tuesday he will take time away from the company he helped to found, one of a series of measures the ride-hailing company is taking to claw its way out from under a mountain of controversies.

Trump’s Wall Street game plan needs players

Washington (Reuters) – Wall Street banks on Tuesday cheered U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans to loosen the leash put on them in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis but they do not expect significant change any time soon.

StanChart brings in senior talent to fuel U.S. expansion

NEW YORK/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Standard Chartered aims to expand its U.S. presence with a local hiring push and by bolstering its team in the country with senior staff from its main regions of Asia, the Middle East and Africa, its top bankers said.

Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways to drop San Francisco route from October

ABU DHABI/DUBAI (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said on Wednesday it is suspending flights to San Francisco in the United States from October after falling passenger demand curbed the route’s profitability.

Nike, Sanrio, Universal Studios face EU probe over sale terms

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. sports goods maker Nike , Comcast’s Universal Studios and Hello Kitty owner Sanrio found themselves in EU antitrust regulators’ crosshairs on Wednesday over the way they control the sale of products in the bloc.

World stocks march on as Fed rate hike looms, dollar steady

LONDON (Reuters) – Stocks rose on Wednesday, but worries about stretched valuations and caution before a near-certain rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve kept their gains in check, while the dollar steadied against a basket of major currencies.

German postal service enlists Ford for electric vans drive

DUESSELDORF, Germany (Reuters) – German logistics group Deutsche Post DHL Group is expanding its foray into electric delivery vans, signing Ford as a components supplier for a new line of larger vehicles, the companies said on Wednesday.

Verizon closes Yahoo deal, Mayer steps down

(Reuters) – Verizon Communications Inc said on Tuesday it closed its $4.48 billion acquisition of Yahoo Inc’s core business and that Marissa Mayer, chief executive of the internet company, had resigned.

Multiple People Shot, Including House Majority Whip Scalise, At Congressional Baseball Practice

At least five people have been shot, including House Majority Whip Steve Scalise and aides, during a baseball practice in Virginia Wednesday, Fox News confirmed. The shots were reported on East Monroe Street in Del Ray, Alexandria police said on Twitter at 7:30 a.m. The location was near a YMCA.

BROOKS: APPEARS SOME SECURITY DETAIL MEMBERS WERE INJURED

BROOKS SAYS SECURITY DETAIL SHOT BACK AT ASSAILANT

BROOKS: HELICOPTER LANDED ON FIELD TO TRANSPORT INJURED

BROOKS: AT LEAST 5 INJURED, INCL. SCALISE, STAFFER, 2 GUARDS

INJURED GUNMAN IN CONGRESS MEMBER SHOOTING APPREHENDED: FOX

A reporter from the Huffington Post tweeted that a congressman said he “heard there was a shooting at the Congressional baseball game practice field.” ABC 7 News reported “multiple shooting” in the 400 block of E. Monroe Street.

#BREAKING Shooting at Congressional baseball practice. Scalise hit. Other staffers hit. Gunmen with rifle

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) June 14, 2017

A reporter from Fox News tweeted that staffers were hit.

According a report from Rep. Mo Brooke, who said he was not shot, more than 50 rifle shots were fired.

from @RepMoBrooks “Shooter attack at GOPpractice. Rifle. 50+ shots fired. 5 or more hit including GOP Whip steve scalise. I am not shot.”

— Matt Murphy (@mattmurphyshow) June 14, 2017

Frontrunning: June 14

Federal Reserve Expected to Deliver Rate Increase (WSJ)

Fire engulfs London tower block, at least six dead, more than 50 injured (Reuters)

Children lost, baby thrown to safety (Reuters)

Democrats Accuse Sessions of ‘Stonewalling’ (BBG)

World stocks march on as Fed rate hike looms, dollar steady (Reuters)

Trump’s Long-Time Lawyer Is Just Like His Boss (BBG)

The Global Economy Is Rebounding, But There’s One Big Problem (BBG)

David Bonderman Resigns From Uber Board After Sexist Remark (NYT)

Uber CEO Takes a Break as Scandals Roil Company (WSJ)

Trump gives U.S. military authority to set Afghan troop levels: U.S. official (Reuters)

Britain could stay in EU, but only on poorer terms – Verhofstadt (Reuters)

Anbang Chair …

UK property market forecast to take hit on political uncertainty

UK property market forecast to take hit on political uncertainty

• Growing evidence of slowdown in UK property market

  Slow-down in activity in UK housing market in run up to UK election

  Average UK house prices dropped in the three months to May

  Halifax report annual house price growth fallen to a four-year low of 3.3 percent.

  “Political instability breeds procrastination on the part of homebuyers and sellers”

  Sterling drop will increase divide in housing market, first time buyers continue to struggle

  House price growth has lost momentum, volumes continue to drop

  UK property market forecast to take hit on political uncertainty

  The United Kingdom has been dealt a couple of ‘shocks’ in the last year – Brexit and the Conservative’s lost majority in Parliament.

  The only thing that these results definitively mean for the country is uncertainty. Whilst every voter and British resident works to navigate these unclear times there is an air of nervousness about how things will pan out. This is becoming clear through the commonly used temper …

“The Fire Destroyed Everything, We Saw Them Dying”: Inferno Engulfs London Apartment Tower; At Least 6 Dead

At least six are dead and more than 64 injured, 20 of them critically, after a catastrophic fire at the 24-story Grenfell Tower in the Kensington area of London. A witness told Reuters she feared not all the residents had escaped the fire. Some were evacuated in their pyjamas.

As Reuters described the inferno, flames licked up the sides of the block in the north Kensington area as 200 firefighters, backed up by 40 fire engines, fought the blaze for hours. Plumes of black and gray smoke billowed high into the air over the British capital hours after the blaze broke out at the Grenfell Tower where several hundred people live.

“I looked through the spy hole and I could see smoke everywhere and the neighbors are all there. There’s a fireman shouting ‘get down the stairs’,” one of the block’s residents, Michael Paramasivan, told BBC radio. “It was an inferno.”

Residents rushed to escape through smoke-filled corridors in the housing block after being woken up by the smell of burning. Some said no fire alarm sounded. Witnesses said they saw trapped residents desperately shouting for help from windows on upper floors as flames enveloped the building.

Beijing Gives Banks the Go-Ahead for Yet Another Lending Binge

Encouraging more lending to small companies may only worsen China’s problem of too much badly priced debt.

Hidden in Plain Sight: A Powerful Way to Beat the Market

Few investors read corporate disclosures because they are boring and rarely change. But a strategy based on changes in the documents beats the market by 22 percentage points a year.

China Tightens Ship in Case of Fed Rate Storm

Chinese markets have calmed after a regulatory “storm” that sparked deep selloffs this spring. But recent moves show that policy makers are still worried about a midyear liquidity crunch as the Fed prepares to raise rates.

Economic Report: Inflation falls again in May as CPI recedes from recent high-water mark

The cost of goods and services for American consumers fell in May for the second time in three months as inflation continued to recede from a recent high-water mark.

London Markets: FTSE 100 marches higher as U.K. labor data pare pound’s rise

British blue-chip stocks extend gains Wednesday, with the pound coming off session highs after data showed Britons’ pay is being squeezed by higher consumer prices.

The Fed: Yellen may be ‘forceful’ in press conference when defending Fed’s interest rate path

Fed chief Janet Yellen will use her press conference to push back on the market’s skepticism about the economy, and the central bank’s plans to continue raising rates