Written by Gary
The SP 500 and Dow were weighed down by falling energy stocks (SPY -0.02%) as crude prices fell and added to investor concerns about low inflation while healthcare and technology stocks helped lift the Nasdaq Composite index.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | S&P, Dow end lower, Nasdaq lifted by healthcare, tech sectorsNEW YORK (Reuters) – The S&P 500 and Dow were weighed down by falling energy stocks as oil prices fell on Wednesday and added to investor concerns about low inflation while healthcare and technology stocks helped lift the Nasdaq Composite index. |
| Uber CEO Travis Kalanick resigns under investor pressureSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] Chief Executive Travis Kalanick, co-founder of one of the most influential technology companies of its generation, resigned on Tuesday under pressure from investors after a string of setbacks. Kalanick’s departure caps a tumultuous period for the world’s largest ride-services company that has revolutionized the taxi industry and challenged transportation regulations worldwide. |
| Diageo to buy George Clooney’s tequila brand Casamigos for up to $1 billionLONDON (Reuters) – Diageo Plc has agreed to buy George Clooney’s high-end tequila brand Casamigos in a deal valuing it at up to $1 billion, as the world’s largest spirits maker seeks to boost its presence in a high-growth market. |
| Judge approves temporary stop to DraftKings, FanDuel mergerWASHINGTON (Reuters) – A federal judge has approved a temporary halt of a merger between sport fantasy companies DraftKings and FanDuel. |
| Harley-Davidson enters race to buy Italian rival Ducati: sourcesLONDON (Reuters) – U.S. motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson is lining up a takeover bid for Italian rival Ducati, potentially bringing together two of the most famous names in motorcycling in a deal that could be worth up to 1.5 billion euros ($1.67 billion), sources told Reuters. |
| Boeing’s Conner bows out with $1.2 billion air show dealPARIS (Reuters) – Boeing Vice Chairman Ray Conner on Wednesday sealed his last air show deal before retiring, signing off with the conversion of ten orders to the new 737 MAX 10 model for Donghai Airlines in China, where near-record traffic growth is powering aviation. |
| For thousands of U.S. auto workers, downturn is already hereLORDSTOWN, Ohio (Reuters) – Wall Street is fretting that the U.S. auto industry is heading for a downturn, but for thousands of workers at General Motors Co factories in the United States, the hard times are already here. |
| Oil drops to 10-month low; biggest first-half slide in 20 yearsNEW YORK (Reuters) – Oil prices ended down more than 2 percent on Wednesday after hitting a 10-month low in volatile trade, as growing U.S. production and reduced Chinese refinery activity fed mounting concern over the stubborn global crude glut. |
| Apple adds Virgin to U.S. carrier lineup as Virgin ditches Android(Reuters) – Apple Inc will soon start selling wireless plans from Virgin Mobile USA, the first new carrier offered by the iPhone maker’s since 2013, the companies said on Wednesday. |
| Former White House Sr Advisor Warns “Risk Of A Big War Is Rising” Due To “Washington’s Dangerous Cult Of Credibility”Authored by Brad Hoff via The Libertarian Institute, Russia will not back down, and neither will its Syrian and Iranian allies on the ground, says a former White House insider. After the dramatic downing of a Syrian Air Force jet over Raqqa province by a US Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet on Monday, a former senior national security advisor to the Obama administration, Colin Kahl, warns that the Washington “cult of credibility” will lead the United States into “quagmire” and “further up the escalation ladder in Syria.”
Kahl’s statement on the incident, issued via Twitter, gives rare confirmation of a hawkish Washington national security culture which dangerously places credibility and political careerism over genuine US interests and defense. As former Deputy Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor to the Vice President specializing in the Levant and Persian Gulf region, Kahl was directly involved in formulating Syria and regional policy in the Obama White House. Here is Kahl’s statement as published through a Twitter thread< … |
| ECB Reveals That 15% Of Its Bond Purchases Directly Funded CompaniesAfter several members of the European Parliament criticized the ECB for a lack of transparency surrounding its corporate bond buying, suggesting some companies could be favored over others, today the central bank with the 4.2 trillion balance sheet released a bulletin providing additional details for European lawmakers on its corporate sector purchase programme (CSPP). The highlights: the ECB now owns 952 securities amounting to 93.7 billion, or 14.1% of the total 664 billion outstanding, with the central bank adding that it is “well diversified over around 950 securities issued by around 200 issuer groups.” The report states that the breakdown of CSPP holdings by country of risk follows that of the CSPP-eligible bond universe very closely, and that there aren’t “any major deviations between CSPP holdings and their respective shares in the CSPP-eligible universe in terms of sectors of economic activity or rating groups.”
Looking at the country breakdown, French and German issuers continue to dominate the bond count, consisting of 494 issuances worth 363bn in amount outstanding. Bonds from non-Eurozone corporates were also on the list, mainly by Swiss issuers (32 issuances worth 24bn). At the sector level, Utilities remains the top pick (250 issuances worth 161bn), while non-cyclical consumers is a distant second (145 issuances, 110bn in amount outstanding). One key observation is that according to … |
| Regulators Are Probing RenTec’s “Secret Trading Code”With the world’s most mysterious, and profitable, quant fund – Renaissance Technologies – recently finding itself in an unfamiliar place: under the harsh public spotlight, and worse – in the context of its co-CEO Robert Mercer’s questionable political support of Donald Trump – we wondered one month ago how long before regulators start sniffing around to uncover the “secret sauce” that has generated some $60 billion in profits for LPs of the giant money-making machine. The answer: a few weeks. According to the NY Post, regulators from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are probing the “secret trading code” at RenTec run by Democrat, and Hillary Clinton supporter, James Simons and Republican and Trump’s most influential financial backer, Robert Mercer.
The CFTC has reportedly asked to dig into the trading software at the $65 billion hedge fund, “James Rowan, the fund’s chief operating officer, told an audience of hedge fund managers on Tuesday in New York, according to two people who were in the audience.” But, like every other secretive quant fund, RenTec is pushing back against the CFTC’s request out of fear that the code will “leak,” Rowan told the managers, according to those present. |
| Venezuela Dares Trump “To Send In The Marines”; Rejects Washington’s Crisis-Resolution PlanAmid running battles in the streets that have left at least 74 dead since April, as the people finally rise up against the inevitable endgame scenario of Bernie Sanders’ favorite socialist government, Washington is ‘trying to help’.
At a meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS) in Cancun, Mexico, US Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan tried to rally support for a resolution to send regional mediators to Venezuela to create a plan to address Venezuela’s crisis.
However, as AFP reports, this was not well received as Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez raged, calling Sullivan “el jefe” (the boss)…
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| What Could Go Wrong in the Fed’s Stress TestsThe Federal Reserve will reveal on Thursday which of the 34 banks it tests have passed hypothetical negative scenarios while maintaining required capital levels. |
| Rampaging Oil Bears Are Missing Half the PictureOil has a U.S. supply problem, but unlike in previous downturns, demand still looks firm—for now. |
| Adobe Is a Bright Spot in the CloudAdobe has proven that the cloud can have a silver lining. The cloud software company has grown per-share earnings on a year-over-year basis every quarter for the last three years — and that’s based on generally accepted accounting principles. |
| The Ratings Game: AMD’s stock takes another ‘Epyc’ leapAMD’s stock rockets on heavy volume, as analysts gave upbeat reviews of the new “Epyc” server chips. |
| Diageo buys George Clooney’s Casamigos tequila, values brand up to $1 billionDiageo is adding Casamigos tequila, which was founded by George Clooney, Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman to its portfolio of brands, which includes Ketel One and Johnnie Walker |
| The Ratings Game: Chesapeake Energy’s stock dives as oil-price plunge turns analyst bearishChesapeake Energy’s stock plunges in active trade after Macquarie turns bearish, citing concerns over lower oil prices and liquidity. |
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