10Jul2017 Market Update: Wall Street Higher Buoyed By Tech, DOW Up 16 Points, Crude Pares Losses, But Rising Supply A Worry

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 1.02% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.93% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.21%.

Wall Street up as technology shares hold gains

(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were up on Monday as gains in technology stocks helped outweigh losses in healthcare.

Elon Musk tweets photos of first Tesla Model 3 to roll off the line

(Reuters) – Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk on Sunday tweeted pictures of the first Model 3 sedan to roll off the assembly line.

Elliott says considering $18.5 billion deal for Oncor

(Reuters) – Elliott Management, the largest creditor of the bankrupt parent of Oncor Electric Delivery Co, said it was putting together an offer that values the utility at about $18.5 billion, including debt.

Lawmakers urge SEC to stop Chicago Stock Exchange’s China deal

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eleven members of Congress asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday to stop the sale of the Chicago Stock Exchange to a group led by China-based investors, saying the regulator lacks the ability to monitor the foreign buyers.

Siemens to press charges after turbines moved from Russia to Crimea

BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s Siemens said on Monday at least two of its gas turbines had been moved “against its will” from Russia to Crimea, a region subject to sanctions barring EU firms providing it with energy technology.

Activist Loeb keeps up performance pressure on Nestle: source

LONDON (Reuters) – Activist investor Daniel Loeb is keeping up pressure on Nestle by sharing views with the company as part of a regular dialogue, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

U.S households see spending up, job prospects improving: New York Fed survey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Consumers expect to boost spending in the months ahead and voiced confidence they are more likely to find a job and less likely to lose one in a strong labor market, the New York Federal Reserve reported Monday in its latest monthly survey of consumer expectations.

U.S. judge to name Feinberg as Fiat Chrysler diesel settlement master

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A U.S. judge overseeing lawsuits against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV over its alleged excess diesel emissions said he intends to name well-known compensation expert Ken Feinberg to try to reach a settlement.

Abercrombie ends talks with potential buyers, retail shares dip

(Reuters) – Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch Co plunged 21 percent on Monday and dragged down other stocks in the battered retail sector as the U.S. teen apparel maker terminated talks over a potential sale.

Obama Returns To Political Spotlight With Speech On Gerrymandering

After six months of vacationing at some of the most lavish resorts on earth, including Richard Branson’s own private island in the British Virgin Islands, Obama, as it was foretold by Eric Holder many months ago, is apparently ready to make his valiant return to the political spotlight. His return will come in the form of a speech to be delivered on behalf of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC), which just happens to be chaired by Holder. More from the Washington Post:

Obama’s appearance Thursday before a few dozen people at a closed-door event in the District on behalf of the National Democratic Redistricting Committee (NDRC) highlights the balance he is trying to strike as his party seeks to regain its footing at both the state and national levels. Obama does not want to cast “a long shadow,” in the words of Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez, but he remains a central figure for a party that has yet to settle on a single strategy to combat President Trump.

Perez said in an interview Sunday that while some Democrats have urged Obama recently, “You’ve got to get out front on issue X or issue Y,” the former president wants instead to “build the bench” for the party. Democrats suffered a greater loss of power during Obama’s tenure than under any other two-term president since World War II.

& …

Meet LedgerX: the CFTC’s New Google Owned, GS Run Exchange

Just Who Owns Ledger X?

All your transactions belong to us. Create, approve, outlaw outsiders. Do it under the guise of the investor’s protection. CFTC dong the work of the people

LedgerX Paul Chou Career Timeline

Goldman Sachs > LedgerX > Advisor to CFTC on Blockchain > LedgerX Approved by CFTC

As Zerohedge caught on Saturday:

US regulators aren’t yetcomfortable with bitcoin ETFs (although aquad-levered S&P ETF is just fine for mom and pop), but apparently options and swaps are another story.
This week, the CFTC took a bold step forward in terms of granting institutional investors access to the bitcoin market, approving the creation of the first SEF or Swap Execution Facility. Previously, traders who wished to place bets in bitcoin derivatives markets were forced to operate in markets that were strictly OTC. But now the agency has issued a registration order to LedgerX, granting it status with the CFTC as a Swap Execution Facility, in the process approving bitcoin options trading.

Who is LedgerX?

They are owned by Miami International Holdings Inc. which is an options and stock trading platform. They are a Delaware LLC operating out of Princeton NJ. and fronted by attorneys. …

The World’s Biggest Bear Calls It: “We Have Finally Hit The Peak Of The Cycle”

Shortly after Deutsche became the latest bank to warn that “markets seem to have entered frothy territory”, going so far as to utter the dreaded “bubble” word, and suggesting that this time it will be different as “unlike 2016, the Fed does not appear to have enough patience anymore to postpone the rate hikes” and adding that “unfortunately, the Fed’s resolution to raise rates this time seems to be firmer than in 2015 because of their assessment that US economy has almost reached full employment”, one of the market’s biggest bears actually scratch that, the market’s biggest bear, Crispin Odey’s is on the verge of a premature victory lap (with his YTD performance rebounding to a loss of just -2.7%, after returning 6% in May and 2% in June, he may finally be due).

In his latest Manager’s Report to investors, Odey looks at the increasingly precarious situation in the UK, where he metaphorically summarizes the domestic economic situation saying that “The chances of car crashes everywhere are rising”, but it was his comments on the US economy, and the hawkish Fed that were more notable.

Discussing the Fed’s dilemma, Odey says that “with employment growth annualising at around 200,000 per month, suddenly the Fed can no longer just keep the credit cycle moving with QE.” The implication for a world which is only used to credit expansion and has forgotten all thoughts of business cycles “this new tough Fed is unthinkable. However to my mind, we have finally globally hit the peak of the cycle. A peak we hit in 1979, 1989, 1999, 2008 and now. Can you …

Maxine Waters Acts The Fool Lambasting Ivanka At G20, Chelsea Clinton

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Chip Makers Feast on Phones Despite Slowing Sales

Smartphones aren’t the growth market they once were, so the best play for investors is to find companies not limited to selling one chip per phone.

Abercrombie Loses Its Last Best Hope

After two months of trying to sell itself, Abercrombie & Fitch is going it alone. A deal may have been its last chance for recovery.

What’s to Like as Shipping Consolidation Sets Sail

China’s largest shipping company Cosco Shipping agreed to buy smaller rival Orient Overseas for $6.3 billion, suggesting a wave of consolidation is about to hit the shipping industry. For investors, they would be wise to ride it.

Trump Today: Trump Today: President says Comey leaked classified information to media

President Donald Trump went on an early-morning tweetstorm Monday, accusing former FBI Director James Comey of leaking classified information to the media; defending his daughter Ivanka for sitting in for him at the G-20 meeting; and making a comment about Chelsea Clinton that drew a response from the former first daughter.

The Ratings Game: Costco shares fall on downgrade that says Amazon fears are eclipsing fundamentals

BMO downgrades Costco to market perform from outperform and says shares will be dogged by worry about Amazon’s expansion into grocery sector.

Tesla shares rise as first Model 3 rolls off production line

Model 3 photos give Tesla stock a small bump on Monday.