Written by Gary
US stock markets opened fractionally higher and slipped into the red by mid morning. Late afternoon trading is in a mixed market (SPY +0.03%) with the small caps fractionally down.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Mexico leading the region. The IPC is up 0.27% while Brazil’s Bovespa is up 0.25% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.03%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Wall Street flat as North Korea, White House worries linger(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were mostly flat in early afternoon trading on Monday amid concerns over the recent turmoil in the White House and simmering tensions between the United States and North Korea. |
| Sempra Energy to buy Oncor for $9.45 billion in blow for Berkshire(Reuters) – Sempra Energy said it will buy Oncor for $9.45 billion in cash after Energy Future Holdings Corp, which indirectly owns Oncor, abandoned a deal to sell the power transmission company to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. |
| China’s Great Wall confirms interest in Fiat ChryslerSHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – Great Wall Motor Co Ltd is interested in Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), an official from the Chinese company said, confirming reports it is pursuing all or part of the owner of the Jeep and Ram truck brands. |
| Taiwan’s Foxconn to build three ancillary facilities as part of Wisconsin LCD campusTAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn on Monday said it plans to build three facilities in the U.S. state of Wisconsin for operation as early as next year, as part of a campus housing a $10 billion liquid crystal display (LCD) factory due for 2020. |
| U.S. workers have low hopes for higher pay: Fed surveyNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. workers see little hope for higher paychecks, and while they are increasingly searching for new jobs, they expect fewer offers to fall into their laps, according to a Federal Reserve survey published on Monday. |
| VW in no hurry to sell assets, investments more importantWOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen is more focused on its multi-billion-euro shift towards electric vehicles and transport services than any potential sale of motorcycle brand Ducati or transmissions maker Renk, its head of strategy told Reuters. |
| Special Report: Refiner Valero’s secret campaign against U.S. biofuels mandates(Reuters) – U.S. biofuels regulations, which mandate mixing corn-based ethanol into gasoline, have lately drawn together a diverse cast of political opponents. |
| McDonald’s to shut 169 outlets in India amid dispute with local partnerNEW DELHI (Reuters) – Fast food chain McDonald’s said on Monday it planned to shut all 169 of its restaurants in India’s northern and eastern regions, escalating a dispute with its local partner and potentially putting thousands of workers out of jobs. |
| Total deepens North Sea exposure with $7.5 billion Maersk Oil dealPARIS/COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Total is buying Maersk’s oil and gas business in a $7.45 billion deal which the French major said would strengthen its operations in the North Sea and raise its output to 3 million barrels per day by 2019. |
| Tesla Stock Slumps After “Terrible Bond” New Issue TanksTesla stock prices has almost erased all of its post-earnings gains as the company’s recently issued $1.8 billion junk bond is tumbling… TSLA stocks is giving back its post-record-cash-burn gains…
As the newly issued junk bonds are suddenly coming face to face with this ugliness…
As MarketWatch reports, the 5.3% notes due 2025 are now trading as high as 5.75% yield (with the risk spread blowing out from 330 to around 370bps)
AllianceBernstein’s Distenfeld said investors are still starving for income in a low-interest rate, low-yielding world, and said it is important to be patient — and disciplined — in this market. |
| Watch Live: Today’s Once-In-A-Century Solar EclipseExperiencing a total solar eclipse is rare. And a solar eclipse that emcompasses the entire Continental US is even more rare. Which is why people from across the US will take a break from work and school and go outside for a glimpse of a total eclipse that’s expected to last just two minutes and 40 seconds. The eclipse is expected to make landfall near Depoe Bay, Oregon at 10:15 local time and it will eventually pass into the Atlantic Ocean in South Carolina around 3 p.m. Eastern Time. Anyone who misses out on this year’s eclipse will have to wait seven years until the next one in April 2024. In total, the moon will cast its shadow over the U.S. just a little longer than the duration of a feature movie, 1h and 33 minutes. Observers outside the direct path of the total eclipse will still see a partial eclipse, where the moon covers just part of the sun. The next total eclipse over parts of North America won’t be witnessed until April 2024, then crossing from the south west, from Mexico, to the north east, towards Canada. Luckily, for those chained to their desks, NASA has several livefeeds that will be monitoring the eclipse as it crosses the US. According to Statista, the last eclipse to touch any part of the US occurred in July 1991, with only Hawaii experiencing it. The experience for locals was hampered by poor weather. But today’s event is even more rare, Statista explains, because it will cross the US from the Pacific to the Atlantic coast – the first to do so since 1918.
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| 10 Inconvenient Truths About Investing & The MarketsAuthored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com, This morning, as I was catching up on my reading, I stumbled onto this gem from Business Insider of an interview with the founder of Robinhood, a mobile app to let individuals trade stocks with no commissions.
With margin debt levels at already record high levels, the demand by individuals to leverage themselves into the financial markets has always, without exception, ended extremely poorly. Since the vast majority of users of the Robinhood app have never seen a bear market, the real lessons of trading have yet to be learned. It also brings me to today’s post. One of the first rules that any successful long-term trader or investor will tell you is to keep a written record of your activities. This provides the basis for you to learn what you are doing right, but more importantly what you are doing wrong. The secret to investment success is actually quite simple and can be summed up as follows:
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| US Navy Halts Pacific Fleet Operations As Historical Path Of Collided Warship EmergesFollowing the second collision of US warships in two months, the US Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) has calling for a comprehensive review of recent incidents in the Pacific in the wake of the USS John McCain collision with an oil tanker early Monday morning. In a video, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson called for an “operational pause” with commands and leaders across the fleet, and a deeper look into the training and certification of forces operating in the Navy’s 7th Fleet – those in and around Japan.
“I have directed fleet commanders to immediately conduct an operational pause with commands and leaders across the fleet, to ensure we are taking all appropriate immediate measures to enhance the Navy’s safe and effective operation around the world…. This is the second major collision in the last three months, and is the latest in a series of major incidents, particularly in the Pacific theater,” said Richardson. “This trend demands more forceful action.” That review “will examine the process by which we train and certify our forward deployed forces in Japan to be ready for operations and war,” according to Richardson. “This will include, but not be limited to, trends in operational tempo, performance, maintenance, equipment and personnel. It will also focus on surface warfare training and career development, including ta … |
| Why Monetary Policy Isn’t the Only Game in Town AnymoreThe Jackson Hole gathering of central bankers has been an opportunity for policy makers to pledge extraordinary support for economies, in particular via quantitative easing. But this year looks different. |
| Virtual Reality’s Real Sticker ShockHigh-end virtual reality headsets are getting a little cheaper with price cuts by Oculus and now HTC. But compelling games still needed to make a sustainable business. |
| Smaller Firms Are Winning the DealsMerger and acquisition activity is retreating, but some boutique investment banks are still raking in fees. |
| The Margin: What time is the solar eclipse? And what should you look (and not look) for?Here are some times that folks can expect to begin to see the eclipse in all of its celestial glory |
| At the U.S. Open, here’s how to see your favorite tennis players up closeIt’s easier to get close to the best tennis players in the world during the qualifying tournament. |
| The Ratings Game: Nike, Foot Locker, Finish Line downgrades highlight struggles in the sporting goods sectorSporting goods companies had a flurry of rating downgrades and price target cuts, with big names like Nike, Foot Locker and Finish Line challenged by changes in the sector. |
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