15Sep2017 Market Update: Wall Street Recovers After Two Days Of Decline Helped By Rallying Technology Shares, Investors Shake Off NOKO Tensions, Hurricanes Harvey And Irma Could Dent Economic Growth In The Third Quarter

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed today. The Bovespa is up 1.42% while the S&P 500 gains 0.04%. The IPC is off 0.49%.

S&P nears 2,500 as tech stocks rebound

(Reuters) – The three major Wall Street indexes inched up to record highs on Friday, with the S&P approaching the 2,500 mark, as technology stocks bounced back after two days of declines.

Hurricane Harvey slams U.S. retail sales, industrial output

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. retail sales unexpectedly fell in August and industrial output recorded its biggest drop since 2009 as Hurricane Harvey disrupted activity, suggesting the storm could dent economic growth in the third quarter.

Rising credit card delinquencies to add to U.S. banks’ worries

(Reuters) – U.S. banks, already under pressure from slower loan growth and low interest rates, could be facing yet another challenge as a rising number of Americans fall behind on their credit card payments.

Drug industry on tenterhooks as Maryland price-gouging law nears

(Reuters) – As U.S. consumer outrage grows over prescription drug prices, state authorities and patient advocates in Maryland are preparing to enforce the nation’s first law designed to punish drugmaker price-gouging.

Exclusive: Canada sought to resolve Boeing military, trade disputes at meeting – sources

OTTAWA/MONTREAL (Reuters) – Canada last month attempted to end a deepening dispute with Boeing Co by suggesting it could withdraw a threat not to buy Super Hornet jets if the U.S. firm dropped a trade challenge against Canadian planemaker Bombardier Inc , three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

Bitcoin bounces 20 percent after dipping below $3,000

LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin bounced by more than 20 percent in the space of just four hours on Friday, having skidded below $3,000 earlier as Chinese authorities ordered Beijing-based cryptocurrency exchanges to stop trading.

Ahead of Brexit, tax perks tempt Italian bankers back to la dolce vita

LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) – Italian financiers who handle some of their country’s biggest deals out of London are moving to Milan, lured by bumper tax breaks at a time of deep uncertainty about Brexit, sources familiar with the plans said.

Accenture sees ‘secular downward’ trend in bank fees

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Bank’s services fees face “secular downward” pressure in the long run, which will drive lenders back toward credit transactions whose margins are resilient to competition and new technologies, a senior executive at management consultants Accenture Plc said.

Airbus faces lengthy probe, no quick fine: sources

PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) – Airbus faces years of investigation by French and UK authorities into allegations of corruption over jet sales, people familiar with the case said on Friday, playing down a newspaper report of a potentially rapid settlement.

St. Louis Braces For Violent Protests After Ex-Cop Was Acquitted Of Killing A Black Man

Setting up a potential repeat of the Ferguson unrest from the summer of 2015, St. Louis is bracing for another round of violent protests after an ex-cop was acquitted for the alleged murder of a black man.

As Reuters reports, on Friday, a Missouri judge found a white former St. Louis police officer not guilty of murder in the shooting death of a black man, “stirring feelings of anger and frustration in the black community.” Ex-cop Jason Stockley, 36, was acquitted of first-degree murder for killing Anthony Lamar Smith, 24. Stockley, who was arrested in May 2016 and accused of planting a gun in Smith’s car, testified he acted in self-defense.

Judge Timothy Wilson’s highly anticipated ruling was announced Friday, more than five weeks after the bench trial ended. “This court, as a trier of fact, is simply not firmly convinced of defendant’s guilt,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Wilson said prosecutors also asked the court to consider a lesser degree of homicide but they did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Stockley’s use of deadly force was not justified in self defense.

As a result, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens has placed the National Guard on standby with officials fearing the verdict could set off violent protests, as in similar incidents involving police and minorities around the United States in recent years. As Reuters adds, “St. Louis and state officials were braced for violent protests and racial tensions similar to those that followed the 2014 fatal shooting by police of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, near St. Louis.”

This is how the shooting went down according

WTI Crude Fails At $50 Again As Rig Count Tumbles Most In 8 Months

As Texas slowly normalizes from Hurricane Harvey’s impact, production has rebounded but the rig count continues to tumble (down 7 to 749 this week). This is the biggest weekly drop in oil rigs since Jan 2017 and June 2016. WTI Crude futures have once again tested $50 (and failed) this morning.

This is the 5th week in a row with no increases in oil rig counts.

The massive collapse in US crude production last week – with most of Texas offline – has recovered somewhat with a 572k surge in production this week. However, it is clear that levels of production are well off pre-Harvey levels…

WTI retested $50 this morning, and failed, but RBOB gasoline is on the rise…”The dollar is once again weakening and that is adding some support to oil too”

However, some remain bulish – “The market is realizing that demand is a lot stronger than there was given credit for,” says Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group. “The untold story hidden behind the glut has been the demand growth”

How Sex Traffickers Are Fighting for Your Rights

Via The Daily Bell

If you support free speech, you support sex trafficking. At least that’s what politicians hope the public will think.

Clever politicians seem to be learning. If they want to censor the web and destroy free speech, they need to pick the right targets for their legislation. Of course, in reality, the legislation will end up affecting all of us.

Their efforts really amount to holding websites accountable for what their users post. They are shining a light on Backpage, a website much like Craigslist where users post ads. The website lets users post based on location for things like buying and selling items, job listings, and community events.

The legal issues come from Backpage failing to stop the use of its website for sex trafficking. Ads appear in …

Why P&G Investors Should Want Nelson Peltz on the Board

After some serious missteps, the once irreproachable consumer-goods giant has lost the right to say: Just trust me.

Why U.S. Consumers Are Feeling Spent

The weak August retail sales report reflects the limited wherewithal Americans have to spend more.

Drug Stocks Benefit from the Sound of Silence

A movement to crack down on high drug prices appears to have fizzled, giving stock prices a lift.

July 2017 Headline Business Sales Improved

Written by Steven Hansen

Econintersect’s analysis of final business sales data (retail plus wholesale plus manufacturing) shows unadjusted sales grew relative to last month whilst inventories grew. This is similar to the headline view.

numberFire: What to watch in Week 2 of the NFL season

Week 2 of the NFL season is upon us, and while the number of storylines is seemingly endless, we’re going to focus in on some of the very best from the perspective of both viewers and fantasy owners.

Market Snapshot: Stock market edges to all-time highs as tech shares gain

U.S. stock benchmarks carve out fresh intraday records on Friday with a big assist from rallying technology shares, helping Wall Street shake off North Korean tensions and aim to cement sharp weekly gains.

Beat the System: Equifax CEO hired a music major as the company’s chief security officer

Susan Mauldin, whose identity is being scrubbed from the internet, studied music composition, writes Brett Arends.