Written by Gary
US major indexes were down fractionally in late afternoon trading, but closed mixed and flat (SPY +0.02%). Apple, the progress of a healthcare bill, NOKO and corp earnings are solidly in investors sights.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. -1 to 935 rigs
Baker Hughes Rig Count: U.S. -1 to 935 rigs
U.S. Rig Count is down 1 rig from last week to 935, with oil rigs down 5 to 744, gas rigs up 4 to 190, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.
U.S. Rig Count is up 424 rigs from last year’s count of 511, with oil rigs up 326, gas rigs up 98, and miscellaneous rigs unchanged at 1.
The U.S. Offshore Rig Count is up 2 rigs from last week to 19 and down 1 rig year-over-year.
The Market in Perspective
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
 | Exclusive: T-Mobile, Sprint close to agreeing on deal terms – sources(Reuters) – T-Mobile US Inc is close to agreeing tentative terms on a deal to merge with Sprint Corp , people familiar with the matter said on Friday, a major breakthrough in efforts to merge the third and fourth largest U.S. wireless carriers. |
| ‘Unfit’ Uber stripped of London licenseLONDON (Reuters) – London deemed Uber unfit to run a taxi service on Friday and stripped it of its license to operate from the end of next week in a major blow to the U.S. firm and 3.5 million users in one of the world’s wealthiest cities. |
| Wall Street slips on healthcare, North Korea, earnings angst(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were down slightly in late afternoon trading on Friday as Apple weighed and investors eyed the progress of a healthcare bill in Washington on top of concerns about North Korea and the upcoming corporate earnings season. |
| Without U.S., 11 nations in TPP inch closer to a dealTOKYO (Reuters) – The 11 nations remaining in the Trans-Pacific Partnership after the United States withdrew have inched closer to a comprehensive deal, offering hope that major countries can maintain free trade in the face of U.S. protectionism, a negotiator said on Friday. |
| Wall Street lukewarm on Chipotle’s new ‘queso’ amid customer scornLOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc’s new “queso” cheese sauce is going over better on Wall Street than on Twitter, where one person called it a “crime against cheese.” |
| Native American tribe moves to dismiss Allergan patent case(Reuters) – A Native American tribe holding patents for drugmaker Allergan Plc on Friday moved to dismiss a case brought by generic drug company Mylan NV challenging the patents. |
| Time Inc in talks to sell assets; warns on third-quarter ad revenue softness(Reuters) – Time Inc said on Friday it was looking to sell several assets, including Time Inc UK, and warned it experienced more-than-anticipated softness in both print and advertising revenue during the current quarter. |
| Facebook trial over Class C stock canceled: Delaware courtWILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Facebook Inc’s trial over a shareholder lawsuit opposing the company’s stock reclassification has been canceled, according to a clerk in Delaware’s Court of Chancery. |
| Diesel’s disgrace brings hybrids-for-all in race to electrifyFRANKFURT (Reuters) – Carmakers squeezed between carbon emissions cuts and falling sales of fuel-efficient diesels have used the Frankfurt auto show to spotlight a future generation of electric cars that will largely come too late to help them out of their bind. |
| Mapping The World’s 200-Plus UnicornsToday’s infographic comes to us from cost information site HowMuch.net, and it shows the hundreds of unicorns around the world. The special “unicorn” moniker, of course, is reserved for privately-held startups that reach valuations of a billion dollars or more. In this map, the startups are plotted plotted based on their country of origin, and not their physical geographic location (such as a specific city or state). Further, companies are organized also based on color, which represents the spectrum of sectors that these startups span across. As Visual Capitalist’s Jeff Desjardins notes, today, there are 214 unicorns worth a collective $744 billion – but that dollar value is distributed very unequally. According to research firm CB Insights, the top 10 unicorns alone are worth $303.3 billion (41%), while the “bottom” 204 make up the remaining $440.7 billion (59%) of the pool.
KNOWN UNKNOWNS You’re probab … |
| New York Fed Calculates Inflation Is Running Hottest Since 2007As if inflation wasn’t “mysterious” enough to the Fed already, today the New York Fed joined the Atlanta Fed first in releasing its own measure to track underlying inflation called, simply, the Underlying Inflation Gauge. What is notable is that this latest inflation tracker shows prices behaving quite differently from traditional indexes this year. According to the UIG’s August measure, broad inflation came in at a red hot 2.74%, the highest since November 2007, according to historical data from the Fed. That compares with just 1.9% annual inflation according to the Labor Department’s CPI and an even more paltry 1.4% as measured by the preferred PCE gauge of Fed policy makers, which matched the lowest since September 2016.
This is what the latest reading showed: The UIG estimated on the “full data set” increased from a revised 2.64% in July to 2.74% in August. The “prices-only” measure increased from a revised 2.09% in July to 2.17% in August. The August CPI showed a further pick up in inflation from June. In response to the firming of CPI inflation, both UIG measures displayed a rise in trend inflation. he UIG measures currently estimate trend CPI inflation to be in the 2.2% to 2.7% range, with both re … |
| Trump’s “Best Week Since Inauguration” Sends Approval Rating To 4-Month HighsThis was President Trump’s best week since inauguration as his job approval rating spiked most since the first week of Feb..
A week of record-breaking hurricanes, paradigm-shattering comments at The UN, and record high stock prices has pushed President Trump’s approval rating to its highest since mid-May.
One thing is for sure, President Trump seems capable of controlling the media narrative (for better or for worse)… (via Axios)
The study shows that while Trump’s presidency has been action-packed, the public’s attention span doesn’t seem to last for long. However, one group of people does seem to pay attention longer – FX traders… With a one-month lag, the dollar index appears to be tracking President Trump’s approval rating rather well… |
| “Basically Destroyed” – Puerto Rico’s Back In The 18th CenturyAuthored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com, Welcome to America’s first experiment in the World Made By Hand lifestyle. Where else is it going? Watch closely.
Ricardo Ramos, the director of the beleaguered, government-owned Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, told CNN Thursday that the island’s power infrastructure had been basically “destroyed” and will take months to come back. “Basically destroyed.” That’s about as basic as it gets civilization-wise.
Residents, Mr. Ramos said, would need to change the way they cook and cool off. For entertainment, old-school would be the best approach, he said.
Meaning, I guess, no more playing Resident Evil 7: Biohazard on-screen because you’ll be living it – though one wonders where will the money come from to buy the ball and glove? Few Puerto Ricans will be going to work with the power off. And the island’s public finances were in disarray sufficient to drive it … |
| What If Apple’s Supercycle Isn’t So SuperEarly concerns about Apple’s iPhone 8 and cell-connected watch provide a rough start to what needs to be a big year. |
| Tesla’s SolarCity HangoverCar maker’s investors should be concerned after solar-panel unit’s Justice Department settlement over allegations of False Claims Act violations. |
| Currencies: Dollar pulls back as North Korea turmoil flares againThe dollar falls broadly against most rivals, extending declines from the previous day as its post-Fed meeting glow faded and discord around North Korea bubble up again. Yet it managed to defend a second round of weekly gains. |
| How a T-Mobile-Sprint merger would hurt consumersIt isn’t just T-Mobile and Sprint customers who would feel the effects of such a deal. |
| This is how much airline passengers paid in all those extra fees last yearRyanair became the latest airline to tighten up free baggage policies last week. |
Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist THE MOST VALUABLE STARTUPS
Summary of Economic Releases this Week
Earnings Summary for Today
leading Stock Positions
Current Commodity Prices
Commodities are powered by Investing.com
Current Currency Crosses
The Forex Quotes are powered by Investing.com.
To contact me with questions, comments or constructive criticism is always encouraged and appreciated:
