16Oct2017 Market Update: Wall Street Higher As Bank Stocks Rebound, Apple Gains, Crude And The US Dollar Continue To Show Strength

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.11%, while the Bovespa is leading the IPC lower. They are down 0.16% and 0.03% respectively.

Wall Street higher as bank stocks rebound, Apple gains

(Reuters) – A recovery for U.S. banking stocks allied to a 1.5 percent gain for Apple prodded Wall Street’s main indexes higher in early afternoon trading on Monday.

Nordstrom family suspends attempt to take retailer private

(Reuters) – Nordstrom Inc said on Monday its founding family had suspended attempts to take the upscale retailer private for the rest of the year due to difficulties in arranging funds for the deal ahead of the holiday season.

Colony Capital in talks to buy Weinstein Co

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Weinstein Company has entered talks to sell the bulk of its assets to private equity firm Colony Capital, the companies said on Monday, as the film production company looks for stability after the departure of co-founder Harvey Weinstein.

Exclusive: China offers to buy 5 percent of Saudi Aramco directly – sources

DUBAI/LONDON (Reuters) – China is offering to buy up to 5 percent of Saudi Aramco directly, sources said, a move that could give Saudi Arabia the flexibility to consider various options for its plan to float the world’s biggest oil producer on the stock market.

Exclusive: T-Mobile, Sprint plan merger without selling assets

(Reuters) – T-Mobile U.S. Inc and Sprint Corp plan to announce a merger agreement without any immediate asset sales, as they seek to preserve as much of their spectrum holdings and cost synergies as they can before regulators ask for concessions, according to people familiar with the matter.

U.S. buyers favor iPhone 7 over 8: research

(Reuters) – Apple Inc’s older iPhone 7 models are outselling the recently launched iPhone 8 ahead of the early November debut of the premium iPhone X, broker KeyBanc Capital Markets said, citing carrier store surveys.

As the quartet breaks up, central banking leadership flux looms

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The leaders of the world’s top central banks who risked trillions of dollars and their reputations to rescue the global economy are now set to walk off stage at a time when the lingering effects of the crisis, evolving technology and a combustible political landscape will challenge their successors.

California extends sanctions against Wells Fargo for at least another year

(Reuters) – California will extend sanctions against Wells Fargo & Co for at least another year, Treasurer John Chiang said at a press conference Monday.

Fake paperwork, poor parts challenge China’s aerospace boom

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Chinese suppliers to U.S. flight control systems maker Moog sold it poorly made parts, faked paperwork and outsourced work to a factory not approved by the company, according to an internal report by U.S. aviation regulators.

Firm Behind “Trump Dossier” Refuses To Comply With Congressional Subpoena

The three co-founders of Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm responsible for overseeing the creation of the infamous “Trump dossier”, will refuse to comply with a subpoena ordered by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, according to a letter from their attorneys originally obtained by Business Insider.

But experts say the argument their lawyers are using to ask that they be excused relies on shaky legal grounds, and is unlikely to hold.

Attorneys from Cunningham, Levy & Muse said in a letter that, if called to testify, their clients planned to invoke their first amendment rights to exempt them from answering questions. The move – which has all the hallmarks of a stalling tactic – is the latest attempt by the firm’s founders, who reportedly were aware that not all of the allegations contained in the dossier were credible before turning it over to the FBI, to forestall delivering public testimony. Glenn Simpson, a former WSJ investigative reporter and one of the firm’s three founders, met privately with the Senate Judiciary Committee for ten hours over the summer. Afterwards, a group of senators, including Democrat Richard Blumenthal, pushed for Simpson’s testimony to be made public, and the committee is reportedly still mulling whether to release it.

However, Simpson and his fellow Fusion GPS co-founders Thomas Catan and Peter Fritsch, plan to invoke constitutional privileges and decline to testify before the House Intelligence Committee, their attorney wrote …

Sears Crashes After Second Largest Shareholder Resigns From Board

With Toys ‘R’ Us having already filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, in a move that came as a shock to most of its bondholders, suddenly the race between Bon-Ton Stores and Sears Holdings who will file next, is entering its last lap.

For those who may have missed it, late last week, in a scenario right out of the last days of Toys “R” Us, some of Bon-Ton Stores’s suppliers reportedly scaled back shipments and asked to be paid sooner in order to protect themselves from potential losses in case the department-store chain unexpectedly filed for bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

The suppliers have insisted on getting paid with letters of credit or cash on delivery, which can be a drain on the company’s resources, said the people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. The demands come just as the chain enters the key holiday-shopping season in the U.S. “We maintain constructive relationships with our vendors,” Christine Hojnacki, a spokeswoman for the York, Pennsylvania-based company, said in a statement. “Our team has been working closely with all of our vendors, large and small, as we build inventory ahead of the holiday season.”

Unlike Toys, however, Bon-Ton’s inevitable default has already been largely priced in, and the news of the supplier strike had a modest impact on Bon-Ton’s $350 million of 8% second-lien bonds due 2021 which dropped “ony” 2.5 cents to trade at 32.6 cents on the dollar Friday.

Bon-Ton, which operates 260 stores across 24 states, had hired PJT Partners and AlixPartners over the summer to explore options for dealing with its more than $1 billion debt load. In September, it announced an $18.9 million sale-and-leaseback transaction for a store in R …

After Lightning Offensive, Kirkuk Is Now Fully Under Iraqi Military Control

Iraq’s military has effectively gained control of major assets and government buildings in Kirkuk city, and is now set to fully pacify it after overnight clashes at a moment when oil prices rose toward a six month high as the conflict now threatens output.

Iraq’s elite U.S.-trained Counter-Terrorism Force has taken over the provincial government headquarters in the center of Kirkuk after operations to seize the city from Kurdish forces began overnight – the contested city is now reportedly under the control of Iraqi national forces. Some of the first footage Western audiences woke up to Monday morning were of (ironically enough) US supplied equipment – including tanks, being used to bulldoze images of Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani. Iraqi forces have further pulled down Kurdish flags flying over government buildings throughout the city, while leaving the Iraqi flag flying.

Image source: Rudaw

The Iraqi advance on the oil-rich and ethnically diverse previously Kurdish-held city was lightning fast and largely without a major fight – aided by the fact that some Kurdish Peshmerga fighters fled their posts as national militias advanced, which is a reflection of Iraqi Kurdistan’s own political divide: one faction within the PUK Peshmerga (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) is relatively pro-Baghdad, making the Iraqi advance easy in sections of the city held by the group.

And though Kurdish media frequently highlighted footage of armed civilians taking to the streets Sunday and Monday, the city’s large Turkmen population as well as the up to 20% Arab and Assyrian population generally fears and rejects Kurdish dominance over the region.

We’re Looking At A 70% to 80% Chance of Another Global Financial Crisis

Richard Sylla: 70% to 80% Chance of Another Global Financial Crisis

Written by Peter Diekmeyer, Sprott Money News

When Janet Yellen, Chairman of the US Federal Reserve, said in June that she does not expect another financial crisis in our lifetime, eyebrows were raised.

None more so than Richard Sylla’s.

Sylla, a professor emeritus at the Stern School of Business and co-author with Sydney Homer of the magisterial A History of Interest Rates, has studied past business cycles. He is thus able to put …

Cement Company Should Go With Solid Choice

Bull markets bring riches and temptation alike. Materials investors ought to be wary of the latter.

Drugstore Favorites May Be Catching the Common Consumer Cold

Customers may be starting to shop for over-the-counter drugs in the same way they shop for groceries—with a keener eye for cost and content—and this could be painful for consumer-health companies.

China’s Greatest Challenge

The country’s financial system has fueled its debt-driven growth and reforming it may be President Xi Jinping’s toughest task.

October 2017 Empire State Manufacturing Index Near Post Recession Highs

Written by Steven Hansen

The Empire State Manufacturing Survey improved and now is near post Great Recession highs. It was above expectations. Important internals were in expansion but declined.

Peter Morici: Brick-and-mortar stores deserve the heat from Amazon

In every age, new technologies disrupt the status quo. In markets, those rip down boundaries defining the territories of established businesses and instigate creative destruction.

PG&E shares slide 10% on worry of potential liability in California wildfires

PG&E shares are down another 10% on potential liability from the California wildfires.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Why breast cancer patients are in ‘financial crisis’

Many people experience ‘financial toxicity’ during and after treatment.