26Oct2017 Market Close: Wall Street Advances On Earnings But Healthcare Lags, DOW Closes Up 71 Points, WTI Crude Settles At The High 52 Handle, US Dollar Continues To Rise Unabated

Wall St. advances on earnings but healthcare lags

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks advanced on Thursday to recover some declines from the prior session, after a round of positive corporate earnings, although gains were curbed by a drop in the healthcare sector.

Amazon gains wholesale pharmacy licenses in many U.S. states: report

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has gained approval from a number of state pharmaceutical boards to become a wholesale distributor, St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported on Thursday, citing public records.

Twitter says it could turn first-ever profit, shares surge

(Reuters) – Twitter Inc said on Thursday it may become profitable for the first time next quarter after slashing expenses over the past year and ramping up deals to sell its data to other companies, which could help to break its reliance on advertising for revenue.

U.S. earnings calls zero in on automation, lose Trump focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Judging by conference calls from the latest earnings season, U.S. companies and analysts have dropped their preoccupation with Washington and shifted their focus to automation aimed at defending record profit margins.

CEOs suggest Trump tax cut may lift investors more than jobs

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump is selling tax reform to Americans on the promise it will create extra income for companies to invest in their businesses and create jobs. Some of the biggest companies have very different plans.

Amazon’s bold spending to be closely watched in latest results

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc’s audacious spending on original TV shows and movies, its cloud business and an ever-expanding core retail operations, will be closely watched by investors when the retail giant reports results on Thursday.

Consumer groups join conservatives against AT&T deal for Time Warner

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Seven groups ranging from the Tea Party Patriots to liberal consumer groups warned against AT&T’s plan to buy Time Warner in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions, saying the deal could give one company too much power over what Americans see on television.

U.S. October new vehicle sales seen down 4 pct on year: J.D. Power and LMC

DETROIT (Reuters) – U.S. auto sales in October likely fell close to 4 percent from the same month in 2016, though automakers’ sales were buoyed by replacement of storm-damaged vehicles and record-high consumer discounts, industry consultants J.D. Power and LMC Automotive said on Thursday.

Sales of U.S. pickups lift Ford profit; self-driving test set for ’18

DETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co reported a better-than-expected quarterly net profit on Thursday, driven largely by U.S. sales of its high-margin pickup trucks, and said it would begin to test self-driving cars in some cities next year.

Bond Kings & The Future(s)

Authored by Jeffrey Snider via Alhambra Investment Partners,

Maybe there is hope for the media yet. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield has passed above 2.40% for the first time in several months. In the past any similar move or technical breakout of the like was met with uniform screeching about a BOND ROUT!!! This time, however, commentary appears at least to me much more subdued, perhaps as even the rat given the electric shock eventually figures out in which direction the food lies.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t a plethora of articles expounding on the continued narrative about interest rates and the “only” direction they can travel. It’s been six years of this, so there is no more “only” to that equation but for transitory comments. It won’t stop those committed to the case from still preaching it:

“The moment of truth has arrived for secular bond bull market!” DoubleLine Capital Chief Investment Officer Jeffrey Gundlach tweeted Tuesday, just before yields touched session highs.

“Need to start rallying effective immediately or obituaries need to be written.”

I’ve stopped counting the almost endless string of moment of truths that have come and gone with no truth and fewer moments. With respect to Mr. Gundlach’s point, the market just doesn’t seem …

Pharmacy Stocks Slammed On Signs They May Be Next To Get “Amazon’d”

Pharma stocks tumbled to their lows of the session Thursday afternoon after a double whammy of Trump declaring all out war on the opioid epidemic, but more importantly, the St. Louis Dispatch reporting that Amazon has been quietly acquiring pharmacy licenses in 12 states, suggesting Jeff Bezos is gearing up for a battle with the handful of massive pharmacy owners and benefit managers that dominate the US market.

While Reuters initially cited Trump’s remark that the federal government might bring “major lawsuits” against “bad actors” like the pharmaceutical companies who market and sell opioids (a group of state attorneys general are already pursuing litigation that legal experts suspect could lead to a Big Tobacco-style settlement) as the catalyst for the selloff, the Amazon report emerged as the true trigger of for the “Bezos disruption”-driven plunge in shares of Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and several of their peers.

Meanwhile, Amazon shares ticked higher, ahead of the e-commerce behemoth’s third quarter earnings report, expected after the bell.

Back to the original report, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch revealed taht Amazon has received approval for wholesale pharmacy licenses in at least 12 states, including Nevada, Arizona, North Dakota, Louisiana, Alabama, New Jersey, Michigan, Connecticut, Idaho, New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee. An application is currently pending in the state of Maine. A spokesperson for Amazon refused to comment. The

The Black Market: The Embryonic Free Market

The Black Market: The Embryonic Free Market

Posted with permission and written by Jeff Thomas, Casey Research International Man & SWP Cayman

In my lifetime, I’ve witnessed five Cubas.

Pre-Revolution, 1952-1958

In the 1950’s, the Cuban people suffered under great oppression from its military dictator, Fulgencio Batista. The great majority of Cubans at that time lived in fear and welcomed regime change. That change came from Fidel Castro and a small band of rebels in 1959. Although the rebels were poorly armed, poorly trained and were by no means expert military strategists, they had a distinct advantage: the Cuban people would get behind nearly anyone who would oust the tyrannical Batista.

The Soviet Years, 1959-1989

Following the revolution, Mister Castro went to New York and appealed to the US government to recognize his leadership. Unfortunately, M …

There’s Now A Subprime Auto Loan Program Designed Specifically For Refugees

If ever there was a doubt that auto sales have been pushed to the absolute max in this iteration of the industry’s debt-fueled bubble, then consider the following program specifically designed to underwrite subprime auto loans to refugees who have recently arrived in the U.S. with absolutely no credit history or record of any kind. Per The San Diego Union-Tribune:

Newly arrived refugees, especially in driving-oriented places like San Diego, can have trouble finding jobs if they don’t have cars. Because new arrivals generally have no credit history in the U.S. and sometimes make mistakes early on because they don’t understand the system, they often can’t get affordable loans to purchase a car.

“The struggle of a low-income immigrant family that’s looking to move up, it’s hard enough as it is,” said Kasra Movahedi, director of the Center for Economic Opportunity. “If you also then have low credit, it just becomes that much harder in a hundred small and not-so-noticeable ways. Unfortunately, these are the people that can afford it the least.”

That struggle is similar to other low-income families coping with low credit scores, Movahedi said.

“It has to start with one recognizing the importance of a vehicle to a family’s financial stability and solvency,” Movahedi said. “The vehicle allows you to earn an income. In the absence of that, people are going to have a really hard time making money.”

Four offices of the IRC currently offer the program — San Diego, Oakland, Phoenix and Salt Lake City. The organization is planning on adding it to its Atlanta office soon, Movahedi said.

Trading Places: Why Barclays Is Falling Behind Deutsche Bank and Everyone Else

Barclays is achieving something that long seemed impossible in European banking: it is making Deutsche Bank look good.

ECB Takes a Teeny, Tiny Step Toward Ending Loose Monetary Policy

The European Central Bank opened the door to exiting extraordinary monetary policy but is still a long way from going through it

Storms Force Insurers to Pay Up for Protection

The reinsurance industry looks like it will get a modest boost following the wave of natural disasters this year, but primary insurers may get squeezed.

September 2017 Pending Home Sales Seasonally Adjusted Index In Contraction

Written by Steven Hansen

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) seasonally adjusted pending home sales index was unchanged. Our analysis says it declined. The quote of the day from this NAR release:

…the quest to buy a home this fall continues to be a challenging endeavor for many home shoppers …

Trump declares opioids a public health emergency — how robots can help

Some researchers say answers to the opioid crisis can be found on Twitter.

The Ratings Game: Lord & Taylor deal with WeWork is a good way to use ‘less productive’ real estate

Analysts say the deal between Lord & Taylor’s parent company Hudson’s Bay Co. and WeWork is a good way to monetize the company’s real estate

The Ratings Game: Chipotle’s weak earnings could be ‘the new normal’

Chipotle’s earnings miss has analysts disagreeing about the prospects for the fast-casual chain.