07Nov2017 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Mixed After A Disappointing Profit Forecast From Priceline, Oil Settles Lower, Halting 3-session String Of Gains

Written by Gary

US major indexes recovered fractionally from early afternoon losses to have the large cap in the green, but flat (SPY – 0.06%) while the Nasdaq closed down -0.3%. Investors are worried that a plan to cut corporate taxes could be watered down.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall Street recedes, Priceline and banks weigh (Reuters) – Wall Street dipped on Tuesday after a disappointing profit forecast from Priceline and as investors fretted that a Republican plan to cut corporate taxes could be watered down.
	Billionaire investor Ackman loses bitter ADP proxy battle ROSELAND, N.J. (Reuters) – William Ackman got what Automatic Data Processing Inc’s chief executive called an “ass-whipping” on Tuesday as the activist hedge fund manager lost an acrimonious fight to win seats on the payroll company’s board.
	Sky says it could shut Sky News if Fox takeover blocked LONDON (Reuters) – British broadcaster Sky has said that it could shut down Sky News if its ownership of the channel proves to be an obstruction to the company’s 11.7 billion-pound ($15.4 billion) takeover by Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox .
	EU’s Vestager seeking details on Apple’s recent tax set-up LISBON (Reuters) – European Union regulators have asked iPhone maker Apple for details of its recent tax structure following last year’s order to pay back taxes of up to 13 billion euros ($15 billion) to Ireland, Europe’s anti-trust chief said on Tuesday.
	China plans easing foreign holding, partner choice for securities ventures – sources HONG KONG (Reuters) – China plans to allow global banks to take a stake of up to 51 percent in their onshore securities ventures for the first time and tie up with local non-financial firms, people familiar with the matter said.
	One-year since Trump’s win, U.S. funds enjoy strong growth LONDON (Reuters) – Assets managed by U.S.-based funds have grown substantially, led by equity funds, since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential elections a year ago.
	Alphabet’s Waymo to launch robotaxis with no human in driver’s seat SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Alphabet Inc’s Waymo will launch a ride-hailing service with no human behind the steering wheel and has been testing the fully self-driving cars on public roads in Arizona, Chief Executive John Krafcik said on Tuesday.
	U.S. senators press Allergan for details on patent deal with tribe (Reuters) – A group of U.S. senators on Tuesday asked drugmaker Allergan Plc to produce documents relating to its agreement to transfer patents to a Native American tribe to shield them from review by an administrative court.
	Bridgewater paid off employee after relationship with top executive: WSJ (Reuters) – Bridgewater Associates paid a settlement to a woman who was fired after having a consensual relationship with top executive Greg Jensen, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
	US Credit Card Debt Rises Above $1 Trillion As Student, Auto Loans Hit All Time High Earlier in 2017, using the latest Fed data newspapers and financial media reported that US consumer credit card debt had risen above $1 trillion for the first time since the financial crisis. Ironically, just a few months later the Fed revised its data series sending the revolving credit total back under this “psychological number.” At least until today, when the latest consumer credit update from the Fed disclosed that in September, consumer credit rose by $20.8 billion, more than the $17.5 billion expected, of which $14.4 billion was non-revolving, auto and student loans, and $6.4 billion was credit card debt. Total consumer credit rose by 6.6% Y/Y, rising to $3.788 trillion as of Sept. 30. This was the single biggest monthly increase since November 2016. And while nonrevolving credit reached a fresh record high of $2.782 trillion, revolving – or credit card debt – is now back over a trillion dollars, or $1.006 trillion to be precise, and fast approaching the all time bubble high of $1.02 trillion hit in the summer of 2008. And speaking of student and auto loans, the Fed’s latest data showed that in the third quarter, these rose to a new all time high, of $1.112 trillion for auto loans, and a record $1.486 trillionn in student loans. The Fed also reported that nonrevolving lending to consumers by the Federal government, which is mainly student …
	Short-Volatility Funds AUM Hits Record High While VIX futures and options speculators have pulled back (albeit very marginally) from their record short positions in the last week, ETF products betting that volatility will sink lower have never been more popular. As VIX collapsed to an 8 handle and record low close last week, futures and options specs did pull back very modestly… But, as Bloomberg reports, investors have continued to give the short-volatility trade their vote of confidence this year. With $2.4 billion in assets, short volatility exchange-traded funds are backed by the most cash on record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. For now, the volatility bears have the momentum. Inverse VIX funds have nearly tripled in size this year alone. The amount of assets tracking short-volatility products rose above that of their long-volatility counterparts for the first time in two years in the third quarter. In fact, as Bloomberg points out, regardless of direction, volatility itself is an in-demand asset class. The popularity of volatility products far outweighs that of other prominent corners …
	No Courage To Extend Duration Authored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog, For a supposedly shrewd guy, Treasury Secretary Mnuchin sometimes astounds me. When he first took over the job, Mnuchin said the “concept of ultra-long bonds made sense for us to explore.” With interest rates knocking at multi-generational lows, the idea of the government extending duration seemed prudent. So what did Mnuchin do? He sent out a survey to the Federal Primary Dealers asking them for their opinions. Isn’t that like asking your barber if you should grow out your hair? After all, these dealers make some of their living continually rolling over the Treasury’s debt. If that debt’s maturity was extended, that would reduce the number of auctions the government would need each year. Big surprise, the answer came back that there wasn’t enough demand for an ultra-long bond. Shock! This is one of those Steve Jobs/Henry Ford moments where a leader should step up and show some vision. Henry Ford once said that if he asked customers what they would want, they would say “faster horses.” And whe …
	Donna Brazile Has A Few Theories About Who Might’ve Killed Seth Rich Donna Brazile’s new book is out, and reporters at the Daily Caller, who apparently have already combed through the book, have published a series of stories summarizing the book’s most embarrassing and shocking allegations about the Clinton campaign and DNC. Their reporting shows Brazile taking aim at other erstwhile political allies like former President Barack Obama, whom she blamed for leaving the DNC in disarray, while also revealing who she believes may have been responsible for Seth Rich’s murder. Brazile says a chill ran down her spine when Hillary Clinton refused to concede to Donald Trump on election night of 2016 after a hushed mood had fallen over crowds of supporters at the Javits Center, who had arrived in high spirits, expecting their candidate to be swiftly anointed by the American electorate. Unfortunately for Clinton’s most hard-core supporters, the voters had other plans. Furthermore, Brazile said Clinton’s refusal reminder her of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore’s reaction to the election results in 2000, when Gore refused to concede and demanded a recount after results showed that George W. Bush had won. Clinton adviser Minyon Moore “told me that at 1:30 a.m. John Podesta was going to address the crowd at the Javits Center and tell them to go home,” Brazile writes. “A shiver came over me, a memory of the Gore defeat, where we had Bill Daley go out and addre …
	Tax Reform Creates Big Winners and Just Winners Among Banks The banking industry will be among the biggest winners from a lower corporate tax rate, but some lenders stand to benefit much more than others.
	Cognac Shortage Won’t Keep Rémy on Top Shelf Forever The world’s supply of cognac is running low. Paying a high price for the stock of specialist distiller Rémy Cointreau may leave a sour taste.
	Credit Trades Du Jour: Exotic, ‘Nonlinear’ and Private The hunt for yield is taking Wall Street and investors into exotic territory—and that means an appetite for credit assets that are private, not easily tradable and often complex.
	September 2017 Headline Consumer Credit Growth Rate Grows Written by Steven Hansen The headlines say consumer credit rate of annual growth increased from last month. Our analysis agrees.
	Disney restores screening access to LA Times following backlash and media boycott The four film critics associations had barred Disney films from awards consideration, while other media critics vowed to avoid advance screenings in solidarity with the Los Angeles Times.
	Companies are more worried about Amazon than Trump When the ‘Amazon effect’ squares off against the ‘Trump trade,’ there’s a clear winner.
	Futures Movers: Oil settles lower, halting 3-session string of gains Oil prices finish lower Tuesday, retreating from the more than two-year highs reached a day earlier on the back of a purge of high-level figures in Saudi Arabia, a key crude producer.