08Nov2017 Market Close: Wall Street Closes Higher, DOW Closes Flat, Nasdaq Finishes With A +0.3 Percent Gain, WTI Crude Slips Into The 56 Handle

Apple breaks $900 billion market cap, leads Wall Street to record highs

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street closed at a record high on Wednesday as Apple’s market capitalization climbed above the $900 billion mark and videogame makers rallied.

U.S. demands CNN or DirecTV sale to approve AT&T/Time Warner deal: sources

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice is pushing AT&T Inc to sell Turner Broadcasting, parent of CNN cable network, or its DirecTV satellite television unit to satisfy antitrust concerns over its purchase of Time Warner Inc , sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

Bitcoin hits record high after developers suspend plans to ‘fork’ currency

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin hit a record high just shy of $8,000 on Wednesday after a coalition of developers and investors suspended a software upgrade planned for next Thursday that could have split the digital currency in two.

Former Yahoo CEO apologizes for data breaches, blames Russians

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Yahoo Chief Executive Marissa Mayer apologized on Wednesday for two massive data breaches at the internet company, blaming Russian agents for at least one of them, at a hearing on the growing number of cyber attacks on major U.S. companies.

Slow start for Lufthansa on new U.S. route after Air Berlin collapse

BERLIN (Reuters) – Lufthansa’s first flight from Berlin to the United States in over 16 years took off on Wednesday, although a slow start to sales shows the difficulties involved in trying to replace the gaps left by insolvent rival Air Berlin.

Airbus eyes Canadian military deal, further cooperation with Bombardier

OTTAWA/MONTREAL (Reuters) – Airbus SE could cooperate further with Bombardier Inc beyond a recent venture in the CSeries jets, if its fighter jet is permitted to compete in a Canadian military procurement, and its partners agree, an executive said on Wednesday.

Exclusive: Takata creditors seek $30 billion, far more than it can pay – court filing

TOKYO (Reuters) – Creditors of bankrupt Takata Corp say the parts maker owes them more than $30 billion after the automotive industry’s biggest recall over its faulty air bags – many times more than the company can repay, a court filing seen by Reuters shows.

Airbus trails Boeing in orders heading into Dubai showdown

PARIS (Reuters) – Airbus sold 24 aircraft and delivered 63 in October, leaving it well behind rival Boeing in the hunt for new orders going into next week’s Dubai Airshow, but on course to reach its recently softened target of 700 deliveries for the year.

U.S. Justice Department mulls limits on overlapping corporate penalties

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department is exploring ways to prevent multiple law enforcement agencies from slapping companies with corporate penalties over the same underlying misconduct, a senior official said on Wednesday.

One Year After The Election; Where Does The Trump Rally Rank?

Via LPLResearch.com,

It’s hard to believe, but the U.S. Presidential Election was a year ago today. Per Ryan Detrick, Senior Market Strategist,

“Although no one at the time would have believed it, the 12 months since Election Day have been among the least volatile ever for equity markets; not to mention the solid 21% gain the S&P 500 Index racked up along the way that has the bulls smiling.”

So where does the rally over the past 12 months rank?

We looked at S&P 500 returns for each year after every U.S. election since 1950* and found that the current 21.1% rally ranks fifth on the list.

The best return came at the start of President Clinton’s second term during the late ’90s bull market, while the worst ever was the first year of President W. Bush’s first term amid the tech bubble.

Will Xi Offer Trump A Small Victory On Trade As Cover For His Longer-Term Ambitions

On Monday, Trump pressed Japan’s Prime Minister and business leaders to reduce the $69 billion trade deficit. A couple of badly made jokes, awkward moments and an unfair singling out of the auto industry later, we expressed our scepticism that the Japanese would do anything after he left (see “Trump Says Trade With Japan Is Not Fair And Not Open – Awkward Moments Ensue” here). Today Trump touched down in Beijing for two days of meetings, including eagerly awaited talks with China’s greatest leader since Mao, Xi Jinping. The schedule includes a visit to the Forbidden City and a state dinner. During the press conference in Tokyo on Monday, Trump assured reporters that he has an “excellent” relationship with Xi (they all are), while expressing his determination to reduce the $327 billion trade deficit with the Middle Kingdom. Vowing to take “very, very strong action”, Trump stated.

“It has to come down…And that has to do really with free trade, fair trade, or reciprocal trade. And frankly I like reciprocal the best of the group.”

As the moment of truth approaches, the rhetoric on the Chinese side suggests that progress is a possibility. As Bloomberg notes.

Donna Brazile Exposes “The Cult Of Clinton” – She Lost Due To “Arrogance”

Former Chair of The DNC, Donna Brazile, continues on her 12-step program to Clinton-sobriety today telling MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough that the “arrogant” Clinton campaign was more like “cult” than a political campaign.

As Grabien reports, Brazile said of the Clinton campaign…

“It was a cult,”

“I felt like it was a cult.”

Brazile further said that the main reason Clinton lost was due to her “arrogance.”

Brazile pulls no punches…

SCARBOROUGH: “Bottom line it for us. Why did they lose? Was it, at the end of the day, arrogance?”

BRAZILE: “Yes, Joe. It was a cult, I felt like it was a cult. You could not penetrate them. I mean, I — look, you can — I’m a grassroot organizer. I know street politics better than I know sweet politics. I know how to touch people where they live, work, pray, and play. But I cannot help a candidate, Joe, if I don’t have the resources, if I cannot spend the resources that the party is raising because there’s a blind agreement between…”

BRZEZINSKI: “…Exactly…”

BRAZILE: “…A campaign…”

BRZEZINSKI: “…Unspoken even”

BRAZILE: “…And, again, I want my party to come back from this stronger. I like what Tom Perez is doing. I know he said this is not about my book. Baby, I know it’s not about my book. But it’s about making much-needed change …

Icahn Subpoenaed Over Biofuel Policy, RINS Tumble

This just might spoil what has so far been a strong year for Carl Icahn. Bloomberg is reporting that the FBI has issued subpoenas for information on Carl Icahn’s possible lobbying to change biofuel policy while serving as an informal adviser to President Donald Trump, according to regulatory filings.

Icahn, who briefly served as an adviser to the president and who was once suspected of being a possible pick for Treasury, announced in August that he was no longer serving as an adviser to the president regarding regulatory reform. In his curiously worded letter, he specified that he “never had a formal position” in the White House.

The Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York is “seeking production of information” pertaining to Icahn’s activities regarding the Renewable Fuel Standard, according to a Form 10-Q that Icahn Enterprises LP filed on Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The investigators also want information on Icahn’s role as an adviser to the president, the document says.

“We are cooperating with the request and are providing information in response to the subpoena,” Icahn Enterprises said in the filing. “The U.S. Attorney’s office has not made any claims or allegations against us or Mr. Icahn.”

Neither Icahn nor the DOJ commented for Bloomberg. The news immediately hit shares of Icahn Enterprises.

Markets Are Cooking Up Recipe for a Clash

Financial markets have spent a good deal of time fretting about the withdrawal of the extraordinary monetary policy measures taken by central banks. Yet as the Federal Reserve and the ECB have taken action, investors have hardly blinked.

Another Blow to Online Lenders

Lenders should be judged not on how fast they grow during good times, but how they perform in periods like today when consumer defaults are ticking up. On that basis, LendingClub looks unprepared and investors are right to be skeptical of the online lender.

Investors’ Growth Obsession Leads Only to Tech

Growth is an increasingly hard achievement these days, so investors are rushing into the one sector that is delivering big numbers—tech.

Earnings Outlook: Equifax earnings: Breach may have hurt consumers, but it won’t hurt the business

As affected consumers scramble, Wall Street sees a buying opportunity.

Short sellers are not evil, but they are misunderstood

Short selling is not a dark art performed by ‘angry contrarians,’ but provides an opportunity for ‘financial protesters’ to potentially profit without having to always bet in one direction.

Sears latest problem? It doesn’t have enough consumer electronics to sell

Sears said its third-quarter earnings were hurt by a reduction in its consumer electronics assortment.