15Nov2017 Pre-Market Commentary: Wall Street To Open Lower, Dow Futures Tumble Over 125 Points As Mood For Risk Sours, WTI Crude Falls To The High 54 Handle, Gold Soars As Risk Sours

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

Shareholders take aim at Murdochs with Fox voting rights push

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A shareholder proposal calling for Twenty-First Century Fox Inc to do away with its dual-class share structure may inflict a symbolic black eye on the media company’s founder Rupert Murdoch and his family at its annual meeting on Wednesday.

Target’s holiday-quarter profit forecast disappoints, shares dip

(Reuters) – Target Corp issued a disappointing profit forecast for the key holiday quarter as it continues to depend on price cuts to drive traffic to its stores and online, sending its shares down 4 percent in premarket trading.

Biggest deal yet for Airbus as Franke ups bet on budget airlines

DUBAI (Reuters) – Airbus landed its biggest ever airliner deal on Wednesday with an agreement to sell 430 planes worth up to $50 billion to U.S. budget airlines investor Bill Franke.

Cerberus takes 3 percent stake in Deutsche Bank

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – U.S. buyout fund Cerberus has taken a 3 percent stake in Deutsche Bank , Germany’s flagship lender said on Wednesday.

Boeing in 175 plane deal with budget carrier flydubai

DUBAI (Reuters) – Boeing Co. reached a preliminary deal for 175 of its 737 MAX jets with flydubai on Wednesday, potentially committing the budget airline’s fleet to the U.S. planemaker for another decade.

Global stocks set for longest run of losses since March, euro shines

LONDON (Reuters) – World stocks were set for their longest losing streak in more than six months on Wednesday as weaker commodities weighed, while the euro hit its highest levels in three weeks.

Exclusive: Amazon scraps bundled video service – sources

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc has scrapped plans to launch an online streaming service bundling popular U.S. broadcast and cable networks because it believes it cannot make enough money on such a service, people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Israel prepares to send tax bills to Facebook, Google: report

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is planning to send tax bills within a year to internet companies Google and Facebook, financial newspaper TheMarker reported on Wednesday, joining efforts by several countries, including the European Union, to get the internet giants to pay more tax.

Qualcomm-NXP ruling may be in 2018: EU competition commissioner

BEIJING (Reuters) – A ruling on Qualcomm Inc’s proposed $38 billion acquisition of NXP Semiconductors NV may come in 2018, European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager said on Wednesday.

Bitcoin Surges Back Above $7200 As Square Tests Crypto Payments

“The reports of Bitcoin’s death are greatly exaggerated…”

Remember over the weekend, as Bitcoin crashed 30% from its highs, how the ‘told you so’ crowd emerged and confidently predicted the end of the bubble as Bitcoin Cash was set to run the world? Well that was 30% ago and Bitcoin is now testing back above $7250 following headlines overnight that P2P payments provider Square is testing integration of cryptocurrency payments in its cash app…

As CoinTelegraph reports, Square has issued a rollout to a limited number of customers, using pooled wallets to allow Bitcoin payments without the current high fees.

“…We’ve found that [customers] are interested in using the Cash App to buy Bitcoin,” the company said in a statement.

“We’re exploring how Square can make this experience faster and easier, and have rolled out this feature to a small number of Cash App customers. We believe cryptocurrency can greatly impact the ability of individuals to participate in the global financial system and we’re excited to learn more here.”

The reaction has been a $700 surge so far…

North Korea Says Donald Trump “Deserves The Death Penalty”

North Korea’s state-run propaganda machine has seized on Donald Trump’s aborted trip to the DMZ, calling him a “coward” for canceling his visit to the heavily fortified border. And just to make sure there is nothing lost in translation, state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmin said Trump deserves the “death penalty” for insulting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

An editorial in the ruling party newspaper focused its anger on Trump in a recent issue, criticizing him after he vowed to bring the North Korean regime to heel if it doesn’t surrender its nuclear weapons and half its program of nuclear enrichment during a speech to South Korean lawmakers last week during the beginning of Trump’s 12-day, five-nation tour across Asia – which was intended to rally regional support for the US’s push to force North Korea to disarm.

“The worst crime for which he can never be pardoned is that he dared [to] malignantly hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership,” the editorial said.

“He should know that he is just a hideous criminal sentenced to death by the Korean people,” it added.

Though Trump recently reengaged in the verbal jousting last week when he tweeted that he “would never call Kim ‘short and fat'” – apparently response to a message broadcast on state TV. There has been no love lost between the two, who have traded insults since Trump took office in late January. However, in a sign that relations between the two long-time adversaries might be warming, the North has refrained from carrying out another missile test since i …

Gartman: “The Bear Market Is Upon Us We Fear “

With the BTFD algos showing some uncharacteristic hesitancy this morning, Dennis Gartman’s overnight commentary may provide just the catalyst they need to do their sworn duty and ramp stocks into the green within minutes of the cash open for one simple reason: Gartman fears a bear market of “some serious vintage” is now be upon us.

As excerpted from his latest overnight letter to clients:

STOCK PRICES ARE UNIVERSALLY WEAKER THIS MORNING as all ten of the markets comprising our International Index have fallen and as two of the ten… the markets in Japan and in Brazil… have fallen by more than 1% with the former down 1.5% as we write and as we finish TGL and with the latter down a truly material 2.3%. In the end, our Index has fallen 86 “points” or 0.7% and is down 175 “points” from its all-time high of 12,012 on Thursday of last week, or 1.4% below that high.

We note the “universal” nature of the weakness for having all ten markets moving in the same direction is indeed quite rare and historically this occurs at major turning points; that is, the lows were made back in the spring of ’09 amidst panic, final liquidation of stocks when we had one or two days of universal weakness followed by a day or two of universal strength. That was a major turning point, obviously. Further, the interim lows made in January of this past year were accompanied by one day of “universal” movement, and there are other examples that we can recall when prices moved in “universal” terms and which marked major turning points. Today’s “universal” weakness…only a week from the global market’s all-time high… is a harbinger of further material weakness we fear and sets the stage for the start of what we fear might well be a bear market of some serious vintage.

There …

Frontrunning: November 15

GOP Seeks to Derail Moore, Salvage Senate Seat (WSJ)

Army takes control in Zimbabwe (Reuters)

Senate Tax Plan Guts Obamacare, Sunsets Many Middle-Class Cuts (BBG)

Senate Republicans tie tax plan to repeal of key Obamacare mandate (Reuters)

Trump’s Campaign Foreign Policy Team Under Mueller’s Microscope (BBG)

Ryan Says Future Congresses Will Preserve Tax Bill’s Temporary Measures (BBG)

Shareholders take aim at Murdochs with Fox voting rights push (Reuters)

AT&T Engages Its Washington Firepower to Push Megadeal (BBG)

Time Inc. to Launch Sports Illustrated TV (WSJ)

Boeing in 175 plane deal with budget carrier flydubai (

Tencent’s Videogame Business Hits Another High Score

The world’s biggest videogame company saw sales and profit handily beating analyst estimates, with games accounting for half of the company’s revenue. In particular, revenue from mobile games nearly doubled from a year ago.

The Real ‘War on Coal’ Is in China

China’s president Xi Jinping has made a commitment to a “better” – not just richer – life for Chinese citizens. That, combined with slowing industry in China, spells trouble for the dirtiest type of fuel.

Buy These Banks, Not Those, on Regulatory Relief

Midsize banks are the most obvious beneficiaries of a bipartisan deregulation plan, but the most significant impact could be to help even smaller banks to grow.

Economic Report: U.S. retail sales rise modestly in October after surge in prior month

Sales at U.S. retailers rose 0.2% in October, after jumping 1.9% in the prior month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.

Is Amazon getting into the pharmacy business? This is what you need to know

The massive online retailer with a reputation for disruption could be coming for the notoriously complex, opaque drug industry.

The FDA is cracking down on controversial supplement kratom

The product, which some Americans use for drug withdrawal, could actually make the opioid crisis worse, according to the FDA.