27Nov2017 Market Close: Cyber Monday Sales Jump

Written by Gary

Major USA indices were mixed and little changed over the day. Crude off a buck whilst gold marginally advanced. Bitcoin continues its advance towards $10,000. Read all the headlines herein which are driving the market.

Todays S&P 500 Chart

The Market in Perspective

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Energy slumps, Amazon shines as Wall Street ends flat (Reuters) – Wall Street’s major indexes ended little changed on Monday, retreating modestly from record highs set during the session, as gains for Amazon countered losses in shares of energy companies.
	U.S. Cyber Monday sales jump 17 percent, fewer deals on offer (Reuters) – Cyber Monday was on track to become the biggest-ever internet shopping day in the United States as shoppers snapped up bargains on toys and electronics, with many more Americans shopping on their phones.
	Exxon Mobil CEO makes first big changes to refining HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp Chief Executive Darren Woods is reorganizing the company’s refining operations, part of a push to boost profits amid volatile oil and natural gas prices, the company said on Monday.
	TransCanada to restart Keystone pipeline on Tuesday CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) – The Keystone crude oil pipeline will restart at reduced pressure on Tuesday, TransCanada Corp said, nearly two weeks after closing the line after it leaked 5,000 barrels of crude in rural South Dakota.
	$10,000 in sight for bitcoin as it rockets to new record high LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin’s vertiginous ascent showed no signs of abating on Monday, with the cryptocurrency soaring to another record high just a few percent away from $10,000 after gaining more than a fifth in value over the past three days alone.
	U.S. oil falls on Keystone restart, doubts about Russia’s resolve NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Monday, easing from two-year highs on prospects of higher supply from a planned restart of the Keystone crude pipeline and uncertainty about Russia’s resolve to join in extending output cuts ahead of this week’s OPEC meeting.
	Meredith to buy U.S. publisher Time in Koch-backed deal (Reuters) – U.S. media company Meredith Corp said on Sunday it will buy Time Inc, the publisher of People, Sports Illustrated and Fortune magazines, in a $1.84 billion all-cash deal backed by conservative billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
	Microcap stocks surge on cryptocurrency promises (Reuters) – Three of the top four most actively traded U.S. stocks on Monday were all either riding a cryptocurrency-fueled surge, or pulling back from one.
	UBS exits recruiting pact, following Morgan Stanley NEW YORK (Reuters) – UBS Group AG’s Wealth Management Americas said on Monday it was quitting a 13-year-old recruiting agreement that ended the practice of suing brokers who quit for jobs at competing firms, following a similar move by rival Morgan Stanley last month.
	Mauldin: The Bonfire Burns On Authored by John Mauldin via MauldinEconomics.com, “Life invests itself with inevitable conditions, which the unwise seek to dodge, which one and another brags that he does not know, that they do not touch him; but the brag is on his lips, the conditions are in his soul. If he escapes them in one part they attack him in another more vital part. If he has escaped them in form and in the appearance, it is because he has resisted his life and fled from himself, and the retribution is so much death.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Compensation” Bonfires are fun to watch, but they eventually burn out. Human folly apparently doesn’t, so we just keep adding to the absurdities. The volume of daily economic lunacy that lights up my various devices is truly stunning, and it seems to be increasing. I shared a little of it with you in last week’s “Bonfire of the Absurdities.” Since it’s a holiday weekend and I was traveling all week, today I’ll just give you a few more absurdities to ponder. Now, on with the absurdities.
	Stocks Sink But Bitcoin Bursts To Record Highs On Cyber Monday Whatever you do – remember “all is well” Dow ended higher (with MMM and HD the biggest drivers) as Trannies, Small Caps (ugly into the close), and the Nasdaq red with S&P clinging to unchanged…until the very last minute… NOTE – this is Nasdaq’s first down day in the last five – and that was a very unusual ugly close. Futures show that US stocks were weak in Asia, bid in Europe, ramped at the US open, then dumped at the EU close… And don’t forget Friday’s flash crash in VIX… It seems hope for a tax cut is fading a little…
	Trump Pick Wins Over CFPB Staffers With Coffee And Donuts The legal battle for control of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau began in earnest Monday morning as Leandra English and Mick Mulvaney – Trump’s OMB director and his pick to lead the CFPD until a new director can be confirmed – have both asserted authority over the agency’s staff, something that is bound to create tremendous confusion until a federal district judge delivers a final ruling. Mulvaney arrived at the bureau’s Washington headquarters Monday morning carrying bags of donuts from Dunkin Donuts. Meanwhile, English sent an email to CFPB staff where she identified herself as the interim director of the agency, according to Reuters. An hour later, Mulvaney followed up with an email of his own, instructing staffers to “please disregard” English and inviting them to his office on the fourth floor for coffee and donuts. @MickMulvaneyOMB sitting in director’s office. Already hard at work as acting director at cfpb. pic.twitter.com/I1fwo2SYap — john czwartacki (@CZ) November 27, 2017 Apparently, Mulvaney’s free donuts were a hit with the CFPB staff… Donuts were a big hit at cfpb. Like they always are. @MickMulvaneyOMB
	There’s Something Important You Should Know About Bitcoin Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com, After spending the last few days in the Philippines scouting new factory locations for one of my businesses, I flew back to Singapore this morning to conclude negotiations with a large, publicly-listed conglomerate that’s made an offer to buy one of our assets. It’s been a hectic trip so far. But while in town, I had a chance to see my friend Gregor again- the entrepreneur I interviewed in last week’s podcast discussion about precious metals vs. cryptocurrency. In the podcast, Gregor and I talked about Bitcoin security- specifically the fact that very few people properly (i.e. securely) store their cryptocurrency. And the more valuable these cryptocurrencies become, the higher the likelihood of theft. For example, hackers are now frequently engaging in sophisticated phishing attacks, in which a user will receive an email with a subject line like, “You’ve just received 0.02841 BTC”. Naturally, most people open the email. The email goes on to state that the user has received a Bitcoin payment, and to please log in to his/her online Wallet to verify the transaction. Once again, most people click on the link and attempt to log in to their wallet accounts. The page they click on looks almost exactly thei …
	Tax Reform Is a Game Changer for Buyouts Proposed tax changes could shift incentives for private equity, changing how deal making is done in the U.S.
	Samsung’s Tumble Sounds a Warning for Tech Stocks The 5% fall in the Korean tech giant’s shares followed a mild analyst report on its outlook—a sign of the market’s current high state of nervousness.
	Julius Baer Loses CEO and Some of Its Luster When a chief executive jumps ship suddenly it is a cause for concern. When that CEO had led an aggressive, acquisitive expansion, investors may worry even more. So it is with Boris Collardi’s departure from Julius Baer.
	November 2017 Texas Manufacturing Survey Declines But Remains Well Into Growth Territory Of the four Federal Reserve districts which have released their November manufacturing surveys – all are in expansion. A complete summary follows.
	October 2017 Headline New Home Sales Improve Written by John Lounsbury and Steven Hansen The headlines say new home sales improved and was well above market expectations. Our analysis also shows acceleration of new home sales.
	The Tell: Stock-market bull Laszlo Birinyi now sees S&P 500 making run toward 2,700 Longtime stock market bull Laszlo Birinyi lifts his target for the S&P 500, looking for an additional rise of more than 3% by the end of the first quarter of 2017 after hitting his previous target of 2,600.
	ETF Focus: Retail ETFs see big inflows amid strong start to holiday shopping season Exchange-traded funds tracking the retail sector have seen so much investor interest over the past week that spectators could be forgiven for thinking they were among the doorbuster items offered by stores ringing in the holiday shopping season.
	Market Snapshot: Stocks end mostly lower as retail rally fizzles; Dow bucks trend U.S. stocks close mostly lower on Monday after touching intraday records as an early rally in retail shares largely fizzled.