Written by Gary
Will the global equity bull market be at end? Read the headlines below which are driving market prices today.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.42% while the CAC 40 gains 0.22%. The FTSE 100 is off 0.09%. |
What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Lucky 13? Stocks score longest run of monthly gains on recordLONDON (Reuters) – A dive in high-flying U.S. tech stocks on worries their boom may have peaked left investors wondering on Thursday whether the longest global equity bull run in living memory might be starting to splutter. | |
Uber lawyer says board, ex-CEO knew of evidence withheld from Waymo caseSAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Uber Technologies Inc’s former chief executive and some board members knew of a letter alleging employees had stolen trade secrets, but the document was withheld from a high-stakes lawsuit, a company attorney testified on Wednesday. | |
Sears comp sales continue to fall, loss in line with forecast(Reuters) – Sears Holdings Corp continued its streak of declining sales in the third quarter, reporting a double-digit drop in comparable sales at its Sears and Kmart chains. | |
Flipkart investors, employees trimming stakes as part of SoftBank deal: sourcesMUMBAI (Reuters) – Some early Flipkart [IPO-FLPK.N] investors, employees and ex-employees are selling their shares in the Indian e-commerce firm as part of a $2.5 billion investment deal agreed with Japan’s SoftBank Group , two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. | |
AT&T CEO says blackout ban shows company willing to settle DOJ fight(Reuters) – AT&T Inc’s proposed seven-year ban on programming blackouts to distributors of some Time Warner Inc content shows that the company is willing to offer concessions to close its $85.4 billion bid for the programmer, AT&T’s chief executive officer said on Wednesday. | |
Kansai Electric, Kyushu Electric delay nuclear plant restarts for Kobe Steel checksTOKYO (Reuters) – Two Japanese nuclear operators said on Thursday they will delay the restart of nuclear plants to check whether they have received compromised parts from Kobe Steel Ltd , which has admitted to widespread fabrication of data on products. | |
Australia bows to years of pressure, announces inquiry into finance sectorSYDNEY (Reuters) – The Australian government said on Thursday it will hold a wide-ranging inquiry into a scandal-hit finance sector, arguing one was needed to restore public confidence as it reversed its long-held opposition amid mounting political pressure. | |
Qatar sovereign fund may support Qatar Airways, local projects, CEO saysDOHA, (Reuters) – Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), one of the world’s largest sovereign funds, may invest in local real estate development Katara and national carrier Qatar Airways as it supports local projects, its chief executive was quoted as saying. | |
Aviva to generate extra $4 billion of cash, planning payback, some M&ALONDON (Reuters) – Aviva expects to generate an extra 3 billion pounds ($4 billion) in cash over the next two years and will make acquisitions as well as giving money back to shareholders, it said on Thursday, sending its share price to three-month highs. | |
Matt Lauer Speaks: “To The People I’ve Hurt, I Am Sorry”Daytime television aficionados woke up yesterday to discover that another one of the programming block’s most prominent male figures had been felled by the expanding national reckoning with sexual harassment in the workplace. Matt Lauer, for 20 years the co-host of NBC’s “Today Show”, had a long history of sexually harassing and pursuing relationships with co-workers. NBC said they fired Lauer after an employee filed a complaint about behavior that began back in 2014 at the Sochi Olympics when she was an intern. Some of his NBC colleagues, including Megyn Kelly, said they’d heard rumors about Lauer, but they “hoped they weren’t true.” After being abruptly fired on Wednesday, Lauer has issued his first public statement since the scandal broke. | |
OPEC Agrees To Extend Oil Supply Cuts Until End Of 2018With OPEC delegates sequestered in a Vienna conference room, as they negotiate the proposed 6-9 month production cut extension, at least one appears to be leaking the decision process to media outlets, because moments ago Bloomberg reported that OPEC ministers have agreed to extend their production cuts until the end of 2018 – agreeing with the Saudi-proposed 9 month extension – and discussions have now moved on to the mechanism that will be used to review the agreement in the middle of the year. While oil prices had traded near session highs ahead of the leaked announcement, they have failed to spike on the news and in fact Brent is back under $64, suggesting that, as Goldman predicted, a favorable outcome had been priced in, and now the details of the agreement will determine which way oil moves next. As Citi wrote moments before the report, “it looks like a 6-9 month extension is the most common expectation amongst OPEC members, though the inclusion of caveats is looking increasingly likely. Comments from Saudi’s Al-Falih suggesting that they expect to see healthy inventory drawdowns in 2Q’18 and 3Q’18 hint that the Kingdom may not be keen to commit to a firm extension beyond that, instead perhaps looking to keep their optional … | |
Dow Hits Record 24,000, Europe Jumps As Euphoria Returns After Tech RoutDespite a Wednesday dive in high-flying U.S. tech stocks on worries their boom may have peaked following a MS downgrade, which presured Asian stocks leading to a slide in Hong Kong and South Korean share, on Thursday morning the dip buyers have emerged and both European stocks and US equity futures are once again solidly in the green as yesterday’s tech selloff is quickly forgotten. Confirming that algos have moved on, US stock-index futures climbed briskly (ES +0.3%), and Dow futures were above 24,000 with Europe green across the board as signs of progress on the tax reform plan led some investors to shift to positions that are seen benefiting from lower corporate tax. Following a lackluster Wednesday session, and some mixed results in Asia, Europe’s Stoxx 600 has advancds to session’s high, up 0.6%, as defensive sectors including telecommunications, utilities and real estate outperform more cyclical sectors like construction, financial services and technology, with the FTSE 100 once again lagging (-0.3%) as the firmer GBP continues to hamper the index. Despite opening relatively flat, European bourses have drifted higher amid the declines seen in EUR with little else in the way of fresh fundamental catalysts to guide price action. All sectors trade in positive territory with the exception of energy names in the wake of yesterday’s sell-off in oil prices. Germany’s Dax and France’s CAC 40 both inched up for a third day, though London’s FTSE was back in the red as hopes of a breakthrough in Brexit negotiations pushed the pound higher again. | |
Euro Area Inflation Unexpectedly Misses Despite Sliding UnemploymentThe euro stumbled, dropping to session lows on Thursday after Eurostat reported that despite a welcome decline in Europe’s unemployment rate to 8.8%, the lowest level in 9 years, Eurozone inflation missed expectations, rising from 1.4% to 1.5%, below the 1.6% consensus expectations, reminding the ECB that Phillips curves around the globe remain broken and that its intention to taper QE and tighten monetary policy may yet be derailed. Looking at the main components of euro area inflation, energy is expected to have the highest annual rate in November (4.7%, compared with 3.0% in October), followed by food, alcohol & tobacco (2.2%, compared with 2.3% in October), services (1.2%, stable compared with October) and non-energy industrial goods (0.4%, stable compared with October). European core inflation (excluding food, energy and tobacco) remained unchanged at 0.9% in November, below the 1% median estimate by economists. The euro traded lower after the report, and was at $1.1829 at 11:44 a.m in Frankfurt. | |
Will Tesla Die for Lack of Cobalt?Cobalt, a critical part of batteries, has nearly tripled in price since last summer as concerns grow about whether there will be enough cobalt to meet demand. | |
A Bitter Winter for China’s EntrepreneursAs the U.S. reaffirms China’s status as a nonmarket economy, the latest data shows China’s economy is holding up well—as long as you are a large, state-owned manufacturer. China’s private factory owners are taking fire from multiple sides, however. | |
Big Tech’s Bad DayThe selloff in tech stocks was less surprising than the rally in downtrodden names. | |
Infographic Of The Day: 18 Reasons Why Businesses FailRunning a business is no easy task. Here are the main reasons for which most businesses fail. | |
Documentary Of The Week: How Junk Economics DevelopedWritten by John Lounsbury Michael Hudson was interviewed by Chris Hedges in 2016, discussing how the current state of economics came about. Michael Hudson describes how the classical economics of production has been converted to a condition of parasitism. | |
Market Extra: Bitcoin moves back below $10,000 as volatility persistsVolatility on the cryptocurrency persisted on Thursday as the market tried to settle down after exchange outages triggered a slump in prices on Wednesday. | |
Beware, the ‘smart money’ isn’t interested in buying technology stocksProfessional investors are cautious yet still participating in the bull market, says Nigam Arora. | |
The Wall Street Journal: Verizon takes on cable with plan to sell 5G wireless-based home broadbandIn a challenge to cable providers, Verizon will sell high-speed internet access in cities outside its existing landline areas using a 5G wireless network. |
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