04Dec2017 Market Update: Dow, SP 500 Notch Records On Tax-plan Progress, But ‘FAANG’ Stocks Crimp Nasdaq, US Factory Orders Slip, Core Capital Goods Orders Revised Up

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 2.06% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.44% and Mexico’s IPC is up 0.25%.

CVS, Aetna executives defend $69 billion deal to skeptical Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) – CVS Health Corp and Aetna Inc top executives on Monday defended their planned merger to Wall Street analysts and investors who questioned the near-term impact on profits of the $69 billion deal to combine the pharmacy and drug benefit manager with the No. 3 U.S. health insurer.

Bank stocks favored over tech as tax bill makes headway

(Reuters) – Wall Street indexes rose on Monday as Republican-led efforts to slash corporate tax rates cleared a major hurdle, with investors picking stocks that have lagged for much of the year including shares of financial and industrial companies.

Broadcom launches 11-nominee slate for Qualcomm board

(Reuters) – Chipmaker Broadcom Ltd made its first formal move toward a hostile bid to take over Qualcomm Inc on Monday, laying out a slate of 11 nominees it wants to put on the board of the U.S. semiconductor firm.

Shares of big U.S. banks jump as Senate approves tax overhaul

(Reuters) – Shares of the biggest U.S. banks rose on Monday, after the Senate approved a tax overhaul bill on Saturday, raising investor hopes that their earnings would get a boost from a significantly lower tax bill.

Bitcoin dips below $11,000 after setting another record high

LONDON (Reuters) – Bitcoin dipped back under $11,000 on Monday, coming off a record high just shy of $11,800 it hit on Sunday after a surge from less than $1,000 at the start of the year.

Ireland expects Apple back tax in escrow account in first quarter, 2018: minister

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ireland expects iPhone maker Apple to start paying up to 13 billion euros ($15.4 billion) in back taxes into an escrow account in the first quarter of 2018, the finance minister said on Monday.

U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax should be removed: House Republican

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The alternative minimum tax on corporations, which had been included in the U.S. Senate’s tax bill, should be eliminated in the final legislation, Kevin McCarthy, the No. 2 Republican in the House of Representatives, said on Monday.

India fines Monsanto for delays in answering anti-trust questions

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India’s anti-trust regulator has fined Monsanto Co 15 million rupees ($233,000) for being too slow in replying to questions in a competition probe into the U.S. seeds company.

VW aims at ride-pooling market with all-electric minibus

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen has unveiled an all-electric minibus to target urban customers who prefer to pay for use rather than own a vehicle, furthering the German company’s push into new forms of online-controlled personal transport services.

Trump Tax Plan Greatest Gift Establishment Ever Got

The following article by David Haggith was published on The Great Recession Blog:

As soon as President Trump put his Goldman boys, Gary Cohn and Steven Mnuchin, in charge of his tax plan, I knew Trump’s tax plan would never fulfill his and his henchmen’s promises of helping the middle class and of not giving additional tax breaks to the rich. The Trump Tax plan, as it now exists, proves those conjoined promises to be the greatest l …

Here Are The Negatives In The Republican Tax Plan, According To Wall Street

Judging by the market’s euphoric reaction this morning, the Senate’s passage of the tax bill on Saturday is nothing but good news for stocks (well, maybe not the Nasdaq). And indeed, banks – whose effective tax rate is around 30% – and other tax-sensitive companies are surging, with banks are outperforming and sending the KBW bank index up as much as 2.8% to a fresh decade-high (BofA up as much as 3.9% to the highest since Oct. 2008; JPM up as much as 3.4% to record high; Citigroup up as much as 2.7% to highest since Dec. 2008). Even so, as Bloomberg reports, some analysts are sounding a few warnings. Their concerns include: a delay in potential benefits; the need to make fixes in a highly partisan environment; and curbing R&D credits.

Here are the negatives in the Republican tax plan, according to Wall Street:

WELLS FARGO (Christopher Harvey)

Sees difference between House, Senate timing of corporate tax cut (2018 vs 2019) as significant, with Senate’s 2019 likely to prevail; that means tax overhaul’s potential direct impact to 2018 corporate earnings is likely to be zero

Feels “great rotation” (out of tech, and into tax-sensitive issues such as banks, small-caps, value-oriented stocks) will need to pause

Senate’s depreciation policy may counterbalance timing of the corporate tax cut to a degree; notes Senate allows for full expensing of capital investments starting in 2018; in a higher tax environment (no change until 2019), that may pull some spending forward, aiding 2018 growth; also sees strong 1H M&A

COMPASS POINT (Isaac Boltansky)

A “concerning theme” is emerging: the likely need for fixes next year, while “it isn’t exactly clear how those changes will be made”
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CVS-Aetna Is More Tortoise Than Hare

CVS announced new financial details from its $69 billion agreement to buy Aetna on Monday. Investor reaction was lukewarm.

Why Central Banks Continue to Put Asset Prices Out of Whack

Even as the world’s central banks edge away from the extraordinary policies of the past decade, huge market distortions remain. The unwinding of years of easy money will continue to puzzle investors.

Plummeting Prices Make Batteries a Tough Investment

Low prices aren’t a problem for battery makers if they kick-start electric-car sales—but for production costs to go that low may require new technologies.

October 2017 Manufacturing New Orders Marginally Decline

Written by Steven Hansen

US Census says manufacturing new orders marginally declined. Out analysis agrees – but the rolling averages were unchanged.

U.S. health care is changing in a big way. The CVS-Aetna deal shows how

Standalone pharmacy-benefit managers negotiate drug prices and have long been a feature of America’s health care system. But that may not be true for much longer.

What the CVS-Aetna deal means for you

CVS has agreed to buy Aetna for roughly $69 billion in cash and stock.

Winklevoss twins are believed to be the first bitcoin billionaires

Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss are believed to be the first bitcoin billionaires, reported Australia’s the Age. That’s based on calculations padded by last week’s surge for the cryptocurrency.