06Dec2017 Market Update: Wall Street Mixed, Large Caps Flat, Small Caps Up Fractionally, WTI Crude Prices Tickles Low 56 Handle

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are mixed. The S&P 500 is higher by 0.05%, while the IPC is leading the Bovespa lower. They are down 0.80% and 0.44% respectively.

Tech stocks rise in choppy Wall Street trading

(Reuters) – Wall Street treaded water in choppy morning trading on Wednesday with gains in technology stocks offsetting losses in financial shares.

Canada scraps plan to buy Boeing fighters amid trade dispute: sources

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada is scrapping a plan to buy 18 Boeing Co Super Hornet fighter jets amid a deepening dispute with the U.S. aerospace company, three sources familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

U.S. unit labor costs decline for two straight quarters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. unit labor costs were much weaker than initially thought, declining both in the second and third quarters of this year, suggesting that inflation could remain benign for a while.

UnitedHealth to buy DaVita primary care unit for $4.9 billion

(Reuters) – The largest U.S. health insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc will buy DaVita Inc’s primary and urgent care services for $4.9 billion in its second acquisition this year to expand its fast-growing medical group, it said on Wednesday.

Wal-Mart drops Stores from name to shed brick and mortar image

(Reuters) – Wal-Mart Stores Inc will be known as Walmart Inc, effective Feb. 1, the world’s largest retailer said on Wednesday, as part of its efforts to rebrand itself as more than a brick and mortar store.

Exclusive: Ford set for China tie-up with Alibaba to test online, direct auto sales – source

BEIJING (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is expected to sign as early as Thursday a deal with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd which may allow the U.S. automaker to test selling cars to consumers in China through Alibaba’s online retail arm Tmall, as well as via a new “auto vending machine” store concept, according to a Ford source familiar with the matter.

Google pulls YouTube from Amazon devices, escalating spat

(Reuters) – A rare public spat in the technology industry escalated on Tuesday when Google said it would block its video streaming application YouTube from two Amazon.com Inc devices and criticized the online retailer for not selling Google hardware.

German prosecutors begin initial inquiry into BMW diesel emission allegations

MUNICH (Reuters) – Munich prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into allegations made this week by Germany’s main environmental lobby group that a BMW diesel model is fitted with engine software capable of cheating on emissions tests.

Volkswagen executive faces sentencing in U.S. emissions fraud case

DETROIT (Reuters) – Volkswagen AG executive Oliver Schmidt will be sentenced in federal court in Detroit on Wednesday for his part in a diesel emissions scandal that has cost the German automaker as much as $30 billion.

Shutdown Imminent? Bitter Divisions Remain As Lawmakers Scramble To Pass Funding Bill

Lawmakers are just two days away from the expiration of the continuing resolution that’s been funding the government for the last two months, and yet many battles over a host of intractable issues are still being fought. At this point, passing something by midnight Friday – when the continuing resolution expires -is looking increasingly problematic.

Adding to the uncertainty are reports that President Donald Trump believes a shutdown could be spun as a political victory for Republicans by blaming it on the Democrats (it worked for Obama) – remarks that would seem to invalidate Mitch McConnell’s declaration that a shutdown “just isn’t going to happen.”

Looming largest over negotiations is the fate of former President Obama’s DACA program – which is set to expire in March thanks to a Trump executive order. Most – but not all – Democrats want language preserving DACA attached to the funding bill – as a preliminary deal struck between Trump and “Chuck and Nancy” back in September had stipulated. Many Republicans – even many of those who ultimately support preserving DACA – feel it shouldn’t be attached to the spending bill.

Aside from preserving DACA, there are two other legislative priorities that Democrats and some moderate Republicans are fighting to include in the spending bill: An extension of a popular child health-insurance program, and a provision that would preserve federal cost-sharing payments to insurance companies for a couple of years.

Meanwhile, some conservatives are objecting to the two-week timeline favored by the Republican leadership, arguing that s …

Emerging Markets about to “Sub-Merge?”

Year to date, Emerging markets (EEM) have lived up to their name, as they have emerged to gain much more than the S&P 500. Of late, EEM was up nearly twice that of the S&P 500 this year. (See YTD performance below)-

What Are Retail Investors Buying Right Now?

Submitted by Nicholas Colas of DataTrek Research

Today we want to expand on our recent thoughts on “What are retail investors buying right now?” We showed last week, courtesy of Fidelity Investments data, that mom-and-pops are still adding to positions even on breakouts in US equities. Further, the names at the top of the retail investor league table tend to be single stock Tech names rather than ETFs. Yesterday, for example, Fido’s retail customers were net buyers of NVDA, AMZN, and BABA and those names were the most heavily traded.

One way to assess general interest in any topic is to see what “Autofills” as you start typing into a search engine box. For example, enter “Buy a” into Google, and in NYC the autofills are: “Star”, “bitcoin”, “car”, “domain”, “dog”.

We assume the first is a holiday gift idea and the second a reflection of the ongoing crypto craze. And “Bitcoin bites dog” does seems to capture the spirit of the age… Autofill works, after all, by using Big Data analysis to guess what you might type next based on how other users in your area completed the same initial text.

To see which specific equities search engine users express the most interesting in purchasing, we typed “Buy stock in” and then noted what Google, Yahoo and Bing came back with in terms of autofills.

For Google “Buy Stock In” the autofills were: Amazon, bitcoin, Apple, Tesla, Weed

For Yahoo!: Marijuana, Amazon, Facebook, Disney, Tesla

For Bing: Amazon, Nike, Wal-Mart, Google, Netflix

Not surprisingly, technology companies dominate popular in …

WTI/RBOB Extend Losses On Biggest Gasoline Build In 11 Months, Record Crude Production

Following last night’s API-reported huge product inventory builds, bulls were hoping DOE would rescue WTI/RBOB prices but it did not as the dat confirmed a huge crude draw and even bigger product build (gasoline’s biggest weekly build since January). Adding to the pain, US crude production rose to another new record.

A gasoline build is likely as “refineries have been running very high, so it’s pretty natural,” James Williams, president of energy researcher WTRG Economics, says, adding that investors will also look to see the magnitude of a potential drop at Cushing.

API

Crude -5.48mm (-2.5mm exp)

Cushing -1.95mm (-2.4mm exp)

Gasoline +9.196mm – biggest build since Jan 2016

Distillates +4.259mm – biggest build since Jul 2017

DOE

Crude -5.61mm (-2.5mm exp)

Cushing -2.753mm (-2.4mm exp)

Gasoline +6.78mm (+2.56mm exp) – biggest build since Jan 2017

Distillates +1.667mm

Confirming API’s data, DOE showed a major crude draw, big drop at Cushing but major builds in products…

US Crude production rose 25k b/d to a new record high…

Pharma’s Helping Hand May Pinch Investors

Scrutiny of patient-assistance charities, a key profit source for the drug industry, is increasing. That means it is getting harder for investors to forecast industry growth.

A Trump Tax Victory Won’t Be Celebrated in China

A more competitive investment environment—and rising inflation—in the U.S. could spell trouble for China.

Asian Banking Gold Rush Might Yet Provide a Few Nuggets

Asia has long been seen as the next big market for the world’s megabanks. But in the past three years, more U.S. and European players have abandoned Asia-wide ambitions.

3Q2017 (Final): Headline Productivity Again Shows Significant Gain

Written by Steven Hansen

A simple summary of the headlines for this release is that there was significant growth of productivity while the labor costs contracted. We believe there is little growth in productivity.

November 2017 ADP Job Growth Is 190,000

Written by Steven Hansen

ADP reported non-farm private jobs growth at 190,000.

Nearly 200 Royal Caribbean passengers sickened by stomach bug

Incidents of gastrointestinal illnesses aboard cruise ships have gone down in recent years.

In One Chart: Bitcoin makes up more than half the total cryptocurrency market. Here’s the rest

Back in June, cryptocurrencies hit a notable milestone when their combined market capitalization surpassed $100 billion. Today, bitcoin alone is worth more than twice that.

The Wall Street Journal: New emails illuminate strained Redstone family relationships and fight for Viacom

Emails cited in a California court case shed new light on Shari Redstone’s battle with top Viacom Inc. executives and tensions with her father, media mogul Sumner Redstone, in the years leading up to a power struggle over the family’s business empire.