Written by Gary
US equities markets edged higher this morning (SPY +0.2%), recovering from an explosion in New York. Investors are also looking ahead to a coming Federal Reserve gathering this week.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 0.53% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.24% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.19%. |
Traders Corner – Health of the Market
Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.
What Is Moving the Markets
| Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
| Wall Street ticks higher as New York explosion worries wane(Reuters) – U.S stocks indexes edged higher on Monday, recovering from a brief uncertainty following an explosion at one of New York’s busiest commuter hubs. |
| Hackers hit major ATM network after U.S., Russian bank breaches: reportFRANKFURT (Reuters) – A previously undetected group of Russian-language hackers silently stole nearly $10 million from at least 18 mostly U.S. and Russian banks in recent years by targeting interbank transfer systems, a Moscow-based security firm said on Monday. |
| Ford’s November China vehicle sales drop 8 percent year-on-year(Reuters) – Ford Motor Co’s sales in China fell 8 percent in November from a year ago, following a 5 percent decline in October, the U.S. automaker said on Monday. |
| Newly minted bitcoin futures indicate more modest growth aheadNEW YORK/SYDNEY/LONDON (Reuters) – Newly launched bitcoin futures indicated on Monday that financial markets expect the cryptocurrency to climb further but at a far slower rate than in recent weeks as warnings of a bubble grew. |
| Apple aims to block climate, rights proposals with quick use of SEC guidanceBOSTON (Reuters) – Apple Inc is pushing back on shareholder proposals on climate issue and human rights concerns, an effort activists worry could sharply restrict investor rights. |
| UBS leads blockchain data reporting pilot ahead of new EU rulesZURICH/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Financial companies led by Swiss bank UBS are testing a blockchain platform to help them comply with new European Union trade data standards due to come into force next year. |
| Uber’s London license appeal to be heard next yearLONDON (Reuters) – Uber [UBER.UL] will defend its right to operate in London in court next year after the app was deemed unfit to run a taxi service and stripped of its license in its most important European market. |
| VW sees 4-5 billion euros in outflows in 2018 due to dieselgateWOLFSBURG, Germany (Reuters) – Volkswagen expects cash outflows of 4-5 billion euros ($4.7-5.9 billion) next year in relation to the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal, the carmaker’s Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter told journalists on Monday. |
| WTO losing focus, must rethink development: U.S. trade chiefBUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade chief said on Monday that the World Trade Organization is losing its focus on trade negotiations in favor of litigation and needed to rethink how it defines developing economies. |
| Interactive Brokers Allows Long-Only Bitcoin Futures Trading (At 50% Margin)Following the ‘successful’ launch of Bitcoin futures overnight, Interactive Brokers – whose founder had been adamantly against the CME/CBOE product over risk concerns – has enabled clients to trade the crypto-craziness on its platform… but with some notable constraints. Interactive Brokers began offering clients the ability to trade bitcoin futures at the start of trading on the Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) on Sunday night, December 10th, 2017.
However, as Interactive Brokers explains, there are some notable constraints…
Billionaire crypto fund manager Mike Novogratz was on tape this morning, speaking positively about the launch of Bitcoin futures,
Fo … |
| Stellar 3Y Auction: Highest Bid To Cover Since Sept 2015, Foreign Demand SurgesUnlike last month’s ugly 3Y auction, today’s just concluded sale of $24 billion in 3 year paper was stellar, stopping through the When Issued 1.934% by 0.2bps, a surge in buyside demand as the Bid to Cover jumped from 2.76 to 3.15, the highest since September 2015, while Indirect Bidders took down the most since August. The details: the high yield was 1.932% vs six previous auction average 1.572%, it stopped through the WI of 1.394%. The Bid-to- cover was 3.15, up from 2.76 in October, and well above the previous six auction average of 2.88. Dealers were awarded 33.6%, slightly below the six previous auction average 35.2%, and down from 37.5% last month, while Direct bidders took down 7.4%, below last month’s 9.0%, and down from the six previous auction average 8.8%. Finally, foreign central banks and reserve managers, i.e., Indirect bidders were awarded 59.0% vs the 6auction average 56.0%, and up from 53.5% last month. It was also the highest Inidrect award since August 2017. Overall, a very solid auction and one which sets the stage for today’s second, benchmark bond auction of 10Y paper set for 1pm.
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| CNN And WaPo Working On 20-40 Sexual Misconduct StoriesCNN and Washington Post are working on exposing “20-30 congressional members” for sexual harassment, claims Michael Trujillo, former LA City Commissioner and Hillary Clinton’s California Field Director during her 2008 bid for the White House.
Former Wall St. Journal reporter Neil King adds to Trujillo’s figure, saying he hears the number “may top 40”
Trujillo – a political advisor who has worked on over 39 political and legislative campaigns across the country, and was dubbed part of the “Clinton’s Dream Team” by MSNBC, made the claim late last week. If true, this would implicate over 10% of male members of congress – unless woman are on the list – which, in any event, would likely le … |
| WTI-Brent Crude Spread Snaps After Forties Pipeline Closure For “Weeks, Not Days”Following the discovery of a “small hairline crack” in The Forties Pipeline System – one of the most important oil conduits in the world – its operator Ineos has decided a total controlled shutdown “for weeks, not days” is the safest option. This has sent the spread between WTI and Brent soaring…
A “small hairline crack” was discovered during a routine inspection last week by Ineos contractors, just south of Aberdeen in Scotland. The pipeline’s pressure was reduced for a full assessment but during that time the crack extended. As Bloomberg reports, Brent futures rose as much as $1.18 to $64.71 a barrel in London – the highest since June 2015…
The pipeline system feeds crude to the Hound Point export terminal near Edinburgh in Scotland. At over 400,000 barrels a day, the supplies that flow through the … |
| Another Sign of Frothy Markets: Blank-Check BoomWould you invest in a company that couldn’t tell you what its business was going to be? Some would, in fact they are doing so in record amounts. |
| Europe’s Healing Starts and Ends with GreeceGreece, the place where Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis first emerged, finally looks like it could escape its bailout years. Yield-hungry bond investors are smartly going along for the ride. |
| China’s Clean Energy Future Has a $1.2 Trillion ProblemChina is pushing hard to dominate new energy industries and clean up terrible air pollution. Too bad about all that coal-power debt. |
| November 2017 Conference Board Employment Index Growth Rate DeclinesWritten by Steven Hansen The Conference Board’s Employment Trends Index – which forecasts employment for the next 6 months improved with the author’s saying “The decline in the Employment Trends Index in November comes after one of the largest monthly increases ever last month”.
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| NewsWatch: Even Mnuchin’s Treasury Department says Republican tax plan won’t pay for itselfAfter being hounded by Democrats, the Treasury Department on Monday finally released its analysis of the Republican tax plan — and finds that it doesn’t, as Treasury Sec. Steven Mnuchin has long said, pay for itself. |
| London Markets: FTSE 100 closes with solid gain, driven higher by softer poundBlue-chip stocks in the U.K. rose, trading around two-week highs as the pound remained under pressure. |
| Barron’s: Here’s how oil, industrial metals could trade in 2018After an unimpressive year, the 2018 outlook for commodities looks more promising, particularly for crude oil and industrial metals. |
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