Written by Gary
The US equities main benchmarks are fractionally higher this morning (SPY +0.2%) ahead of the last FOMC policy meeting of 2017 today. Shutdown of the Forties North Sea pipeline boosted Brent prices overnight.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
 | European markets are higher today with shares in France leading the region. The CAC 40 is up 0.44% while London’s FTSE 100 is up 0.30% and Germany’s DAX is up 0.21%. |
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. | |
 | Bitcoin slips to around $16,300, futures volumes dropSINGAPORE (Reuters) – Virtual currency bitcoin dipped slightly from the previous session’s record highs on Tuesday, after a month of whirlwind and volatile gains leading up to the launch of bitcoin futures on the weekend. |
| Trump’s push to cut federal jobs has modest impact, mostly in defenseWASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Donald Trump’s campaign to shrink the “bloated federal bureaucracy” so far has made a small dent in the federal workforce, and that largely because of a decline in civilian defense jobs. |
| European property giant makes $16 billion bet on U.S. shopping mallsSYDNEY/MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Unibail-Rodamco, Europe’s biggest property group, has agreed to buy shopping mall owner Westfield Corp for $16 billion, marking the biggest takeover of an Australian company and a shift in global retail property to counter online shopping. |
| Futures flat with all eyes on Fed meet; Brent tops $65(Reuters) – U.S. stocks were set to open flat on Tuesday ahead of a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve that is widely expected to bump up the benchmark interest rate for the third time in a year as it continues to unwind its post-crisis stimulus. |
| Oil hits two-and-a-half year high on pipeline shutdown, stocks take breatherLONDON (Reuters) – Oil prices jumped to their highest in more than two years on Tuesday after the shutdown of a North Sea pipeline knocked out significant supply from an already tightening market. |
| Comcast drops bid for Fox assets, leaving Disney in pole position(Reuters) – Comcast Corp said on Monday it had abandoned its bid for most of the assets of Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, leaving Walt Disney Co as the sole suitor in pursuit of the $40 billion-plus deal. |
| PepsiCo makes biggest public pre-order of Tesla Semis: 100 trucksSEATTLE (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc has reserved 100 of Tesla Inc’s new electric Semi trucks, the largest-known order of the big rig, as the maker of Mountain Dew soda and Doritos chips seeks to reduce fuel costs and fleet emissions, a company executive said on Tuesday. |
| German watchdog recalls VW Touaregs over defeat devicesHAMBURG/BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s KBA automotive watchdog on Tuesday announced a recall of Volkswagen’s flagship European sport-utility vehicles (SUV) with 3-litre diesel engines after detecting two illicit emissions control devices in the models. |
| Sanofi investors hungry for drug progress and deal newsPARIS (Reuters) – Sanofi still needs to convince markets it can deliver on an exciting and sustainable growth path as it contends with fresh difficulties in its vaccines arm and looks set for another gloomy year in diabetes, investors told Reuters. |
| Three Bubbles/Strikes And You’re OutAuthored by Charles Hugh Smith via OfTwoMinds blog, Those betting on a fourth bubble of even greater extremes will find their time at bat has come to an end. The conventional investment wisdom holds that central banks will never let markets decline. This is an interesting belief, given that two previous asset bubbles based on central bank “easy money” both imploded, impoverishing believers in central bank omnipotence.
So perhaps we can say that the conventional investment wisdom holds that any asset bubble that bursts will quickly be reflated into an even more extreme asset bubble. That’s certainly been the history of the past 17 years. But there’s a case to be made that bubbles are like strikes, and you only get three. A recent article, Deutsche: “We Are Almost At The Point Beyond Which There Will Be No More Bubbles”, made a nuanced case for “3 bubbles and you’re out” based on volatility and other inputs. I propose a much simpler case for “3 bubbles and you’re out”: 1. Every policy yields diminishing returns as the positive results follow an S-curve. 2. What every trader knows no longer has any predictive power. 3. Policy extremes have become normalized, leaving central banks with unintended and unpredictable consequences should they push even more extreme policies in the next bubble burst. Radical new central bank policies work wonders in the initial boost phase (see … |
| McCabe Cancels Testimony, Something “Far More Sinister” With Fusion GPSFBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe abruptly cancelled his closed door testimony in front of the House Intelligence Committee as news emerged that the wife of Senior DOJ official Bruce Ohr worked for Fusion GPS, the opposition research firm which assembled the infamous “Trump dossier.” Ohr was demoted last week after allegedly trying to conceal his contacts with Fusion.
Fox News reporter Chad Pergram’s sources tell him “McCabe has an Ohr problem,” and they believe “FBI DepDir McCabe not coming to Hse Intel Cmte tomorrow because he’d be asked about Bruce Ohr & Ohr’s wife Nellie who worked for Fusion GPS,” adding “something far more sinister.” Pergram also tweeted “Expect subpoenas to compel McCabe to appear this wk.”
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| Buy Gold, Silver Time After Speculators Reduce Longs and Banks Reduce ShortsBuy Gold, Silver Time After Speculators Reduce Longs and Banks Reduce Shorts – Gold and silver COT suggests bottoming and price rally coming
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| 100,000 Still Stranded Amid California Fires; Giant Thomas Fire Only 20% ContainedIn an unexpected run of good fortune, a shift in the powerful winds that have fanned the SoCal wildfires over the past week and a half has pushed the Thomas Fire – the largest of the six uncontained blazes – away from nearby communities while also clearing the air of smoke, improving visibility for the beleaguered firefighters working tirelessly to suppress the flames. Meanwhile, further south, firefighters have managed to achieve upwards of 90% containment for the Rye, Lilac and Creek Fires:
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| Stop Talking About Bitcoin’s Market CapEnthusiasts say bitcoin is taking over the world. But comparisons to real companies, currencies and countries are flawed measures for the cryptocurrency. |
| Qualcomm Can Dig a Little Deeper for NXPAs Qualcomm waits for its NXP deal to get regulatory approval, activist investor Elliott Management has said the chip maker is worth more. |
| Despite Mergers, Hospitals Are in Serious ConditionAmerican hospitals have a target on their backs. The latest merger talk is an attempt to rally their strength, but industry payers’ battle against high health-care costs shows no sign of letting up. |
| Will tax preparation cost you more next year?H&R Block said the company anticipates ‘incremental price increases.’ |
| Metals Stocks: Gold churns at 5-month lows ahead of expected Fed rate hikeGold prices wavered again on Tuesday, holding ground at a more than five-month low in cautious trading ahead of the Wednesday Federal Reserve decision on interest rates and hints on the course for policy in 2018. |
| Chef Mario Batali takes leave after allegations of sexual harassmentRenowned chef and cookbook author Mario Batali has stepped away from the day-to-day operations of his business after four women came forward alleging that he sexually harassed them in a pattern of behavior spanning at least two decades, food website Eater reported Monday. |
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