18Jan2018 Market Close: Wall Street. Ends Lower As Industrial Shares Weigh, DOW Closes 98 Points Lower As Concern Over Government Shutdown Looms, DOW Closes Above 26 K

Cold weather chills U.S. homebuilding; jobless claims at 45-year low

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. homebuilding fell more than expected in December, recording its biggest drop in just over a year, likely as unseasonably cold weather at the end of the month disrupted the construction of single-family housing units.

Wall St. ends lower as industrial shares weigh

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street ended lower on Thursday as losses in industrial stocks and interest-rate sensitive sectors offset marginal gains in tech stocks.

Uber-SoftBank deal has closed, making SoftBank largest shareholder

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A group of investors led by SoftBank Group Corp closed a deal with Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] on Thursday, making SoftBank the largest stakeholder in the ride-services firm and providing a much-needed boost to controversy-ridden Uber.

Exclusive: Boeing willing to keep Brazil’s ‘golden share’ in Embraer deal

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Boeing Co is working to overcome the Brazilian military’s objections to its proposed tie-up with Embraer SA with alternatives that would preserve the government’s strategic veto rights and ensure safeguards for its defense programs, four people familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Brazilian prosecutors ask BNY Mellon unit to return $2.5 billion to local fund

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazilian prosecutors asked on Thursday that the local unit of Bank of New York Mellon Corp return 8.2 billion reais ($2.56 billion) to local pension fund Postalis, according to a statement.

Exclusive: Blackstone’s Hill hands hedge fund reins to McCormick

BOSTON (Reuters) – After nearly two decades of growing Blackstone Group into the world’s biggest hedge fund investor with some $74 billion in assets, J. Tomilson Hill is passing the baton.

Wells Fargo says resolved payment duplication glitch

(Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co said on Thursday it resolved an internal processing error that resulted in customers’ online bill payments being processed twice.

Xerox-Fujifilm deal should have been changed long ago: Icahn

(Reuters) – Hedge fund investor Carl Icahn called on Thursday for the termination or renegotiation of Xerox Corp’s long-running joint venture with Fujifilm Holdings reiterating demands for a change of leadership at Xerox.

Morgan Stanley tops estimates on underwriting, wealth management

(Reuters) – Morgan Stanley’s adjusted quarterly profit topped Wall Street estimates on Thursday as strength in underwriting and wealth management offset a sharp but expected decline in bond trading revenue.

Crypto Comeback Continues As Stocks, Bonds, Dollar Sink

Just seemed appropriate somehow…

The biggest story of the day is the resurgent rally in crypto-currencies with Ripple up 80% off yesterday’s lows…

Bitcoin traded above $12,000 (up 32% off yesterday’s lows), Ethereum back above $1000…

The Dow closed lower – late-day slam hit as Democrats made headlines proclaiming they had the votes to cause a govt shutdown… Trannies managed to scramble back into the green to close…

Artist’s Impression Of White House Press Corps This Week

“I felt a great disturbance in the farce, as if millions of voices cried out in horror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened.”

Source: Townhall.com

The “World’s Most Bearish Hedge Fund” Has A “Stunning” Theory What Happens Next To The Dollar

After a rollercoaster year, the clients of Horseman Global, which in 2016 we dubbed the world’s most bearish hedge fund when its net exposure hit over -100%…

… finally got some good news when in his December letter, CIO Russell Clark announced that after returning 5.54% for December, the month emerged back in the green for the full year, up a modest 2.27%.

However, what caught our attention was not the fund’s performance, which after a -24% 2016 barely closed in the green in 2017 (and suffered a dramatic plunge in AUM as a result), but Russell Clark’s comments on the plunging USD, a topic which seemingly everyone has an opinion on.

Specifically, we found his comments notable because if he is right, the dollar slide …

Confusion Reigns As Democrats Say They Have Votes To Block Stopgap Bill

Update 5: Voting on the resolution to reauthorize section 702 of the FISA Act has begun – and if you thought that meant the conflicting headlines about the whip count would stop – well, you were wrong.

A majority voted to advance the bill for debate – which could be construed as a good sign of its chances on the House floor. But while Republican leaders are insisting they have the votes to pass it, Democrats say they have the votes to block it, according to Politico.

Headlines about Democrats having enough votes to block the bill sent stocks lower and Treasury yields higher as investors braced for a weekend shutdown…

The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to its high of the session, also its highest level since December 2016.

GE, Victim of a Short-Term Mind-Set

The pressure for action and results that affects U.S. corporations is to blame for the series of poor decisions taken by General Electric’s bosses in recent years.

Apple’s Home Court Disadvantage

For Apple, bringing billions of overseas earnings home is one thing. Keeping it there is quite another.

A Crowded, Clustered and Potentially Very Disruptive Bet on Central Banks

Clear guidance about future policy has become a powerful tool for the world’s central banks. But that may simply be at the cost of deferring market disruption for another day.

Goldman expects Wal-Mart’s fortunes to improve alongside the consumer’s

Goldman Sachs upgraded Wal-Mart and put the retail giant on its Conviction List based after a 2018 analysis ahead showed that it would be a good year for consumers.

Market Extra: The unsinkable U.S. stock market just tied a historic record for not falling

The U.S. stock market, which is coming off a year marked by setting milestones for strength, might not be done setting records.

Market Extra: Here’s what repatriation means for the dollar and Treasurys

As the new tax law becomes a reality, investors wonder how the repatriation of foreign earnings, which is incentivized through a one-off taxation, will impact the ailing U.S. dollar and persistently low-yielding Treasury bonds.