Written by Gary
US equities markets move higher as investors see hope for ending government shutdown (SPY +0.5%). DOW and the Nasdaq hit new highs.
Here is the current market situation from CNN Money | |
North and South American markets are higher today with shares in Mexico leading the region. The IPC is up 0.58% while U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.51% and Brazil’s Bovespa is up 0.19%. |
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What Is Moving the Markets
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
S&P, Nasdaq drift higher ahead of Senate vote on funding(Reuters) – The S&P and the Nasdaq hit fresh records on Monday as investors bet U.S. lawmakers would strike a deal to end a federal government shutdown and as a flurry of deals buoyed sentiment. | |
Higher oil prices give Halliburton better-than-expected fourth quarter(Reuters) – U.S. oilfield services company Halliburton Co reported a bigger-than-expected fourth-quarter profit after charges and gave an upbeat outlook for 2018, as higher oil prices continue to push U.S. production near record levels. | |
Biotech M&A takes off as Sanofi and Celgene spend $20 billion(Reuters) – Biotech deal activity exploded on Monday with French drugmaker Sanofi and U.S.-based Celgene spending a combined total of more than $20 billion to add new products for hemophilia and cancer to their medicine cabinets. | |
NAFTA’s fate uncertain ahead of talks in MontrealOTTAWA (Reuters) – The NAFTA trade agreement’s future hangs in the balance this week as negotiators from the United States, Canada and Mexico try to settle major differences over revamping a pact that President Donald Trump has threatened to abandon. | |
U.S. says KPMG employees misappropriated secrets from oversight boardNEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors have charged six people, including former employees of accounting firm KPMG LLP and of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, with misusing confidential information from the board to help KPMG. | |
Ford tests Focus prototype in U.S. ahead of China production launchDETROIT (Reuters) – Ford Motor Co is testing prototypes of the redesigned 2020 Focus compact car on U.S. roads 18 months ahead of the car’s production launch in China. | |
Icahn, Deason demand Xerox explore strategic options(Reuters) – Hedge fund managers Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason demanded on Monday that Xerox Corp explore strategic options and said they would join forces to elect four new members to the board, sending the company’s shares higher. | |
Aston Martin hit by Daimler steering-column recallPARIS (Reuters) – Aston Martin has become the latest carmaker to be caught up in a major recall of faulty Daimler steering-column components that can cause unintended airbag deployments. | |
Euro schism reopens in central Europe as EU pushes reformESZTERGOM, Hungary/STUROVO, Slovakia (Reuters) – On the euro zone’s eastern flank, some Slovaks in the border town of Sturovo wish their country had never opted for the common currency and now head over the Danube to Hungary for the cheaper shopping. | |
Senate Reaches Deal To End Government ShutdownUpdate: and there it is, the government shutdown is officially over after 2 and a half days. SENATE DEAL REACHED TO END U.S. GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN: SCHUMER SCHUMER SAYS HAS COME TO AN ARRANGEMENT WITH REPUBLICAN LEADER MCCONNELL ON FUNDING BILL SCHUMER SAYS THERE’S A `REAL PATHWAY’ FOR DACA BILL IN SENATE SCHUMER SAYS WILL CONTINUE NEGOTIATING IMMIGRATION LEGISLATION FOR ‘DREAMERS’ And while markets rose on the news of the government shutdown, they have spiked on the news that the shutdown is over. * * * Risk assets have caught a bid following a report from Talking Point Memo, according to which some 10 minutes before the … | |
Watch Live: Senate Votes On 3-Week Spending Stopgap As Democrats Strike A DealUpdate (11:40 am ET): In a blockbuster scoop, Talking Points Memo is reporting that Senate Democrats are on the brink of accepting a deal to end the government shutdown in exchange for the promise of a vote on the DREAM Act in the coming weeks, three sources told TPM. West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin told reporters that he believes the shutdown could end today. Sen. Jeff Flake also thinks there are enough votes to move forward…
A cloture vote on the three-week spending stopgap is expected at noon… * * * As the 2018 government shutdown entered its third day Monday, Mitch McConnell called a noon vote on a procedural measure to begin advancing his bill for a three-week stopgap measure. The bill would fund the government at the current levels through Feb. 8 – a sho … | |
One Trader Is “Taking The Over” On Inflation & GrowthAuthored by Kevin Muir via The Macro Tourist blog, Well it’s happening. It might be subtle. You might not be able to point to X causing Y, but make no mistake – the Federal Reserve is still run by humans, and those humans want to appease the boss. And that boss no longer wants to chastise banks for their transgressions from a decade ago. The man who ultimately chooses the FOMC board members wants the economy to go as fast as possible regardless of the risks. We really shouldn’t be surprised with the headline from last week that the Federal Reserve is working on a proposal to ease up on bank leverage limits. From the article in Bloomberg:
The fact th … | |
Cryptocurrencies Leg Lower After South Korean Tax HeadlinesUpdate 1100ET: Headlines from South Korea’s Yonhap news regarding new tax rules for cryptocurrency exchanges appear to have sparked the latest leg down in cryptocurrencies… As CoinTelegraph reports,
Cryptos legged lower… | |
What Facebook’s Feed Changes Mean for the NewsPublishers would be wise to reduce their dependency on Facebook as it gets ready to tweak its algorithm. | |
Cartier-Owner Richemont Bets Big on Online BlingWould you buy a $100,000 watch online? Richemont wants to buy out its fellow shareholders in Yoox Net-a-Porter, because for more people, the answer is yes. | |
UBS Catching Up to American Rivals With BuybackUBS had more of a near-death experience than some. As a result, it has returned to health much more rapidly. Shareholders are benefiting with a big new buyback program. | |
December 2017 CFNAI Super Index Moving Average Little ChangedWritten by Steven Hansen The economy’s rate of growth was little changed based on the Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI) 3 month moving (3MA) average – but economic growth remains significantly above the historical trend rate of growth. | |
Called to Account: Tax bill lowered corporate tax rate, so why are some companies announcing charges?The tax bill that President Donald Trump signed into law in December slashes corporate tax rates, so why are some companies announcing charges instead of benefits from the change? | |
In One Chart: Where the super rich store their money, and where everybody else doesLast month, President Donald Trump reportedly floated a potential new campaign slogan: “How’s your 401(k) doing?” | |
The Wall Street Journal: Former KPMG executives arrested on conspiracy chargesSix accountants, including former partners at KPMG LLP, were arrested Monday morning and charged with conspiring to defraud securities regulators and misuse of confidential auditing information. |
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