Written by Gary
All three major benchmarks achieved record closing highs today (SPY +0.8%), in the wake of a deal by U.S. senators deal to end the federal government shutdown.
Todays S&P 500 Chart
The Market in Perspective
Here are the headlines moving the markets. | |
Wall St. hits record highs after deal to end U.S. shutdownNEW YORK (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes hit record closing highs on Monday in the wake of a deal by U.S. senators deal to end the federal government shutdown. | |
Halliburton upbeat on 2018 as oil recovery spreads(Reuters) – U.S. oilfield services company Halliburton Co reported a bigger-than-expected adjusted quarterly profit on Monday and gave an upbeat outlook for 2018, as higher oil prices continue to push U.S. production to near-record levels. | |
What debt ceiling worries? Markets hum alongNEW YORK (Reuters) – Government shutdown? So yesterday. Debt ceiling? Yawn. | |
Facebook should pay ‘trusted’ news publishers carriage fee: Murdoch(Reuters) – Media mogul Rupert Murdoch on Monday called on Facebook to pay “trusted” news publishers a carriage fee, similar to the model used by cable companies, amid efforts by the social media company to fight misinformation on its platform. | |
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. | |
U.S. says audit watchdog staff helped KPMG pass audit inspectionsWASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government on Monday announced criminal and civil charges against three former staffers of an audit watchdog for allegedly providing confidential information to help accounting firm KPMG pass regulatory inspections. | |
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 join forces to demand Xerox explore options(Reuters) – Hedge fund managers Carl Icahn and Darwin Deason joined forces on Monday to push Xerox Corp to explore strategic options, oust its “old guard”, including its CEO, and negotiate better terms for its decades-long deal with Japan’s Fujifilm. | |
Rogers ends Canadian joint venture with Vice Media(Reuters) – Canada’s Rogers Communications Inc said on Monday it agreed to end a joint venture in Vice Studio Canada and Viceland just three years after announcing it. | |
Government Un-Shutdown Sends Stocks To Record Highs, Bonds “Most Oversold” In 13 Months“Don’t worry, be happy”… While stocks soared to new record highs, the dollar was completely unexcited and bonds ended the day unchanged… Spot the odd one out… US Equity futures show the immediate selling pressure at Sunday’s open (the shutdown occurred after the close Friday)… a panic bid at the US cash open… and then another leg higher on the actual Senate vote… and the ubiquitous melt-up into the close… | |
Could Amazon Be Gearing Up For A Cryptocurrency Exchange?Via Valuewalk.com, Amazon.com may not only be gearing up to accept cryptocurriences as a means of payment, but I also believe that the company could be on its way to creating one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges in a move that would, I believe, be extremely synergistic for Amazon and would likely help them generate a substantial new revenue stream. A lot of speculation is being tossed around with regard to Amazon’s potential involvement in cryptocurriences going forward. Despite bitcoin’s volatility, it is being speculated that Amazon may soon accept bitcoin as a method of payment, a move that not only would lend credibility to bitcoin but one that could also create some additional demand for bitcoin itself. It has been reported that Amazon has gone out and registered some domain names that appear to be associated with cryptocurriences. Last week, the following was reported on by CNBC:
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Canadian Billionaire Couple Was Murdered, Private Investigators SayThe family of Barry and Honey Sherman were right to doubt that their parents would’ve taken their lives in what police initially suspected to be a murder-suicide, because a bombshell report from a team of private investigators published on Saturday concluded that the couple were both murdered, and then their bodies were arranged to make it look like a suicide. Multiple killers likely participated in the killings, the New York Post reported…
The private investigators are former Toronto homicide detectives who are now painting a more complete picture of the death scene: and it points to a double murder after an extended struggle, likely two days before the bodies were discovered, CBC said. | |
Furious Progressives Slam Democrats For Caving On ShutdownJust moments after Senate democrats reversed, and voted through a stopgap government funding bill – one which they rejected on Friday night forcing a brief, 3-day government shutdown, and which keeps the government running until February 8 – progressives started hammering Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer over his negotiating tactics and his agreement with Senate Republican leadership to end the government shutdown on Monday. Even Nancy Pelosi has spoken out against the deal, saying there was no reason to support it: “I don’t see that there’s any reason – I’m speaking personally and hearing from my members – to support what was put forth,” Pelosi said at a press briefing shortly before Schumer signaled Senate Democrats would agree to it. Progressive activists were much harsher. “It’s official: Chuck Schumer is the worst negotiator in Washington – even worse than Trump,” said Murshed Zaheed, political director at CREDO, a progressive advocacy group, quoted by The Hill. “Any plan to protect Dreamers that relies on the word of serial liars like [Senate Majority Leader] Mitch McConnell [R-Ky.], [House Speaker] Paul Ryan [R-Wisc.] or Donald Trump is doomed to fail,” Zaheed added. As described earlier, Schumer and McConnell brokered a deal to pass a continuing resolution to fund the government until Feb. 8 in exchange nothing but a vague promise for a compromise from Senate Republican leadership to hold a vote on DACA-replacement legislation by that date. Activists were infuriated at the deal, as it includes no guarantees that a bill will pass — nor does it tie an immigration bill to a must-pass measure to give Democrats leverage. The agreement also includes no guarantees that a potential Senate agreement on DACA could see a vote in the House.
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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. | |
High Prices Won’t Deter Biotech DealsExpect more expensive biotech acquisitions after two high-priced deals were announced Monday. | |
Is Growth Worth the Risk at AIG?AIG has to fix its core business and is paying up in deal, but the insurer could benefit from diversification and growth. | |
Trump may hate sharks, but these animals cause more deaths each yearIt’s not alligators either. | |
Chloë Sevigny on how her new Lizzie Borden movie connects to #MeTooSevigny also opened up about her career, saying she would have gotten more parts if she had been in “Legally Blonde.” | |
Capitol Report: With deferred liabilities, Verizon will get earnings benefit from tax billVerizon Communications joins a lucky group of companies with primarily good news to share about the impact of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act law, signed by President Trump at the end of December. |
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