25Jan2018 Market Update: Wall Street Higher But Stagnate In Sideways Trading, DOW Soared 200 Points After Blowout Earnings From Caterpillar And 3M, WTI Crude Trades In The Mid 66 Handle, US Dollar Trends Further Down

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Brazil leading the region. The Bovespa is up 3.72% while Mexico’s IPC is up 0.39% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.16%.

Robust earnings, weak dollar lift Wall Street

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks on Wall Street advanced on Thursday, buoyed by solid corporate earnings and continued weakness in the dollar after comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi and U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

At Davos, delegates talk down Trump but bet big on America

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidency, business has been booming for Monaco-based businessman Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio.

Exclusive: J&J out of race for Pfizer’s $20 billion consumer unit as deadline looms

LONDON/NEW YORK/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Johnson & Johnson has pulled out of the race to buy Pfizer’s consumer health business, leaving GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser among those preparing bids, according to sources familiar with the matter.

U.S. new home sales post largest drop in 16 months; jobless claims up

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Sales of new U.S. single-family homes fell more than expected in December, recording their biggest drop in nearly 1-1/2 years, likely as the boost from the replacement of flood-damaged houses in parts of the South affected by hurricanes faded.

Bombardier expected to lose U.S. trade dispute: Canadian government source

MONTREAL (Reuters) – Planemaker Bombardier Inc is expected to lose a hotly contested U.S. trade dispute this week, a Canadian government source told Reuters on Thursday, likely inflaming tensions between the two countries as they try to bridge differences in talks to modernize NAFTA.

U.S. has not moved an inch during NAFTA talks: sources

MONTREAL (Reuters) – U.S. negotiators have held firm in their demands for a wide-ranging overhaul of NAFTA, three sources close to the talks said on Thursday, raising questions about whether any real movement is happening at the latest round of negotiations on the treaty.

Nestle, Atari settle lawsuit over Kit Kat campaign

(Reuters) – Nestle SA has settled a lawsuit in which Atari SA accused the Swiss food company of using the hit 1970s video game “Breakout” without permission to sell Kit Kat bars.

Caterpillar profit beats estimates on buoyant global demand

(Reuters) – Caterpillar Inc’s profit trounced forecasts for the seventh straight quarter on Thursday as buoyant global demand from construction, mining and energy industries drove a 35-percent surge in equipment sales.

Toyota South Africa recalls more than 700,000 vehicles

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Japanese carmaker Toyota’s South African unit recalled more than 700,000 vehicles because of an issue with safety bags used in the cars, an official at Toyota South Africa said.

Missing FBI Text Message Have Been Located

The missing text messages from a critical five-month period between Trump-bashing FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, who both served on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team, have been located, Department of Justice Inspector General Michael Horowitz has told Sen. Charles Grassley and Sen. Ron Johnson according to Fox News.

Peter Strzok and Lisa Page

This confirms a report from last night according to which the DOJ was in the process of recovering the five months worth of missing text messages between the two FBI employees. And, as asked last night, “here’s a big question tonight: was the deputy FBI director, Andrew McCabe cell phone impacted by this so-called glitch? McCabe, he was Lisa Page’s boss, and both she and Strzok talked about “the insurance policy in Andy’s office,” we believe that was McCabe.”

Developing story.

“Why Are They Still Here?”: FBI Agents Wonder Why Anti-Trump Clinton Operatives Still Have A Job

Authored by Alex Thomas via SHTFplan.com,

The recently revealed text messages from Clinton operatives within the FBI that spoke about a “secret society” within the agency that met to discuss ways to take out President Trump have led many to question how those involved still have a job at the agency despite the mounting evidence of widespread corruption.

Keep in mind that it has already been revealed that top counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, along with his mistress, FBI lawyer Lisa Page, were directly involved in a conspiracy to protect their preferred presidential candidate in Hillary Clinton while doing everything in their power to hurt her opponent, Donald Trump.

Now we know that those two, along with a slew of others within the federal government, actually continued their operation against Trump after he was democratically elected, even taking their conspiracy so far as to set up a sort of secret society which included the same key figures wh …

“It’s Not Something That Interests Me” – Oprah Rules Out Presidential Run

Speculation that former daytime talk show host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey might run against her erstwhile friend, President Donald Trump, has simmered since Winfrey’s widely praised speech at the Golden Globes, where she exhorted the cohort of amazingly wealthy industry figures to “speak the truth to the power of those men…”

For weeks, Winfrey’s associates were happy to let the pressure build, telling reporters that she had not ruled out a 2020 run.

But finally, they’ve given us an answer: Oprah told InStyle Magazine – not to be confused with In Touch, the magazine that published a now-infamous 5,000 word interview with former porn star Stormy Daniels – that she’s not interested in running for office.

Winfrey makes clear that it’s not an issue of whether she could win or not: She’s “always felt very secure and confident” and would presumably feel the same way about her chances of winning.

But at the end of the day, running for office just doesn’t interest Oprah, a billionaire who has enough on her plate trying to run a TV Channel.

“I actually saw a mug the other day … I thought it was a cute mug. All you need is a mug and some campaign literature and a T-shirt. I’ve always felt very secure and confident with myself in knowing what I could do and what I could not.

“It’s not something that interests me … I met …

Welcome To The “Honey Badger” Market

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

There is a LOT of optimism in the markets currently.

But why shouldn’t there be?

Speaking at Davos, the head of world’s largest hedge fund says “If You’re Holding Cash, You’re Going to Feel Pretty Stupid”.

“We are in this Goldilocks period right now. Inflation isn’t a problem. Growth is good, everything is pretty good with a big jolt of stimulation coming from changes in tax laws.” – Ray Dalio, Bridgewater

Yes, indeed. Everything does seem to be firing on all cylinders as long as you don’t scratch too deeply beneath the surface. Even if you do, and see the ugly scars of minuscule wage growth, plummeting savings rate and surging delinquencies – investors just don’t “give a shit” as markets continue to rocket higher.

That lack of concern has led to the “Honey Badger” market.

Of course, I also remember this from 2007:

“A waning of the temporary facto …

The Strong Case for Health-Care Spinoffs

Spinoffs and asset sales may benefit shareholders more than chasing growth in a frenzied health-care deals market

Activist Investors In It for the Long-Term—Just Kidding

Activist investors who broke up the $15 billion Clariant-Huntsman merger promised a long-term approach to creating value. Three months later, they’ve sold.

United May Drag Industry Into Price War

United Continental’s plans to increase capacity has investors worrying that airlines are losing their discipline.

December 2017 Leading Economic Index Sees Strong Continuation of Economic Growth

Written by Steven Hansen

The Conference Board Leading Economic Index (LEI) for the U.S improved this month – and the authors say “the passing of the tax plan is likely to provide even more tailwind to the current expansion”.

Earnings Outlook: Intel earnings: Spectre and Meltdown won’t have effect on data-center growth—yet

A focus on chip-hack vulnerabilities will likely dominate Intel Corp. earnings and outlook going forward as the tech giant reports results after the bell Thursday, but analysts appear to be putting more credence in how key data center sales are coming along at the chip giant.

‘Get Out’ and ‘Dunkirk’ get second runs in theaters after Oscar nominations

It has been almost a year since “Get Out” opened in theaters. The Jordan Peele-directed social thriller, or documentary as Peele joked on Twitter, came out Feb. 24, 2017 — which also happened to be Oscar weekend.

The Ratings Game: Ford stock reaches new lows as company earnings raise more questions than answers

Ford shares plumb a new low as they reel from the company’s weaker quarterly results and Wall Street clamors for more transparency at the storied car maker.