15Feb2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Squeaks Into Triple Digit Territory, WTI Crude Climbs Back Up Into The 61 Handle, US Markets Search For Direction

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are broadly higher today with shares in Mexico leading the region. The IPC is up 1.11% while Brazil’s Bovespa is up 0.91% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is up 0.55%.

Wall Street climbs as tech, industrial gain; energy drags

(Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes were trading higher on Thursday with gains in technology and industrial stocks more than offsetting losses in energy stocks.

U.S. producer prices rise in January; industrial output falls

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. producer prices accelerated in January, boosted by strong gains in the cost of gasoline and healthcare, offering more evidence that inflation pressures were building up.

Thomson Reuters chair sought better terms for financial unit: WSJ

TORONTO (Reuters) – Thomson Reuters Corp Chairman David Thomson urged the company’s board of directors to seek better terms for its $17 billion sale of a large chunk of its business to Blackstone Group LP , the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people close to the deal.

Hedge fund Bridgewater makes $22 billion bet against European firms

LONDON/FRANKFURT/NEW YORK (Reuters) – Bridgewater has shown its hand in Europe with a $22 billion bet against some of the continent’s biggest companies, filings reviewed by Reuters show, part of a bigger shift by the world’s largest hedge fund manager.

U.S. Bancorp to pay $613 million for money-laundering violations

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has reached a $613 million settlement with U.S. Bancorp over charges that it willfully failed to have an adequate anti-money-laundering program, the department said on Thursday.

U.S. watchdog to probe chairman’s decisions in broadcast deal: Democrat

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Communications Commission inspector general will investigate whether its chairman was biased in favor of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc , which is seeking approval from the watchdog for a $3.9 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co , a member of Congress said on Thursday.

Thousands of FedEx customer records exposed by unsecured server

(Reuters) – Global package delivery company FedEx Corp said on Thursday it has secured some of the customer identification records that were visible earlier this month on an unsecured server, and so far has found no evidence that private data was “misappropriated.”

Cohen’s Point72 wants lawsuit over hostility to women sent to arbitration

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen asked a U.S. judge to force a female executive to arbitrate her claims that his firm, Point72 Asset Management LP, maintains a hostile working environment where women are mistreated and paid less than men.

Qualcomm meets Broadcom to discuss $121 billion acquisition offer

(Reuters) – Qualcomm Inc said on Wednesday it met with Broadcom Ltd earlier in the day to discuss the latter’s revised $121 billion bid, the first time the chipmakers have discussed what would be the technology sector’s largest ever acquisition.

Dollar Jumps On Reports Of Uber-Dove Heading To BoJ

The Dollar Index is kneejerking higher in the last few minutes following headlines from Nikkei that The Bank of Japan is considering nominating uber-dove Masazumi Wakatabe to a key leadership position.

JPY immediately jerked lower as Wakatabe is seen as advocating bolder monetary easing. As Nikkei reports, the potential choice of Wakatabe, a longtime proponent of aggressive easing, as deputy governor comes amid speculation that the central bank is looking to start normalizing policy.

Bitcoin Tops $10,000 As Stocks Soar, VIX Tumbles

For the first time since January, Bitcoin is trading above $10,000…

There has been notable price action and volume around the Asian close every day this week…

But it seems Bitcoin is more interested in following Nasdaq higher and VIX lower..

Peter Thiel Ditches “Intolerant” Silicon Valley For LA, May Quit Facebook Board

Peter Thiel has had it with Silicon Valley.

The popular libertarian billionaire investor is relocating his home and personal investment firms to Los Angeles from San Francisco and scaling back his involvement in the tech industry, the WSJ reported, marking a rupture between Silicon Valley and its most prominent conservative.

According to WSJ sources, Thiel has recently said tech culture has become increasingly intolerant of conservative political views since Mr. Trump’s election, an attitude he has said is intellectually and politically fraught.

As a result, after spending most of the past four decades in the Bay Area, the 50-year-old plans to permanently move into the 7,000-square foot home overlooking the Sunset Strip that he bought six years ago, a person familiar with the matter said. He also will move Thiel Capital and Thiel Foundation, two firms that oversee his investments, into new L.A. headquarters this year, the person said.

Underscoring the growing ideological polarization of the Valley, what prompted Thiel to take the drastic action was his disappointment with “what he sees as the intolerant, left-leaning politics of the San Francisco Bay Area” coupled with increasing pessimism about the prospects for tech businesses amid greater risk of regulation.

Separately, the WSJ said that Thiel also discussed the possibility of resigning from the board of Facebook: “His relationship with the social-networking company—where he has been a director since 2005, the year after its founding—came under strain after a dispute with a fellow director over Mr. Thiel’s support for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, and a related confrontation over boardroom leaks with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg last summer.”

Lance Roberts: There Will Be No Economic Boom

Authored by Lance Roberts via RealInvestmentAdvice.com,

Last week, Congress passed a 2-year “continuing resolution, or C.R.,” to keep the Government funded through the 2018 elections. While “fiscal conservatism” was just placed on the sacrificial alter to satisfy the “Re-election” Gods,” the bigger issue is the impact to the economy and, ultimately, the financial markets.

The passage of the $400 billion C.R. has an impact that few people understand. When a C.R. is passed it keeps Government spending at the same previous baseline PLUS an 8% increase. The recent C.R. just added $200 billion per year to that baseline. This means over the next decade, the C.R. will add $2 Trillion in spending to the Federal budget. Then add to that any other spending approved such as the proposed $200 billion for an infrastructure spending bill, money for DACA/Immigration reform, or a whole host of other social welfare programs that will require additional funding.

But that is only half the problem. The recent passage of tax reform will trim roughly $2 Trillion from revenues over the next decade as well.

This is easy math.

Cut $2 trillion in revenue, add $2 trillion in spending, and you create a $4 trillion dollar gap in the budget. Of course, that is $4 Trillion in addition to the current run rate in spending which continues the current acceleration of the “debt problem.”

But it gets worse.

As Oxford Economics reported

Health-Care Deals: An Offer They Can’t Refuse

The health-care industry is in the throes of a major shake-up. That creates a situation in which companies face a greater risk by standing pat than possibly overpaying for an acquisition.

Cisco Switches Back On

The network giant’s old businesses help revive growth.

Nestlé’s Fortunes Melting Like Ice Cream

Nestlé’s Chief Executive Mark Schneider has grasped the challenge facing the world’s largest food company. But making Nestlé more responsive and entrepreneurial is proving to be a very tall order.

January 2018 Industrial Production Improvement Trend Continues

Written by Steven Hansen

The headlines say seasonally adjusted Industrial Production (IP) was down month-over-month. Our analysis shows strong improvement.

Market Extra: Here’s the ‘real’ reason stock-market investors are worried about bond yields

Investors blaming the recent stock market wobble on rising Treasury yields might want to look a little deeper.

In One Chart: Bitcoin’s key problems illustrated by the ECB, in one simple chart

The European Central Bank has a pretty clear message about the No. 1 virtual currency in the world: not our problem.

London Markets: FTSE 100 closes higher as oil and mining stocks rise

U.K. blue-chip stocks on Thursday finish higher, with advances for mining and oil shares helping the market to its second straight rise.