01Mar2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Equities Wobble After Powell Says 'no Strong Evidence' Of Decisive Move Up In Wages, Ex-Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan: 'We Are In A Bond Market Bubble' That's Beginning To Unwind

Written by Gary

The US equities main benchmarks are swinging between gains and losses today (SPY -0.6%) after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank does not see strong evidence of wage inflation.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	North and South American markets are mixed today. The Bovespa is up 0.25% while the IPC gains 0.12%. The S&P 500 is off 0.44%.

Traders Corner – Health of the Market

Looking at the last three columns (below), the first one (Actual), is what was reported this morning. The second column (Forecast) is what analysts had forecast and the third column is the previous report. Full calendar HERE.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Wall Street wobbles after Powell’s comments (Reuters) – Wall Street’s main indexes swung between gains and losses on Thursday after Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell said the central bank does not see strong evidence of wage inflation.
	U.S. monthly inflation picks up; jobless claims at 48-year low WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. consumer prices increased in January, with a gauge of underlying inflation posting its largest gain in 12 months, bolstering views that price pressures will accelerate this year.
	Comcast’s bid for Sky could lure Disney in bidding war (Reuters) – U.S. cable company Comcast Corp’s proposal to buy Sky Plc for $31 billion has raised the specter of a potential bidding war between with Rupert Murdoch’s Twenty First Century Fox and Walt Disney Co .
	More banks set to join financing for Blackstone’s TR buyout NEW YORK (LPC) – The three banks leading the US$13.5bn-equivalent loan and bond financing backing US private equity firm Blackstone Group’s acquisition of a majority stake in Thomson Reuters’ Financial and Risk (F&R) unit are set to sign more banks into the deal.
	How Geely’s Li Shufu spent months stealthily building a $9 billion stake in Daimler SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) – When Daimler announced that Li Shufu had acquired almost 10 percent of the automaker last Friday, it caught financial markets – and German regulators – by surprise.
	Fed chief Powell says no evidence U.S. economy overheating WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Thursday there was no evidence the U.S. economy is overheating, and labor markets may still have room to improve as the central bank sticks with a gradual pace of interest rate increases.
	Justice Department asked Wells Fargo to probe wealth management unit: WSJ (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice in late 2017 told Wells Fargo & Co to investigate its wealth management business after whistleblowers accused the bank of pushing inessential products or services to customers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
	Big pharma, big data: why drugmakers want your health records LONDON (Reuters) – Drugmakers are racing to scoop up patient health records and strike deals with technology companies as big data analytics start to unlock a trove of information about how medicines perform in the real world.
	Talks on NAFTA autos impasse to be scheduled between rounds: sources MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S., Mexico and Canada plan to schedule extra discussions on trade rules for auto production in North America if no progress is made on the issue in the current round of NAFTA negotiations, two people familiar with the matter said.
	Inflation Is In The Rear-View Mirror Authored by Mike Shedlock via MishTalk, 43 percent of credit card holders carry a balance. Delinquencies are rising. It’s a deflationary debt trap. Revolving Credit Hits New Record High In December, revolving debt has topped the previous high-water mark of $1.021 trillion set in April of 2008. Debt as of December 2017 (the latest available) is $1.028 trillion. Relationship Killer In addition to student loans, credit card debt is another factor holding down home ownership and family formation. Studies show Credit Card Debt is a Relationship Killer. Of all household debts, Americans find credit card debt the most unacceptable in a partner, but credit card balances are creeping higher. About 43 percent off all card holders carry a balance each month according to the American Bankers Association. More than 3 in 4 Americans consider too much …
	Putin: “Russia’s New Hypersonic Missile Can Rip US Air Defenses Apart” Russian President Vladimir Putin used his state-of-the-nation speech on Thursday to deliver a stern warning to the United States that Russia possesses hypersonic weapons that can render NATO’s U.S.-led missile defense system completely “useless.” “Efforts to contain Russia have failed, face it,” Putin declared in a two-hour speech at his annual state of the nation address in Moscow, Russia, which included computer simulations of new arms including hypersonic systems, intercontinental missiles, and underwater drones. Underwater drones, hypersonic warheads, balls of fire, “menacing” ICBMs – peak of Putin speech was weapons rhetoric despite slow buildup on social probs, infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/8sJWcFPPdl — Tom Parfitt (@parfitt_tom) March 1, 2018 Putin said the creation of hypersonic systems has made NATO’s …
	Let The Trade Wars Begin: Trump Says He Will Impose Steel, Aluminum Tariffs Next Week Update III: After the White House said earlier that today’s meeting would be a “listening” meeting, President Trump has taken investors by surprise by announcing that he will impose the long-rumored aluminum and steel sanctions next week. As expected, Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on steel imports, and a 10% tariff for aluminum. Meanwhile, here are the initial details as they trickle in: TRUMP: STEEL, ALUMINUM WORKERS HAVEN’T BEEN REPRESENTED U.S. STEEL’S BURRITT TELLS TRUMP COS. NEED LEVEL PLAYING FIELD TRUMP SAYS WILL REBUILD U.S. STEEL AND ALUMINUM INDUSTRIES: RTRS TRUMP, IN MEETING W/ STEEL COS., PRAISES SOLAR TARIFFS HE DID TRUMP SAYS U.S. WILL INSTITUTE TARIFFS NEXT WEEK TRUMP AT STEEL MEETING SAYS NEXT WEEK WILL SIGN SOMETHING TRUMP SAYS 25% TARIFFS FOR STEEL TRUMP SAYS 10% TARIFF FOR ALUMINUM Steel stocks are moving higher on the tariff news. And the market is not happy…
	Stocks Sink As Dudley Signals “Four Rate Hikes Is Still Gradual” While their remains doubt over just how hawkish Fed Chair Powell is, it’s pretty clear which way Fed’s Dudley is swinging… DUDLEY SAYS FASTER PACE OF FED TIGHTENING REMAINS TO BE SEEN FED’S DUDLEY: FOUR 25 BP RATE HIKES `WOULD STILL BE GRADUAL’ And the reaction is a drop in stocks… For now Bonds and the Dollar are ignoring Dudley…
	Time To Get Smart About Chinese Smartphone Maker Xiaomi The company appears to be growing fast. Its global smartphone shipments rocketed up 75% last year to 92 million, with much of its sales coming in markets like India and Russia. But that success followed a disastrous 2016, when Xiaomi lost ground within China to local rivals.
	Why International Investors Aren’t Buying Treasurys The rise in Treasury yields should make U.S. debt more attractive to international investors still struggling with low returns at home—yet few are buying.
	In Xi Jinping’s China, Success Is Getting More Dangerous CEFC Energy appears to have joined the ranks of big, privately held Chinese conglomerates that have run afoul of the changing political environment in China. For investors, dealing with successful private firms in China is getting riskier.
	January 2018 Headline Construction Spending Growth Unchanged? Written by Steven Hansen The headlines say construction was unchanged and within expectations. Our view is that this does not consider inflation, or the fact that the previous month’s data was revised upward.
	Warren says Fed should vote on whether to lift growth shackles on Wells Fargo The Federal Reserve should vote rather than leave it to a staffer to determine whether to lift the growth restrictions on Wells Fargo over its customer account scandal, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Thursday.
	The Tell: Hedge fund boss who predicted the 1987 stock crash warns of a selloff in bonds Paul Tudor Jones, a hedge-fund icon, said investors should steer clear of bonds, saying that he viewed prices of government paper as “overvalued and overowned” and primed to tumble.
	London Markets: FTSE 100 finishes lower for a third day in a row U.K. stocks drop Thursday in a downbeat start to March, as ad giant WPP slides after warning of a lackluster 2018 and as traders look for hints about U.S. borrowing rates in fresh testimony from Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.