02Mar2018 Midday Update: Wall Street Is Sliding, Unable To Hold On To Gains, DOW Falls 1 Percent At The Opening Bell As Trade War Fears Hurt Industrials, WTI Crude Moves Higher

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money

North and South American markets are lower today with shares in Brazil off the most. The Bovespa is down 0.34% while Mexico’s IPC is off 0.23% and U.S.’s S&P 500 is lower by 0.21%.

‘Trade wars are good,’ Trump says, defying global concern over tariffs

WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump struck a defiant tone on Friday, saying trade wars were good and easy to win, after his plan to put tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum triggered global criticism and a slide in stock markets.

Dow falls 1 percent as trade war fears hurt industrials

(Reuters) – The Dow industrials fell more than 1 percent for a fourth straight day on Friday on mounting fears of a global trade war following President Donald Trump’s promise to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Exclusive: EU may target $3.5 billion of U.S. imports for trade retaliation – sources

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union is considering applying 25 percent tariffs on around $3.5 billion of imports from the United States if President Donald Trump carries out his plan to apply global duties to steel and aluminum, EU sources say.

BlackRock poses tough questions for gunmakers and sellers

BOSTON (Reuters) – BlackRock Inc, a top shareholder in several gunmakers and weapons retailers, said on Friday it has begun asking those companies tough questions about how well they monitor the sales and use of firearms following a deadly high school shooting in Florida.

Electrolux puts $250 million U.S. investment on hold over Trump tariff hike

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sweden’s Electrolux , Europe’s largest home appliance maker, said on Friday it would delay a planned $250 million investment in Tennessee, after U.S. President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imported aluminum and steel.

Deason sues Xerox to allow new board nominations

(Reuters) – Hedge fund manager Darwin Deason filed a new lawsuit against Xerox Corp on Friday after it refused to allow him to make nominations to its board after a deadline, the latest blows in a row over its proposed merger with Fujifilm Holdings Corp .

Diesel vehicle refits costly and could affect performance, Volkswagen says

BERLIN (Reuters) – Volkswagen is not against upgrading the exhaust systems of older diesel cars to make them cleaner, but could not afford to pay for such a huge undertaking itself and is concerned it might impair vehicle performance, its CEO said.

U.S. charges 10 in alleged global stock fraud involving a Picasso

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – The U.S. Department of Justice on Friday unveiled criminal charges against 10 defendants, including London-based brokerage Beaufort Securities Ltd, over their alleged roles in a more than $50 million stock fraud and a laundering scheme involving a late work by Pablo Picasso.

J.C. Penney sees year profit largely below Wall Street, shares dive

(Reuters) – J.C. Penney Co Inc forecast broadly lower-than-expected full-year profit on Friday as the department store operator grapples with weak demand for its clothes and fierce online competition, sending its stock down 10 percent.

U.S. Sanctions Could Be The Final Nail In The Coffin For Venezuelan Oil

Authored by Nick Cunningham via OilPrice.com,

The White House is looking at slapping sanctions on a Venezuelan oil services company while also restricting insurance for oil shipments from the South American country, among other possible measures, according to Reuters.

The moves come as the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is planning elections for April, which few expect to be free or fair. Unlike prior elections, the upcoming race will likely be met with global condemnation, and many countries could refuse to recognize the results altogether.

The election would be the latest move by President Maduro to tighten his grip on the nation, having already neutered much of the country’s democratic institutions. But because of the high-profile nature of an essentially rigged presidential election, Washington is planning more sanctions.

How or when such measures are implemented is still unclear.

Here Is Goldman’s Annotated Chart Showing The Entire History Of US Interest Rates

With Dalio, Gundlach, Gross, Greenspan, and Tudor Jones (to name but a few) now firmly in the ‘bond bear market is here’-camp, Goldman Sachs has produced a detailed, annotated history of US interest rates… and what happened each time rates spiked.

Of course, not everyone believes the bond bull run is over. Goldman’s Allison Nathan asks PGIM Fixed Income Senior Portfolio Manager Greg Peters what he thinks…

No, the bond bull run is not over. Ten-year Treasury yields have obviously adjusted higher since the lows of September but I don’t believe they are poised to move higher in a sustained manner.

There are still tremendous secular disinflationary forces in the world, including worsening demographics, which I view as critically important, as well as the outsized debt burden, both of which will ultimately constrain economic growth and cap bond yields.

Of course, cyclically, growth and inflation have increased. But I would think about it this way: Against a backdrop of tremendous historic central bank monetary support, growth and inflation have both finally just come off the bottom. For sure, the economic fundamentals are as good as they have been in a long time – …

2 Killed At Central Michigan University; “Person Of Interest” Named

Update: The two students who were shot on the fourth floor of a Central Michigan University dorm have been killed, according to CBS.

The shooter is still on the loose. Police haven’t released much information, other than the name and description of a “person of interest,” according to CBS.

CMU police confirm two individuals were fatally shot at Campbell Hall on campus this morning. The deceased are not students and police believe the situation started from a domestic situation. There are no additional injuries; suspect is still at large: https://t.co/AxvPn3N0s0

— Central Michigan U. (@CMUniversity) March 2, 2018

Police identified James Eric Davis Jr. as a person of interest: He’s black, around 19 years old and 10 inches and 135 lbs.

The person of interest is James Eric Davis, Jr. He is a black male, approximately 19 years of age, 5’10” & 135 lbs. He was last see wearing mustard yellow jeans and a blue hoodie. The suspect is considered armed and dangerous. Do not approach the suspect. Call 911 immediately. pic.twitter.com/dCChxe1Tfr

— City of Mt. Pleasant (@MtPleasantMI) March 2, 2018

…

Kunstler Warns: “Enjoy The Last Few Weeks Of Relative Normality”

Authored by James Howard Kunstler via Kunstler.com,

End Times At The OD Corral

Personally, I believe that the plodding, implacable Robert Mueller, white knight of the Deep State, will flush the Golden Golem of Greatness out of office, probably on some sort of money-laundering rap having nothing to do with “Russian meddling.” Anderson Cooper will have a multiple orgasm. Rachel Maddow will don a yellow hard-hat and chain-saw a scale model of Mar-a-Lago to the glee of her worshippers. The #Resistance will dance in the streets. And then what?

I doubt that Mr. Trump will go gracefully. Rather he’ll dig in and fight even if it means fomenting a constitutional crisis. He’ll challenge Mr. Mueller on veering into matters unrelated to alleged Russian pranks in the 2016 election. He may well attempt the self-pardoning gambit. He will have a lot of support out in the Deplorable gloaming. But, at some point, I expect a bipartisan consensus to emerge in congress that the guy has got to go. He’s making it impossible to conduct even the routines of bribery and domestic collusion that Washington exists f …

America’s Glaring Weak Spot in a Trade War? The Lowly Soybean

President Trump looks poised to ratchet up the trade spat with Beijing using new restrictions on steel and aluminum imports. The blowback could hit U.S. soybeans, a key export a feedstock for the China’s pig population.

Volatility Is Back but Volatility Funds Are Duller

Volatility is back in the stock market, but the investments that imploded spectacularly in February are gone except for one survivor. That fund is now a much tamer version of its former self.

Are Best Buy and Kohl’s Good or Just Lucky?

For a certain group of retailers—the winners, as they might like to think of themselves—there is an awful lot of optimism in the air. How much of that success is due to their efforts and how much comes from the strong economy is the big question for investors.

Barron’s: Italy’s election: The nightmare, best-case and most likely scenarios for stocks

Nothing gets strategists buzzing quite like a potentially close election. True to form, they’ve been serving up heapings of forecasts tied to Italy’s big vote.

London Markets: FTSE 100 sinks to 14-month low, rattled by trade war fears

U.K. blue-chip stocks finished at their lowest in more than a year Friday, keying off losses kicked off on Wall Street by fears that new U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will spark a global trade war.

Weight Watchers is shifting from weight loss to wellness as ‘healthy is the new skinny’

Weight Watchers is shifting its branding to a wellness message rather than weight loss, though it says many things won’t change