07Mar2018 Opening Market Commentary: Wall Street Opened Down, DOW Down Slips Triple Digits, Equities Fall As Cohn's Exit Heightens Trade War Worries

Written by Gary

US stock market major index’s fell sharply after the opening bell this morning (SPY -0.8%) on news that Trump’s top economic adviser Gary Cohn has resigned.

Here is the current market situation from CNN Money
	European markets are mixed today. The DAX is up 0.53% while the FTSE 100 gains 0.17%. The CAC 40 is off 0.06%.

What Is Moving the Markets

Here are the headlines moving the markets.
	Trade skeptics gain upper hand in White House as Cohn quits WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Economic nationalists appeared to gain the upper hand in a White House battle over trade with the resignation of Donald Trump’s top economic adviser, Gary Cohn, on Tuesday in a move that could ramp up protectionist measures that risk igniting a global trade war.
	Stock futures fall as Cohn’s exit heightens trade war worries (Reuters) – U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Wednesday after the resignation of top economic adviser Gary Cohn, a supporter of free trade in the White House, triggered worries that President Donald Trump may push ahead with plans to impose hefty metal tariffs and ignite a global trade war.
	U.S. trade deficit jumps to more than nine-year high WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The U.S. trade deficit increased to a more than nine-year high in January, with the shortfall with China widening sharply, suggesting that President Donald Trump’s “America First” trade policies are unlikely to have a material impact on the deficit.
	Broadcom to stick with U.S. 5G investment after Qualcomm deal (Reuters) – Broadcom Ltd sought again to soothe U.S. security concerns around its bid for chipmaker Qualcomm Inc on Wednesday, saying it would stick with investments aimed at maintaining the United States’ leadership in 5G technology.
	Europeans, IMF tell Trump to step back from trade war LONDON (Reuters) – Europe and the IMF urged Donald Trump on Wednesday to step back from the brink of a trade war, after the resignation of his top economic adviser emboldened those encouraging him to push ahead with tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.
	Atlanta Fed’s Bostic says Fed needs to take wait and see approach to possible tariffs FORT LAUDERDALE, Fl. (Reuters) – Atlanta Federal Reserve bank president Raphael Bostic said the central bank needs to take a wait-and-see attitude over the impact of the Trump administration’s proposed tariffs.
	Dollar Tree same-store sales disappoint, shares fall (Reuters) – Discount store operator Dollar Tree Inc reported disappointing holiday quarter results hurt by lower-than-expected sales at both Dollar Tree and Family Dollar stores.
	Exxon CEO struggles to reverse Tillerson’s legacy of failed bets HOUSTON (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp’s $200 million write-down last month on abandoned ventures in Russia – once its next big frontier – points to challenges facing Chief Executive Darren Woods in his second year leading the world’s largest publicly traded oil producer.
	Exclusive: Goldman puts some London staff on notice for German move by June – sources LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs has put more than a dozen UK-based banking, sales and trading staff on notice to move to Frankfurt within weeks, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, as it braces for divorce between Britain and the European Union.
	Steve Bannon Lauds Cryptocurrency As A Tool To Resist The “European Establishment” Authored by Aaron Wood via CoinTelegraph.com, Steve Bannon, former Chief Strategist to US President Donald Trump, said that cryptocurrencies could be an asset to the European anti-establishment movement at an event sponsored by the Swiss newspaper Die Weltwoche on March 6. image courtesy of CoinTelegraph At …
	Fuel For The Fire: US Trade Deficit Surges, Ex-Petroleum At All Time High Coming at a time of heightened trade tensions and fears of an imminent trade war, for once every trader was looking at this morning’s international trade report to see if it will pour more fuel on the trade war fire. It did, because according to the BEA, in January the US trade deficit surged 5% to $56.6 BN from $53.9BN in December, worse than the $55.0BN expected, and the biggest deficit going back to 2008. In January, imports were little changed in Jan. at $257.51b from $257.51b in Dec, while exports fell 1.3% in Jan. to $200.91b from $203.61b in December. The report came just hours after Trump once again slammed the US trade deficit, tweeting that “From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. Bad Policies & Leadership. Must WIN again!” From Bush 1 to present, our Country has lost more than 55,000 factories, 6,000,000 manufacturing jobs and accumulated Trade Deficits of more than 12 Trillion Dollars. Last year we had a Trade Deficit of almost 800 Billion Dollars. B …
	2017 Wage Growth At Lowest In 9 Years US nonfarm labor costs rose just 0.35% YoY in 2017 – the weakest growth in American worker compensation since 2010… While the headline revisions to Q4 unit labor costs and productivity were better than expected… Unit labor costs +2.5% (vs 2.0% exp)… Q4 productivity was revised up to unchanged from -0.1%… 2017 remains a dismal year for American workers…
	“Job Market Is Red Hot, Threatens To Overheat” Zandi Warns After ADP Beat Amid 50-year lows in initial claims but slumping survey data, ADP printed a much-better-than-expected 235k (200k exp), a modest downtick from an upwardly revised January. Job gains were very broad-based and Mark Zandi confirmed “we’re going into the 3s” for unemployment. “The job market is red hot and threatens to overheat. With government spending increases and tax cuts, growth is set to accelerate.” This is the 5th month in a row of 200k-plus gains… Change in Nonfarm Private Employment
	Why Spotify Won’t Be the Netflix of Music Musicians have long complained about the power of big record labels. Investors tempted to buy Spotify stock when it goes public later this month could end up sympathizing.
	The Hulu Factor: What Comcast May Really Be After in Its Bid for Sky Is Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts is trying to get himself a place at the table, hoping that he can pry away a prize asset or two from Disney, perhaps Hulu?
	Qualcomm’s Spending Buys the Right Friends Qualcomm just provided the recipe for companies trying to thwart foreign takeovers: Spend big, first on research and development, then on lawyers.
	4Q2017 (Final): Headline Productivity Contracts Written by Steven Hansen A simple summary of the headlines for this release is that productivity contracted while the labor costs grew. However, year-over-year analysis show equal growth.
	February 2018 ADP Job Growth Is 235,000 Written by Steven Hansen ADP reported non-farm private jobs growth at 235,000.
	BookWatch: The cost to shareholders of picking the wrong CEOs is a stunning $112 billion a year Forced CEO turnover costs shareholders $112 billion in total returns annually.
	Here’s a trick for getting access to hot IPO shares in Spotify and Dropbox Publicly traded GSV Capital owns shares of pre-IPO companies. By Michael Brush.
	NewsWatch: My sister has devoted 15 years to helping our parents — how can I ever repay her? This woman says her sister cooks their mother three meals a day and does everything for her.